Ask the Author: Laurie Lisa
Answered Questions (7)
Laurie Lisa
Thank you for the question, which I will try to answer without spoiling the ending.
I prefer to write and read stories that do not have a neat, predictable ending. I like to leave the ending open to interpretation, much like life itself. In The Wine Club, we have three first person narratives. First person narratives, by definition, are unreliable. It is important to remember, too, that by the end of The Wine Club, the three women have pretty much lost touch with reality. The unidentified person that each of the three women is talking to therefore becomes more of a projection of each woman’s emotional state.
Who does each think she is talking to?
I prefer to write and read stories that do not have a neat, predictable ending. I like to leave the ending open to interpretation, much like life itself. In The Wine Club, we have three first person narratives. First person narratives, by definition, are unreliable. It is important to remember, too, that by the end of The Wine Club, the three women have pretty much lost touch with reality. The unidentified person that each of the three women is talking to therefore becomes more of a projection of each woman’s emotional state.
Who does each think she is talking to?
Laurie Lisa
Wine, women, and cons: the three inspirations for my newest book, “The Wine Club”!
I try to do something different with each book, so I always have my eyes and ears open for stories that intrigue me. One evening my husband and I watched the movie “The Sting,” featuring Robert Redford and Paul Newman. That planted the seed for writing about a con, but with a twist: what would motivate women to perpetrate such a crime?
A few days later I watched an episode of “American Greed,” about a wine store in California selling wine it didn’t actually carry. “Ah-ha!” I thought. “Time to explore the lengths to which a couple of moms in need of cash would go.”
That’s when “The Wine Club” was born!
https://bit.ly/2NcuXA5
I try to do something different with each book, so I always have my eyes and ears open for stories that intrigue me. One evening my husband and I watched the movie “The Sting,” featuring Robert Redford and Paul Newman. That planted the seed for writing about a con, but with a twist: what would motivate women to perpetrate such a crime?
A few days later I watched an episode of “American Greed,” about a wine store in California selling wine it didn’t actually carry. “Ah-ha!” I thought. “Time to explore the lengths to which a couple of moms in need of cash would go.”
That’s when “The Wine Club” was born!
https://bit.ly/2NcuXA5
Laurie Lisa
My eighth work is a bit of a change-up for me. The work is entitled "The Queen of Hearts" and is based in a small rural town where a woman wins a substantial sum of money from a "Queen of Hearts raffle" run at the local American Legion Hall. The idea to write the novel came to me after reading an article about a real-life winner of the Queen of Hearts American Legion Lottery in Steeleville, Illinois. Having been born and raised in Southern Illinois, and having spent some evenings at the local Legion hall, the article inspired me to write connected novellas that allow me to create several fully developed and interesting fictional characters. As I said, it is a bit of a changeup for me.
Laurie Lisa
It’s the same advice everyone else gives: Keep writing. That’s all you
can do. Without a doubt, some days are easier than others. The days when the writing just seems to flow are so rewarding, but there are days when it’s tougher to get the words on the page. But you keep trying. You sit down and write.
can do. Without a doubt, some days are easier than others. The days when the writing just seems to flow are so rewarding, but there are days when it’s tougher to get the words on the page. But you keep trying. You sit down and write.
Laurie Lisa
Every good book inspires me to write! However, I would have to say that John Irving and Joyce Carol Oates have provided the most inspiration. Their characters are fully realized and complex. Also, each of their novels is different and creates a new world populated with unique characters. I have completed seven novels, and I am about done with my eighth, and each of them is different. Like Irving and Oates, I strive to make my characters fully realized and complex.
Laurie Lisa
Without a doubt, some days are easier than others. The days when the writing just seems to flow are so rewarding, but there are days when it’s tougher to get the words on the page. But you keep trying. You sit down and write. I credit Anna Quindlen with that advice, which I read in an article about her years ago.
Laurie Lisa
I like so many, and my taste in books is fairly eclectic. That said, I have been a long-time reader/fan of John Irving and Joyce Carol Oates. More current women’s fiction authors include Kristin Hannah, Liane Moriarty, and Jennifer Weiner. I also like reading the work of Tana French and Lisa Gardner. And these are only a few of the authors I read and appreciate.
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