Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have always loved writing, but it came second to earning a living. As I am a musician I have spent many years working in music education. I have written and composed music as well as books, but these days I tend to focus more on the book side rather than the music education side.
I have three poetry collections out now and one in the pipeline. I love poetry because it is clean and there is the challenge of choosing the right words and avoiding redundancy. This really appeals to me in all my writing. I am not a fan of wordy writing full of redundancy – I think that is why I like hemingway particularly – every word and idea counts. My favourite poets seem to write in a musical way and I particularly love Dylan Thomas. I also write about musical analysis as this is of major interest to me.
Now I have more time on my hands, I am writing more seriously.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is called The Cougar. I adore British Columbia and its scenery and I have always been fascinated by vampires and the supernatural. In the Western Hemlock Forest you get the feeling that anything could happen and this book arose out of a dream I had one night. In my mind’s eye I was walking to the Lower Falls in Golden Ears (a place I know well) and Berenice turned up and struck up a conversation with me. She turned out to be a shape shifter and vampire. Berenice (originally a Renaissance lady) spoke to me in that dream and insisted “Tell my story”. I ran with it, and The Cougar was the result. It is more of an old style Gothic romance than a horror story, although it has some horror elements. There is also quite an LGBT angle, so it is different in some ways from the average paranormal romance.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
With poetry I tend to scribble on bits of paper – bus tickets, shopping receipts, envelopes. Writing a poem is all in the moment and I don’t always have a notebook. Otherwise I tend to curl up with the cats on the sofa and type into my laptop. I drink endless cups of Earl Grey tea when writing and coffee when editing!
What authors, or books have influenced you?
So many! Wilfred Owen, Keats, Shakespeare, Dylan Thomas, Robert Frost, Josephine Austen, Shelley (both Percy and Mary), D.H.Lawrence, H.P.Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, Steinbeck, Kafka, Hardy, Hemingway, Anne Rice, David Michie, Eckhart Tolle, Richard Bach…. I read and enjoy a lot of modern fiction books, but the older writers were read in my formative years so I count them as stronger influences.
What are you working on now?
I just finished writing my novel, The Cougar, and editing a picture book on Kindle for a friend – The Cat the Bat and the Burglar by Colin Edward Mason. My next project may well be a “prequel” for The Cougar, dealing with Raffaelo’s tale – and Berenice of course. I also have a book about Persian cats in floating about in my head. We will see who emerges first!
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am not very good at promotion. I come from a generation unschooled in computers, so much of what I have learned is self-taught and concerned with production and creativity rather than promotion and selling. That makes life a little difficult. I don’t much enjoy Facebook, although I have a page and friends there. Twitter works well for me because I can time tweets or interact if I choose. I use Tweetdeck. I am phone phobic, so life in the smart-phone lane is not for me. I am currently running a couple of Goodreads Giveaways and contemplating printing bookmarks to “bookbomb” libraries and bookstores. I do have a couple of websites and blogs but I genuinely suck at SEO! I don’t know, I hope if I help others they might be nice to me in my dotage. 🙂
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write, write, write…. don’t let anyone discourage you. (Particularly not other writers because writers can be real trolls!) Up to a certain point, if you are young and energetic, try the traditional route because agents can offer good, sound advice about improving your work. If you are a lot older and you know you can write well it might be less frustrating to go down the self publishing route, but be prepared to slog hard at promotion. Whatever your age, don’t ever pay to publish your work! Pay to promote if you can afford it, but don’t pay to publish.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Focus on what you really want to do. Don’t procrastinate. You might not make money writing, but being true to yourself is what counts most in the long run.
What are you reading now?
I am currently re-reading The Lost World by Conan Doyle. It is strangely old fashioned which I love! The last two I read (and reviewed) were The Art of Purring by David Michie and Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg. Quite a contrast I know, but both were amazing books. I also have about half a dozen ebooks by indie authors downloaded to my Kindle and I have to choose one yet!
What’s next for you as a writer?
Hopefully The Cougar will take off, then it will have kittens (cubs?) 😀 If all that happens to plan, perhaps I might even sell a poetry book ?
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
The Dalai Lama’s Cat, Conversations with God, Jonathan Livingston Seagull and the Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe
Author Websites and Profiles
Lisa Marie Gabriel Website
Lisa Marie Gabriel Amazon Profile
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