Frequently Asked Questions

Are your books connected to each other in series, or are they stand-alone?  Do you have any sequels planned? 

Most of my books are stand-alone.  The only two that are connected to each other are COME TO ME and DREAM OF ME, although even they can be read one without the other, and in either order.  Some readers think it's a better reading experience to read COME TO ME first, though.

I'm writing a sequel to these two books right now, that will come out in 2011.  Keeps tabs at the Fans of Lisa Cach Facebook page.

If I send you an e-mail, will I get stuck on a mailing list? No!  You can contact me at lisa@lisacach.com with no fear of getting LisaSpam.

Do you have a newsletter?

The best place to get updates is on the Fans of Lisa Cach page at Facebook.

Otherwise, you can click on "Newsletter" in the menu bar.

What about a bookmark you can send me, do you have one of those?

No, unfortunately.  I sometimes think of having some made, but then the thought of all the messing around with the computer gives me a headache and I have to have a bowl of ice cream to soothe myself.

I've always wanted to write a romance novel.  Do you have any advice?

Write!  Half the people you meet say they want to write a book, but how many ever do?  If you want to write a novel, write one.  Until you have something on paper, you have nothing to work with, nothing to show an editor or an agent or a critique partner, nothing to rewrite, nothing.  So stop saying you want to write, and go do it!

Read!  Read romance, read suspense, read Moby Dick or Hop on Pop -- it doesn't matter what.  Just as when you drink enough wine you begin to distinguish what is good and what is bad, what works and what doesn't, so it goes with literature (and that wine comment is no reflection upon my personal habits).

Persevere!  Your work will be criticized, it will be rejected, it will be lost in a pile on someone's floor.  You will procrastinate, lose motivation, and feel sick with envy when you hear of other newbies getting published.  We've all been there.  I gave up writing for five years, I became so demoralized.  Your only guarantee of never getting published, though, is if you give up completely.  So, smile when you feel like you've been kicked in the teeth, and keep going!  

Would you be willing to help me with some story ideas I have, or to read something I wrote?

I barely have the brain power to get my own work done.  I waste hours rewriting the same sentence, or whole days staring at the wall, wondering if minor plot point A or minor plot point B would be the best choice.  Or maybe I'm just thinking about a dress I saw in a catalogue.  I'm not telling. 

A good place to find someone to work with would be through Romance Writers of America.  Join a local chapter, or if you live out in the boonies, join one on-line!

How does a person get started as a romance writer?  Do you have an agent?

I did it by working half-time on the graveyard shift, and using my days off (and quiet times at work) to write.  I found the basic information I needed for submitting to publishers in The Writer's Market, which you can find at almost any public library or bookstore.  The answers to dozens of any writer's questions can be found there. 

I did not have an agent when I sold my first book, but after that sale I asked my new editor, Chris Keeslar, to recommend a few to me.  I went with the first one I called, Linda Kruger of the Fogelman Literary Agency, and was very happy with her for five years.

And then she retired.  Ah, woe is me!  So I went back to Chris Keeslar and asked him again for suggestions.  This time he hooked me up with Helen Breitwieser, of the Cornerstone Literary Agency.  I also talked to some agents I researched on my own, but Chris's matchmaking talents prevailed, and I am now a client of Helen's.

You must be getting rich, huh?

Ah ha ha ha!

Snicker, guffaw! 

Let me wipe away the tears of laughter with my threadbare handkerchief.  A writer is like anyone else hoping to make their living in the arts -- actors, painters, dancers, musicians.  A very few make piles of money and live in villas on the south coast of France, some starve and their bodies are found decomposing in moldy basement apartments, and most barely manage to muddle through, usually with a second source of income.

Do you maintain your website yourself?

No.  Yes.  Sort of. 

All technical aspects of the site are handled by Alpine Internet Solutions.  They have rigged it so that I can add pages and alter existing ones without knowing any HTML.  How cool is that?

What lame FAQs.  Can't you think of anything better?

Feel free to e-mail me with any questions you'd like to see answered here:   lisa@lisacach.com