My guest is contemporary fiction author, Lisa Dale. She says about herself, "My fiancé and I are getting married this July 2 in New Jersey. Between the new books and the wedding, I’m insanely busy. And that’s just how I like it! Writing is a great excuse for me to follow my fascinations, so you’ll find lots of interesting little factoids scattered through my work. What I want... is to tell romantic stories that challenge, inspire, astonish, and enchant."
Lisa's one of those New Jersey larger than life residents--in her books--but in life?
If you were to
make a reality TV show out of this writer’s life, here’s what you’d see.
- Scene of me sitting in my pajamas, bleary-eyed but intensely writing.
- Scene of me getting up for a glass of water.
- Scene of me getting up to hug my fiancé when he comes home.
- Scene of me knitting, talking with friends.
Yep—exciting
stuff! TV producers like to do shows about us New Jersey folks because they
think we’re larger than life, over the top, good entertainment.
But in the
opinion of this Jersey girl, drama is meant for novels. Not real life!
The other day, a
reporter asked me if the characters in my new book, Slow Dancing on Price’s
Pier, were based on real people or real-life situations. I told her: Thank
God, no!
You see, even
though I don’t believe that we’re put on this earth to make trouble for each
other, I LOVE a book that puts it all on the line. I love when characters risk
everything important to them for love. My characters have to work for their
happy endings.
By the time a
reader gets to the end of one of my books, I want her to be breathless with
anticipation of an HEA—absolutely invested in the action. And for me,
half-measures don’t cut it. I push my characters to their limits before they
find a way to transcend their own tragic flaws, overcome deadlocked and
impossible problems, and find their happily ever afters.
So you would
think, in my real life, that I’m the kind of person who likes a little drama.
That my characters, as the reporter implied, are born of real life events.
But in fact, I’m
a very quiet person. I have a few close friends whom I love dearly. I have a
wonderful family, a fiancé who warms my heart. I like knitting, reading, and
evenings filled with laughter and intimate conversation. When the occasional
bit of real-life drama happens, I try to let it roll off my back. Real life is
precious, and I think we’re put here on earth to be peacemakers for each other.
But in my
stories…look out! All bets are off. Drama reigns! As a writer, if you’re gonna
do drama—you’ve got to make it as intense as can be, because that’s what
makes for a big, emotional payoff in the end. It’s go big or go home!
In my new novel, Slow
Dancing on Price’s Pier, the heroine is the owner of a Newport, RI, coffee
shop (coffee is absolutely fascinating! And each chapter behind with a little
interesting history about the seed/bean that is so easy to take for granted!).
There are
actually two loves stories in one—two stories that run parallel with each
other. The first story is about when the characters fell in love with each
other for the first time in high school—a head-over-heels, wild kind of love.
But then, weaving
in and out of that story, there’s the story of the present. The characters are
no longer in love (something really bad happened between them, I won’t say
what). In fact, the hero outright hates the heroine when the book opens.
But as echoes of
that first love begin to resurface, his feelings change. Their loves story as
adults parallels, contradicts, and overlaps with their love story from when
they were teenagers. I wanted to explore the similarities and differences
between adult love and young love—and I also wanted to give readers a LOT of
bang for their buck. You don’t just get one love story here. You get two.
So far—it’s paid
off. Slow Dancing is a TOP PICK for both Barnes & Noble and BookPage
magazine. Can I even begin to tell you how cool it is to see my book on a page
with some of the bestsellers that I’ve been admiring for years? Kinda surreal.
As for my own
real-life romance, I’m getting married in July (the Saturday after RWA
national!). My sweetheart and I have been together for a long time now. It’s
been a lot of fun planning the wedding! We’ve got most of the big things done.
And luckily, my real-life wedding planning
has been mostly drama-free.
- Question: When real-life drama starts to get to you, what do you do? Take a long bath? Grab some chocolate? Or read a book?
- Does this work?
~*~*~
Slow Dancing on Price’s Pier
Thea Celik has devoted herself to running her Newport coffee shop, to parenting her daughter, and to being a meaningful part of her in-law’s loving family. Her life is mild but satisfying—she’s sure of her place in the community and in her family. But when her childhood friend and husband Jonathan uncharacteristically cheats on her, her certainty about her role in the world is shaken.
Now as Thea strives to rediscover herself and remain close with the only family she knows, Jonathan’s brother Garret vows to exile her from their lives once and for all. Garret has never forgotten his history with Thea, and he hopes Jonathan’s divorce from her will mean he can reconnect with his brother at last. But his increasingly frequent encounters with Thea—and his unresolved feelings for her—threaten his relationship with his family now more than ever before.
SLOW
DANCING ON PRICE’S PIER is the story of one woman’s determination to rediscover
a new life while trying to maintain the old. When the bonds of friendship,
family, and love are tested, how long will they hold? Excerpt
Buy: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, IndieBound
Lisa's: Website, Blog
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