Susan asked Amy Lillard:

Hello, i am curious as to how long does it take to write a book. Do you spend months on the storyline before wrtng. Do you use ideas given to you by family members or friends? Sorry to ask so many questions. I was reading your short bio and became interested in your writing style. I look forward to reading your books. Thank you Susan Haist

Amy Lillard Hi, Susan! I'm one of those fortunate writers who serves as an idea magnate. I'm never without one idea or another. Depending on outside circumstances (family, etc) I usually allot myself eight weeks to write a book. However I write better under pressure (not sure why that is) and can finish a first draft in four or five. Writing is my full time job and I take most of my day to write like others would go to the office.

I soak up ideas. Everyone around me knows that anything that they tell me might end up in a book in one way or another. Camille and her big white handbag in Can't Judge a Book by Its Murder was patterned after my best friend's mother and her handbag. She never sat it down, not even when she was at my friend's house! It became something of a joke between us and naturally seemed the right fit for Camille.

As for my writing style, I am a plotter--a writer who plans out the book before starting. I feel this helps me write quicker and allows me to be able to stop while writing and edit something else, which unfortunately I have to do. You could say that I'm a little ADD (okay, a lot!) so plotting it all out beforehand and having a chapter by chapter outline for the book keeps me on schedule as well as helps me keep my focus. And before you ask. Yes! Sometimes the characters completely take over the story and the outline goes right out the window! Those are usually the times when I have to ask for an extension on my deadline. Oh, the best laid plans...

Thanks for you question! Sorry it took me so long to answer! I didn't see it was there until today!

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