Ask the Author: Lisa Berne
Answered Questions (7)
Lisa Berne
Here's your coffee. But we're out of half-and-half.
Lisa Berne
The Laird Takes a Bride was inspired, in an indirect way, by the charming and deeply felt movie Leap Year. I love how Amy Adams’ and Matthew Goode’s characters dislike each other so heartily in the beginning — how closed off they are to each other. It makes their slow-burning romance so, so satisfying.
Another influence came from the TV show “The Bachelor.” The Laird Takes a Bride kicks off with a similar scenario, except that my hero doesn’t want to get married, and also my heroine doesn’t want to be chosen! But, well, things happen, and these two strong-willed people — each with their own reasons for wanting to stay aloof — end up unenthusiastically at the altar, not finding their new spouse particularly attractive or interesting. Not an auspicious start for a marriage, is it? Luckily, there are surprises in store for them both …
Another influence came from the TV show “The Bachelor.” The Laird Takes a Bride kicks off with a similar scenario, except that my hero doesn’t want to get married, and also my heroine doesn’t want to be chosen! But, well, things happen, and these two strong-willed people — each with their own reasons for wanting to stay aloof — end up unenthusiastically at the altar, not finding their new spouse particularly attractive or interesting. Not an auspicious start for a marriage, is it? Luckily, there are surprises in store for them both …
Lisa Berne
My writing is intensely character-driven, and so inspiration often comes through the simple process of curiosity: I ask myself, “What’s going to happen next? What does my heroine want to do? What is it that my hero would like to say, but doesn’t quite know how? Are they going to find themselves in each other’s arms, or having a ferocious quarrel? Also, is that secondary character going to make things worse (or better)? How is the setting – a crowded ballroom, a quiet bedchamber, a desolate clearing in the woods – going to affect things?” And so on.
Lisa Berne
I’m finishing the third book in the Penhallow Dynasty series, The Bride Takes a Groom, which releases next spring. It features Captain Hugo Penhallow, who appears toward the end of my first book, You May Kiss the Bride. He marries a childhood friend, Katherine Brooke, a brilliant and complicated heiress — and their marriage is quite complicated also!
I’m finishing the third book in the Penhallow Dynasty series, The Bride Takes a Groom, which releases next spring. It features Captain Hugo Penhallow, who appears toward the end of my first book, You May Kiss the Bride. He marries a childhood friend, Katherine Brooke, a brilliant and complicated heiress — and their marriage is quite complicated also!
Lisa Berne
I’m not the first to suggest that reading — widely and voraciously across multiple genres, both for pleasure and with an analytic eye — is a necessary component for someone wanting to become a writer. There are also a lot of great books and blogs on the subject; I particularly like Stephen King’s On Writing, Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic, Gwen Hayes’ Romancing the Beat, and Chuck Wendig’s bracing, blisteringly unsentimental approach to the writing life.
And finally, if you’re interested in writing romance, I highly recommend that you consider joining the Romance Writers of America. The advocacy, education, support, and camaraderie you’ll receive is invaluable.
And finally, if you’re interested in writing romance, I highly recommend that you consider joining the Romance Writers of America. The advocacy, education, support, and camaraderie you’ll receive is invaluable.
Lisa Berne
I love sharing my stories; there’s an intangible, but viscerally real, connection between a reader and a writer that magically defies space and time.
Lisa Berne
Well, I find lowering my expectations rather helpful. That is, I might not be able to write as much as I would hope on any given day, but even a page — a paragraph! — represents progress, and progress is everything. As E.L. Doctorow once famously said, “Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”
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