Interview--Alysia Lyons

#1- Tell us a little about yourself outside of your writing career…
Currently I’m working full time as a legal assistant in addition to taking classes towards getting my bachelors degree. When I’m not writing, I like making crafts to give away to friends and family as gifts.

#2- Your book, How the Hart Breaks, appears to be as much a journey of discovery book as much as it is a romance. What inspired this story and where do you get your ideas from?
When I sat down to write How the Hart Breaks, I wanted to write a book for my best friend at the time, Isabel. After brainstorming, I began writing the book which over the course of ten years became a trilogy. A lot of times, an idea for a story will come to me after hearing a song lyric or sometimes a line in a movie. I can base an entire book around one line.

#3- Your book has been reviewed favorably by other authors, but how do you handle the negative reviews and critiques you receive?
Every writer needs to have a thick skin. No writer will never write something that everyone loves. If I took criticism to heart, I probably wouldn’t continue writing. But I have a passion for it. I like to hear the positive feedback and with the good comes the bad.

#4- Every author has a style and platform all their own for how they write. Do you have your manuscripts all mapped out ahead of time or do you just go with the ideas as they come, and what is your ideal setting for when you get down to it to work on a book?
Typically I know what is going to happen from start to finish in my book. Though the finished product doesn’t always reflect the outline I came up with. So my outline is more of a guide but the finished product follow where the characters have lead me. Listening to the characters is the only way you will have a good book.
My ideal setting is a comfortable chair, my laptop and a cup of coffee. A time and place where I have relatively few distractions and no interruptions. When I get in to the “writing zone” it’s hard when I get distracted.

#5- What makes you write in the genre that you do, and are there any authors from that genre that you read yourself and look up to?
I write romance because I’m a hopeless romantic and often times it is easier to create something where I’ll find romance than it is to find it in the real world. Nora Roberts is my favorite romance author and she’s probably the one I look up to the most.


#6- Are there any upcoming releases we would like to know about, and could you give us your web site so readers can check it out?
The second book in the Isabel Hart Series From the Hart is going to be my next release and it is currently in the works. Updates about my work can be found on my website www.alysialyons.com Keep an eye out for it.


#7- This about concludes it. Thank you again for joining us. Is there anything else you would like to share?
Thank you for the opportunity to do this interview with you. I hope to do more in the future :)