Fighting Prose Interview with LJ Evans!

Welcome to my in-depth writers series Fighting Prose. Where I talk to authors in the industry on what their process is like and what it takes for them to keep on creating, through all the odds.

How long have you been writing?

I've been writing since I was 10 years old, but I've been publishing since 2017.

If you've written several books, which is your favorite?

This is like asking a mother to pick her favorite child. I will say that CHARMING AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOM made me incredibly happy while writing it. Every moment I worked on it brought me joy.
My first novel I ever published, MY LIFE AS A COUNTRY ALBUM, also has a special place in my heart not only because the characters embedded themselves in my soul, but also because it started this publishing journey for me.

What's your favorite genre to read? Write?

I read pretty much everything except horror, and my favorite genres seem to change with my mood. I go through rounds of being obsessed with one genre and then changing it up. My favorite genres at the moment are romantic suspense and historical romance.
For writing, I'm on a romantic suspense kick and probably will be for awhile longer.

How do you get in the mood to write?

I'm pretty much ALWAYS in the mood to write. I know that seems strange, but it's true. My best time to write is in the morning. If I'm trying to write after lunchtime, the quality deteriorates pretty fast.
What inspires me to write is a little different, but will chat about that later.

How do your characters come together?

Sometimes they come to me full-fledged. They just show up in my head with their name, appearance, and some key quirks that they whisper in my ear as I'm listening to music or reading something. Once in a while, the characters start off as a vague mirage and then, as I work on their story, I realize they have something different planned for me.
If I'm struggling with a character, I use a lot the lists I found in Erika Kelly's BUILD-A-BOOK to kick ideas into gear.

How do you get your ideas?

Music is my number one inspirational source. I literally will pull the car over to write a few words or an entire scene if a lyric hits me the right way. I also find that as I'm researching a topic for one of my books, images I see and articles I read will definitely spark scenes in a book.

Who do you admire the most in the writing world?

Wow. This is like picking a favorite book or movie. I will say that Mariana Zapata and Amy Harmon are writers who first inspired me to hit publish. Authors I love because of how they treat human beings in general, and who are also amazing to other writers in this book world are Kathryn Nolan, Lucy Score, Erika Kelly, Stephanie Rose, Pippa Grant, Zoe York, A.M. Johnson, Nana Malone, Maria Luis, and Annie Dyer.

If you're not busy writing, what are you busy doing?

When we can, the hubs and I love to travel. We're hoping that will happen again this year. We also spend time binging shows. We've gone through a whole crime wave watching older shows we never watched when they were live like CASTLE and BONES. One of my favorite shows, ever, is probably VERONICA MARS!

Have you always been creative? Has it always been writing?

YESSSSSS! I've been writing for as long as I can remember. But I did flirt with painting in my twenties, and I spent at least a decade scrapbooking. I have a gazillion and one scrapbooks that no one ever looks at. HA.

Have you ever had writer’s block? If so, how did you get out of it?

Oh, of course. If it's just a particular part of a book that's stumping me, sometimes I skip it and go on to scenes I can see in my head clearly. Often, that shakes loose the things I need to fill in behind what I wrote. If I'm really stuck, I usually immerse myself in music and research to find something else to spark my creativity.

When you sit down to write, is it easy or hard? If it's hard, what makes you keep showing up?

I'm a "pantster" by nature which really means I don't do a whole lot of planning for my books. They unravel as they go. It took me a long time to realize that it didn't make me "less" of a writer because I did this when others spend weeks detailing ever line of their book before the write it. What this also means is that I spend a lot of time revising the early part of what I write after the plot reveals itself.
One of my very favorite moments is opening a new document and starting on a brand new page with new characters talking to me. But about 1/2 through the book, I usually have to stop and re-read the entirety of what I've written so far so I can get a good handle on what's coming next.
I'm also strange, because I love editing. I don't just mean the grammar and spelling, I mean moving scenes and tweaking characters. The reshaping of the book really intrigues me.

For a writer starting out what advice would you give them?

HAVE FUN! Be true to you. Try hard not to get stuck in a mode of comparing you, your books, and your journey to others. Find you're own unique tribe of similarly minded readers and other authors.
If you're going traditional route, grow a realllllllly thick skin and prepare for a potentially long haul to finding an agent and a publisher.
If you're going to independently publish, spend a little time and money to attend a conference like Inker's Con run by Alessandra Torre. I wish I'd done that first. There are so many aspects of this business that are important to get right the first time out the shoot, so you aren't trying to play catch up. It's not easy, and you have to wear a gazillion different hats that may not be your strength, but the journey is so worth it.
Also, don't get discouraged if you see someone who's "debut" seems to do AMAZINGLY and you are struggling to get buys. You never know who helped that person behind the scenes and what connections they had to other established authors. You also aren't always aware that this "debut" is really a "third" pen name for an author who already knows what they're doing.

What is your dream writing location?

Anywhere I can see and hear the ocean!!!!

In reference to your books, what question do you get asked the most?

How can I be #TeamBlake? LOL. Really, though there's always a debate with readers of my debut, MY LIFE AS A COUNTRY ALBUM, about whether everyone should be #TeamBlake or #TeamJake. It isn't a love triangle story, but it does show Cam's two loves as she grows up from child to woman.

If you could bring one of your characters to life who would it be? Why?

Another hard question. I think I'd want the be around Elle Dioli's infectious love of life from CHARMING AN THE CHERRY BLOSSOM. So maybe her? I have my own real-life HEA in my hubby, so while I adore some of my swoony heroes, the hubs might not like them taking up residence in our house. ;-)

What do you think makes a good story?

The characters! I can put up with about any plot hole in book if I love the characters enough. Draw me in to them, their world, and their dreams and I'll follow them anywhere.

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

I wanted to be: an author, a teacher, and an international business woman. I've been lucky enough to be able to have all three careers in my life, and I don't take that for granted.