I recently read and reviewed Immortal Warrior by Lisa Hendrix . Lisa is currently on a blog tour for November and has kindly agreed to stop by my blog for an interview.
Bookworm: Welcome Lisa, and thank you for stopping by my blog for an interview. Please tell us a bit about yourself.
Lisa: You know that neighbor you hardly ever see, whose yard is always weedy and overgrown and whose house is unkempt, but who, every once in a while, turns up in the newspaper and you go, 'Ah, so that's what she does'? That's me.
Bookworm: What inspired you to write Immortal Warrior?
Lisa:I had this dream. Most of my ideas are more deliberate, or at least more conscious: I decide on a time/place; I read something that set my brain churning; I decide on a type of book. But the first notion for Immortal Warrior was waking with a crystal clear image of a man in formal evening dress. I knew he was a thousand years old and that he spent his days as a bear. I had no idea why, or that he was only one of nine men so cursed, but that all came quickly. Strangely, he isn't even the hero of this first book (although he's present in it), and his book won't come until much later. But he was the one who started it all.
Bookworm: What was the hardest thing about writing this book? How long did it take you to write?
Lisa:The pre-writing was the hardest -- all the research, noodling around trying to figure out how the whole series was going to work, who these guys were, why they were cursed, etc. Then there was a ton of research to do (and more with each book, because each on is set in a different time period). All together, it took me a little over a 18 months, with about 12 months of that in actual writing.
Bookworm: In your book, the Viking warriors are cursed to become animals each day. Ivar Graycloak turns into an Eagle every morning. What made you choose an Eagle for Ivar? A bear for Brand?
Lisa: Well, you know why Brand is a bear from my answer to the second question (above). As for Ivar -- as I was setting up the series, I wanted a different animal for each warrior. Do you know how hard it is to come up with nine animals that were known to the Vikings in 850 AD, are sexy (er, who wants a boar for a hero?), and wouldn't be so totally obvious in England that they could never survive (a polar bear, for instance, would stick out just a little too much). Ivar ended up the eagle, and I made him first because I thought it might be easier for a man who was an eagle to move around the edges of society than, say, a man who was a bear.
Bookworm: I won't give away too much of the story but, I really liked how you wrapped everything up with Alaida and Ivar. Is the next book about Brand? I hope there is someway to include Mereywn. I know, that may be far fetched, but I can still hope for it! I like her and Brand's characters a lot.
Lisa: I'm glad you liked the resolution with Ivar and Alaida. I wasn't sure how people would take the epilogue. The next book is IMMORTAL OUTLAW, which I'm finishing up now. it's the story of Steinarr, who is a lion, and it's my take on what *really* happened in Sherwood Forest. Brand will be the very last book, and as for Merewyn..you don't really think I'm going to tell you that, do you. Each book will be tied together with snippets of Ari's saga/chronicle at the beginning and end. And the saga itself will play a critical part in one or more books.
Bookworm: Who are your favorite authors and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
Lisa: I adore Laura Kinsale for her lyrical writing and impeccable research; Julia Quinn and Eloisa James for their humor and brilliantly fun characters; and Kristan Higgins, who is funny and fresh and (most wonderfully) manages to write a very sexy book without any actual sex in it, which means I have been able to introduce my 13 year old daughter to the joys of the best of romance genre (Kristan won a RITA award for her 2007 book CATCH OF THE DAY) For women's fiction, I have to go with my good friend and former critique partner, Sheila Roberts, who writes fun, uplifting books that make me laugh with recognition.
Bookworm: Do you have any advice for other writers?
Lisa: Butt in chair, fingers to keyboard, heart to dream. Ultimately, it all comes down to that.
Bookworm: Last but not least, if you were stranded on a deserted island, and were allowed to bring 3 items with you, what would they be?
Lisa: My husband, a box of pencils, and a ream of legal pads. (I'm trusting my husband to have a knife so I can sharpen the pencils. )
Bookworm: Thanks so much Lisa for the fun interview!
If you haven't checked out Immortal Warrior, I hope you will pick up a copy.
