Lissa Brown has the best of all worlds. She is retired from
careers in teaching, public relations and marketing and now writes for her own
enjoyment. She’s written four books since 2009, one humorous memoir as Leslie
Brunetsky and three novels under her own name.
Lissa has been
working her way south from New Jersey for the
past thirty years and is happily settled in North Carolina ’s
Appalachian Mountains , the source of her
literary inspiration. Concerned about the prevalence of bullying of LGBT kids,
she wrote Another F-Word to raise
awareness of the problem in the U.S. Bible Belt. Her latest novel, Family of Choice is a sequel to that book. She has spoken extensively on the
subject of bullying.
I was privileged to meet Lissa in person several years ago when we both attended a book event in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.
Welcome to the blog, Lissa.
Thank you, Susan. It's great to touch base with you again.
Let's get right to the interview, Lissa. How has your environment affected your
writing?
If I hadn’t moved to the southern Appalachians in 2005, I definitely would not have written
the humorous memoir, Real Country: From
the Fast Track to Appalachia,
about a Yankee urbanite trying to adjust to life in a NC holler. If I had not
seen the devastating effects of bullying of LGBT kids as NC voters debated
amending the state constitution in 2012, I doubt I’d have been moved to explore
that topic in a novel. I was so disturbed by what I witnessed that I needed a
way to consider the question of why some adults do things to hurt children. Another F-Word was the result of my
reaction to some pretty hateful behavior I observed. My latest book, Family of Choice, the sequel, examines
the effects of childhood bullying on adults and their families.
Please give us a short synopsis of Family
of Choice:
Rory Calhoun Wilson, now a practicing physician living with his partner and the
partner’s two children in Baltimore , was a
victim of bullying by his father, classmates, preacher and others while growing
up in rural Tennessee .
He wrestles with the issues of whether to forgive his father and even perhaps
to reconnect with him after years of estrangement. Concurrently, Rory must
decide whether to legally adopt his partner’s children. His doubts about
whether he can be a good father are inextricably tied to issues with his own
father. Can he let go of anger nourished over many years? Should he? Will it
free him to have a fulfilling life? Those are the central issues in Family
of Choice.
What challenges did you face while writing this book?
When I tell you that I will never
write another sequel, you’ll have some idea of how difficult I found it to
write this book. I intended the sequel to be able to stand on its own so that a
reader could choose to read Family of
Choice and not read Another F-Word first. It had to be a good enough story to
hold the reader’s attention without being shored up by the first book. Easier
said than done! I had to include enough back story to have the plot make sense
to someone who had not read the first book, but I couldn’t load up so much back
story so that a reader who had read Another
F-Word would grow tired of
repetition. Finding that balance was the most difficult challenge I’ve faced as
a writer.
How much of yourself is hidden in the
characters of your books?
If I’ve learned anything from
writing novels, it’s that the writer cannot predict what readers will see in
her books. I had a very funny call from a cousin after I’d written my first
novel, Family Secrets: Three Generations.
He called to say he’d started the book and was very upset because it made him
realize that he didn’t know my parents as well as he thought he did. I paused
for a minute before reminding this psychologist that a novel is fiction and
that the family in the book was not mine. I understand why he drew that
erroneous conclusion, though. The girl in the story did seem to resemble me in
some ways. It was my first attempt at writing fiction, and I suppose I stuck a
little too close to what I knew as I told the story. Friends who’ve known me
since childhood say they hear my voice when they read female characters in my
books. I’ve had several readers tell me they know who a particular fictional
character really is even though I did not base them on anyone or even a
composite of several people. I think many writers insert parts of themselves in
their characters. If I do it, it’s on a subconscious level. That’s my story,
and I’m sticking to it.
LOL. Gotcha! ;-)
Even though I have a background in
marketing, promoting your own books is very different. For one thing, it’s
difficult not to feel personal rejection when people don’t love your books. I
thought I’d developed a pretty thick skin over the years that somebody else
judged my writing and either paid me or didn’t pay me based on their judgment.
I do have to remind myself that it’s the writing people are reacting to, not
me.
I spent an entire year speaking to
any group that would have me about the topic of bullying. I spoke in churches,
conferences at universities, professional meetings and a variety of youth
groups. As a former educator, of course I wanted to educate people about the
consequences of bullying, but I also wanted to sell my books. I stay active on
Facebook and participate in as many media interviews as I can. I maintain a
website and still plan to establish a blog when I find time to do it right. I
write articles on topics pertinent to the subject of my books and have been
fairly successful placing them. Like most writers, I’d rather write than
promote, but it’s a necessary part of being an author these days.
Where can folks learn more about your
books and events?
To purchase a copy of Family of Choice as an ebook or
paperbook , go to
People can learn more about my books and me at www.lissabrownwrites.com
Thanks for dropping by, Lissa. I wish you all the best and hope to see you in the near future.
