Interview with Elisa Lorello - Faking It

Thank you to Little Bird Publicity for giving me the opportunity to read Faking It and interview the author - Elisa Lorello. The review will be posted later today and a giveaway tomorrow! So come back to check it out. Now for the interview . . .


1. What do you find yourself rambling about?

Pop tarts. I can't get enough of 'em. I have entire conversations about them. With myself, mostly. And I'll bet at least 30% of my tweets (if not more) contain the words "pop tart" in them.

In the classroom, I can't stop rambling about the writing process. I suspect half of my student's eyes have glazed over while I'm talking about how much fun it is to play in the sandbox of language, but once in awhile, I find out that I've lit a spark in someone. Totally worth it.

2. Do you put a piece of yourself into your female leads? Is there a piece of you in Andi?

I think there's a lot of me in Andi in terms of the superficial stuff: Italian heritage, Long Island native, Gen-X, rhetoric and composition professor, etc. Faking It was my first novel, and I figured it wasn't going to be very good. Thus, I used a lot of what I knew as a crutch. I don't need to do that anymore, but there's always some aspect of a character that I relate to. I think there's a little of me in my male characters, too.

3. If you could write a completely different genre, what would it be?

I honestly don't think I'd be good at any other genre. I came up with a cool idea for a science fiction novel, but used it in Why I Love Singlehood (co-authored with Sarah Girrell) as a character's novel. My twin brother, who writes literary science-fiction, thought it was a great idea - coming from him, that's high praise.

If I was going to write in a genre outside of novels, however, I would write screenplays. In fact, with so many of my influences coming from screenwriters, it's a surprise that I haven't taken that path already.

4. What is your favorite part of the writing process? And why? (i.e. beginning, middle or end)

I am completely hooked on revision (I suppose that's the middle). Revision is the blood, sweat, and tears part of writing. It's also the most fun, play-in-the-sandbox part. Once the initial draft is on the page, it's time to sculpt, shape, take a step back, put on a different pair of eyes, step into someone else's shoes, read out loud, try different words, try a different voice, go back again, refine, polish it up, etc. When the process is working, it's such a joyful experience. When it's not working it's still working, but it's like walking around with bricks for shoes.

5. What are you working on now?

I'm superstitious about talking about works in progress. I will say that it's another novel, with two protagoniststs, and I love them dearly already.

Thank you Elisa for your time and I will be looking out for what comes next - whatever that may be!