Lisa Regan is the USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Detective Josie Quinn series as well as several other crime fiction titles. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Master of Education Degree from Bloomsburg University. She is a member of Sisters In Crime, Mystery Writers of America, Crime Writers’ Association, and International Thriller Writers. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, daughter and Boston Terrier named Mr. Phillip.
Email: duchessmalfi@hotmail.com
BMH: What are your strengths as a writer?
LR: The thing I hear most often from readers is my pacing and that my writing is cinematic in that they feel as though they are watching a movie in their heads.
BMH: What are the hardest kinds of scenes for you to write?
LR: Fight scenes are really hard for me to write. It’s difficult because in real life, fights are often fast and sloppy. On the page, it always feels like I’m spending way too many words on movements that happen in a matter of seconds.
BMH: What is the best encouragement/advice you’ve received in your writing journey?
LR: The best encouragement I’ve ever received is from some readers who are either disabled or going through a very tough time in life whether it’s from an illness (i.e. cancer) or loss of a loved one or some other emotional trauma who tell me that my books gave them a few hours of escape from their troubles. When a reader tells me that I was able to transport them out of their own lives and give them some relief from whatever it is they’re dealing with or going through, there is no bigger compliment than that. That always makes me want to keep going and get better.
BMH: What are you working on now?
LR: Right now I’m working on Book 8 in my Detective Josie Quinn series, as yet untitled but due out in the Spring of 2020. Book 7, which is called Cold Heart Creek, is due out on December 2, 2019.
BMH: What’s the coolest thing that’s happened to you as an author?
LR: I used to work in a law office and we had this new employee. I’d never met her before. She saw my name on some documents and said to me, “You know, one of my favorite authors is named Lisa Regan.” I said, “Oh really? What are some of her titles?” and she named my books. I told her I was that Lisa Regan. She couldn’t believe it. She’d found my books completely on her own. Then she said, “Why are you still working here?”
BMH: What’s the one thing a reader can do to help an author?
LR: The best thing a reader can do to help an author is to recommend their books to other readers. Word of mouth is still the most powerful way to find new readers.
BMH: What’s the biggest challenge in writing for all ages?
LR: This might sound strange but I think it’s the act of writing itself. Most people who write or want to write have lots of ideas. Even if they have just one or two great ideas, I think everyone struggles with the execution. That blank page can be so intimidating. Everyone’s process is so different as well, so it’s hard for many people to plunge right in or to forge ahead. That’s why I always encourage people to write as much possible even if it’s not writing fiction. Keeping a journal or even writing a letter to your congressperson is still putting the words in your head onto the page. The more you do that, the easier it is to figure out what your own preferences are and what works best for you. You can hone that process as you go.
BMH: How much of yourself do you write into your character?
LR: Well Josie Quinn and I take our coffee the same way. In all seriousness, other than my stubbornness, not much of myself goes into these characters. I tend to write characters (at least the good ones) as people I wish I could be. I wish I could be as strong, powerful, courageous, and no-nonsense as my female protagonists!
BMH: Do your own personal and life challenges drive your characters?
LR: Sometimes. If I am struggling with something and I think I can work it into a plot in a way that fits and doesn’t detract from the story, then I’ll try to do that. Otherwise, they seem to drive themselves.
BMH: Have you ever had a character ‘take over’?
LR: I would say yes. I know that some authors take issue with this description, saying how can a character YOU created take over your story? But in all honesty, sometimes it feels less like I’m creating these characters and more like I’m channeling them.
BMH: Does writing energize or exhaust you?
LR: No. It energizes me. Unless it’s a structural editing. That can be very taxing.
BMH: What is your writing kryptonite?
LR: Social media! I can spend hours scrolling without realizing it. It’s terrible.
BMH: What is your favorite thing about the writing process?
LR: It used to be that breathless first draft where all mistakes could be made, but now it’s somewhere around the copy edit stage where I get to see how far the book has come from the terrible first draft I turned in through multiple rounds of edits with my lovely and brilliant editor. I love seeing how the book finally comes together. It’s really cool to see how something you were so insecure about at the start has transformed into something you think readers will enjoy. It’s a great feeling.
BMH: What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
LR: I find it really difficult when there comes a point in the plot where things could go many different ways. I’m extremely indecisive and I always worry that if I take the plot down Avenue B instead of Avenue A or Avenue C, will it be the right one? Am I making the right decision? What if one of those other avenues would be better and I just can’t see it right now? Of course, that’s what editors are for! But it does give me a lot of anxiety.
BMH: What was your favorite childhood book?
LR: As a very young child it was The Monster At The End of This Book by Sesame Street’s Grover. As an older reader, it was Remember Me by Christopher Pike which I read dozens of times.
BMH: What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?
LR: I believe I was in the fourth or fifth grade when we had an essay contest at my school. The prize was money and publication in a local paper or something to that effect. I wrote an essay and it won. I’ll never forget the feeling of being recognized for something I had written.
BMH: What motivates you to write?
LR: I love the act of creating. It’s fun and cathartic. Now that I have readers, a lot of my motivation comes from their enthusiasm for my books which I cherish!
