Interview with Liz Borino! Author of Expectations!

Hello, thanks for agreeing to be a guest blogger on my site. Could you please tell us about yourself?Thanks so much for having me! I'm an author, a dreamer, and a traveller. I love London and New York City, but at the end of the day, the excitement wears on me. My favourite time is that spent curled up with a book or my WIP.

How long have you been writing?I've been writing since I was around 11 or 12, but I've been telling stories since I could talk to anyone who'd listen.

What authors would you say are your biggest influences?
I always admired S.E. Hinton and Michael Cunningham. S.E. Hinton published The Outsiders when she was 14. I'd hold her up and say, "See, she could do it, there's no reason I can't." Yeah, I was a cocky little kid. As for Cunningham, his characters are always so real to me. One of them inspired Aiden, actually. In addition, he also wrote the screenplay for A Home at the End of World.

How did you find the road to getting published?
I found it to be frustrating at first. I was overwhelmed with all the rules to follow and I got a wake-up call stating there was no room for my ego in the publishing business. So, I cut down my lengthy manuscript to come much closer to industry standards. I also became more focused on places to send my book.Speaking of which, I have a funny story about when I queried Lazy Day. We connected through Twitter and after researching the budding company, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. Now, all I had to do was convince them they wanted me just as much. So, I followed all the rules, edited Expectations to an inch of its life, perfected my query letter and wrote a synopsis. And then I waited with bated breath. The expected wait time was between 2 and 4 weeks, after 2 weeks (impatient, I know) I went through my query letter to make sure it went to the right place, which it did. HOWEVER, I made a mistake. In 'to' line I addressed the company as Lazy DOG Publishing. Crap. I panicked, everyone knows this is one of the biggest faux pas in the publishing world. Luckily, I messaged Staci on Twitter and apologized profusely and she had a great sense of humour about it. A week and a half later, I received my contact in an email.

Tell us about your book?
EXPECTATIONS depicts the struggle between what we desire for
ourselves and our familial obligations. The struggle is personified by
Chris and Matt Taylor, identical twins, who are trying to win their
overbearing father's approval and acquire their trust funds. Love,
money, and desire collide as Matt and Chris decide what's really
important to them.

Where do you see yourself as an author this time next year?My hope is that I'll be able to live comfortably on earnings from my fiction. I'd love the opportunity to teach young/beginning writers either online or in a classroom. That may not happen in a year, but someday.


Anything else you'd like to share?Just that I'm so lucky to have the opportunity for my dreams to come true and the whole Lazy Day family (editors, publishers, and other authors) have been amazing and I'm so grateful to be where I am.

Thanks for the interview Liz! If anyone wants to find out more then please join Liz's fanpage on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/lizborino