Looking In The Window: I'm Chatting With My Writing Partner, Lisa Lickel, About Writing And Books. She'll Give Away An E-book Of Meander Scar

A Warm Welcome to Lisa Lickel

Lisa will give away an e-Book of Meander Scar. To enter to win leave a comment and an email address below. 

I’ve had the privilege of writing with Lisa for the past six years. Not only do I benefit from her critiques, but I also enjoy reading her books. Centrifugal Force, one she's discussing today, held me spellbound with the intensity, mystery, family dynamics, and foreign intrigue Lisa put into it. When I finished a chapter, I tried to scroll down to read the one she hadn’t written yet, so it’s a page turner.

Thank you, Gail. You’ve always been encouraging, and very good at forcing me to keep up with you, or withholding your own work from me when I fell behind you. I wasn’t sure I liked that at first, but I came to admire your technique in knowing me better than I knew myself. Since that first book we’ve worked on several together.

Actually, it’s the other way around. You’re the one who keeps me on task. I have to stay ahead, so I can keep up when inspiration hits you and you write volumes.

It's worked out well for us. I love where your Triville stories are going with all the wonderful characters, and you’ve talked me through some novellas, the second cat mystery in my new series coming out next year, the Fancy Cat Mysteries, as well as the final two books in the Forces of Nature series, Centrifugal Force and the upcoming Parhelion.

I appreciate all the help you’ve given me with the Triville stories and that you’ve encouraged me to keep writing them, but tell us about your books. Could you explain the family dynamics in Centrifugal Force? And also tell us how the foreign intrigue fits in?

Centrifugal Force carries on the story of the Michels sisters, Ann who was the main character in Meander Scar, and now it’s Ann’s sister Rachel’s turn to tell her story in Centrifugal Force. Ann’s sister was portrayed as a jealous goody two-shoes in Meander Scar, the first book, a goody two-shoes with a terrible secret she’d kept her entire adult life. Rachel has a daughter Maeve, who’s nearly grown up, but we know nothing about Maeve’s father. In the second book, all the secrets come to light, with an international twist. Maeve’s father is a German academic, famous for his economic theories, who has returned to the States in search of a missing artifact, an irreplaceable heirloom that his brother desperately needs. Rachel not only had a child out of wedlock, she’s a thief. All her life she’s spent maintaining rigid control of her sordid past, and when that control derails, she fears losing everything that has meaning.

Maeve’s biological father, Gervas, is anything but a saint, but he’s only ever truly loved one woman. When Rachel’s deepest secret, her daughter Maeve, reveals herself to him before he can confront Rachel, Gervas is put in an awkward position of promising his new-found daughter to betray Rachel’s trust. There’s also pressure from Gervas’s brother who is under the gun to return the stolen heirloom to its rightful owner or face blackmail that could overturn the German government. But an even deeper problem in their family looms that may force Maeve to choose her new family over the one she’s loved and known all her life.

As I wrote this manuscript, you, Gail, were instrumental in helping me keep Gervas in check. He was awfully arrogant at first, and while he still is to some extent, you helped me figure out how to keep him more balanced. You questioned the motives behind the character’s actions and showed me where I was repeating myself or needed to undangle my modifiers. You’ve also become a wonderful ally at filling in my “holes” and dividing my lethal complex sentences. Mostly. But more than anything else, you’ve been a faithful encourager who’s kept me motivated even when I’ve been tired and cranky and the last thing I wanted to do was write another chapter. Knowing you’re waiting keeps me going.

How kind, Lisa, but it works both ways, especially with filling in the holes. You’ve helped fill in  many gaps I left hanging, and I believe in your spare time you could help the police with your knowledge of forensics and crime scenes. You’ve sure fixed plenty of them for me. You too encourage me and have a talent for jumping in at the right time to motivate me to keep writing. I’m glad I’ve helped enough to earn my keep, and I’m so happy to feature Centrifugal Force.

More About Centrifugal Force

Former lovers attempt to rectify the past to save their children and preserve the fragile world in crisis.

Rachel Michels made a poor choice which resulted in her biggest blessing, her daughter, Maeve. When the father of that blessing returns decades later, she knows he wants something she’d taken from him. Rachel has lived in near seclusion and mistrust, fearful of losing the one person who’s kept her life from coming unglued.

Professor Gervas Friedemann returns to Wisconsin, seeking a missing ancient artifact, along with help for his oldest daughter who is suffering from a rare genetic blood disorder. With the European Union at stake, blackmail could negatively impact a crucial vote in the German Parliament unless Gervas recovers an irreplaceable relic he left in the United States on a lecture tour a lifetime ago. He knows who took the piece of history he once flaunted—the woman who had stolen his soul. He only hopes she still has the ring.

Data: Publication Date: December 11, 2017
ISBN-13: 978-0-9967683-6-8
$16.99 print
$2.99 ebook
Some of the retailers for Centrifugal Force include:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble Nook
Smashwords
Kobo
iTunes

About Lisa’ giveaway

Love can heal even the deepest scars …

After seven years with no clue as to the whereabouts of Ann Ballard’s missing husband, nearly everyone presumes him dead. Now forty-something, Ann is ready for her stagnant life to flow again. Then one day, a dark-haired younger man from her past shows up on her doorstep offering a river of hope in place of tears.

Former neighbor Mark Roth has secretly loved Ann for years. A respected attorney, he’s returned home to help Ann face down disapproving family members and the legal maneuvering of her likely deceased husband’s family—while quietly winning her heart.

When the hidden truth of Ann’s situation turns their lives on end and another tragedy strikes, the two must come to terms with family, faith and the depths to which true love can run.

BIO:

Lisa Lickel is a Wisconsin writer who lives in the rolling hills of western Wisconsin. A multi-published, award-winning novelist, she also writes short stories and radio theater, is an avid book reviewer, blogger, and a freelance editor. She is a mentor and instructor with Novel-in-Progress Bookcamp and Writing Retreat, Inc. working with writers from across the US. Visit her website. Stay up to date on Facebook