Interview With Lisa Shearin!

Lisa Shearin is the very first author I featured here at Fantasy Debut, with the incredibly fun Magic Lost, Trouble Found. The Trouble with Demons is her third novel, so she's technically not a debut novelist anymore but it was always my intention to follow the careers of authors whose books I particularly enjoyed.

Lisa has taken time out of her furious writing and release schedule to answer a handful of questions.

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Tell us a bit about the direction of the Raine Beneres series. Personally, I think it has high potential to morph into an open-ended series, like an urban fantasy. Do you know how many books we can expect in the Saghred storyline? Do you see it extending beyond the Saghred storyline? 


Since I’ll be pitching some of those books to my publisher in the next few months, I can’t say how many books there will be to wrap up the Saghred storyline. And yes, I do see it extending beyond the Saghred storyline. Again, since I haven’t pitched the idea yet, I can’t go into any details, except to say it will produce a huge and collective “SQUEEE!” from my fans. Other than that, my lips have to be sealed.

Which would you rather be, an elf or a goblin? (Your goblins, of course.) 

I can see myself being both—I just love my goblins. But my husband says that I am Raine. Only personality wise, of course. I’ve never taken on evil mages, psychotic goblins, and the Queen of Demons. And Raine’s snark comes quicker than mine. I’m one of those who thinks of the perfect snappy comeback after the chance to deliver it is gone.

As a reader, which fantasy world has most engaged you (such as Tolkein's Middle Earth)? By that I mean, whose world will you always return to, no matter how many books the author produces in the series? 

I adore David Eddings’s Belgarian, Malloreon, and Elenium series. And I adore Raymond Feist’s Riftwar Saga. I absolutely devoured those books.

I think it's safe to say that you've established yourself as an author. Where would you like to see yourself five years from now? 

I’d like to be able to look back and see that I’ve continually raised the bar for my writing, and that I’ve continued to grow and learn as a writer. I want each book to be better than the previous one. I want to be able to feel that I’ve taken chances and gone beyond what I felt comfortable writing. If a project excites me, scares the crap out of me, and I’m not sure if I’m good enough to write it—that’s an idea worth writing.

And wow! You have yourself a new writing gig as a columnist for The Writer! Please share all the juicy details. 

I’d written about The Writer being my favorite writing magazine because it had articles that a writer could use at any point in their career—pre-published, newly published, and established author. And I felt the articles did more than scratch the surface; they dug down into a topic and gave me information that I could actually use. Well, apparently Sarah Lange, the associate editor, had Google Alerts set up for mentions of her magazine online. She commented on my blog that day, which was a huge thrill. And she apparently became a regular reader of my blog. About a month ago, she emailed me and said that she liked my blog and wanted to offer me my own column. And yes, when I read that email there was some serious squeeing involved. I’d always dreamed of having my own column in The Writer magazine. We haven’t come up with a name for my column yet, but it’ll be toward the front of the magazine in the “Take Note” section. My first article will appear in the August 2009 issue, which will be out in July. I can’t wait to see it!

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For more information about Lisa Shearin and for information on how to purchase her books, visit her website.