Tanya Lisle

  • Earlier this month at LitFest, there were quite a few people who wanted to know if there was any advice I could give to new authors. It came up during an interview I did with CSFJ as well. And while there’s always a lot of advice, I tend to go right back to what my old standby is.

    Try everything. Keep trying things until you find what works for you.

    There’s reams of writing advice out there, and that advice will run from writing a thousand words a day to finish the novel in a month to revise as you go. You should plot everything, plot nothing, plot only a couple things and leave the rest up in the air. You should know everything about your characters before you start or you should get to know them as you write. The advice is wildly contradictory between sources, and not even every author can agree on what the best way is to do things.

    That’s because the best way doesn’t exist. There’s only the best way for you. And figuring out what that best way for you is to try out a bunch of methods and not getting too upset if something isn’t right. Write every day and see if that’s working for you. Try powering through a first draft and see if the need to go back and revise while you write is too great. Try NaNoWriMo once to see if your brain likes it.

    It’s important to understand that there is no one right way to get your story out in the world. That’s going to mean trying a bunch of things until you get your weird routine for writing down and figure out what works for you, your life, your brain. It doesn’t matter how other people do it. You have to figure out how you do it and know that your way is the right way for you.

  • I’ve been making a bunch of quote graphics. Again. Have a few of the Looking Glass Saga ones!

  • As you may be aware, I’m starting to do some in person events. Going out into the world to talk to fans and have tables to sell books right to people. And let me tell you, I need help figuring some of this out. I may be good with numbers, may have that retain background, may know just how to put a story together, but being a person actually meeting people and representing something that I actually made, something I care about, is hard.

    And so Adam Dreece was kind enough to give me an advance copy of 5 Things. No lie, this book is wonderful for anyone who is representing themselves in person. It goes over a lot of elements from how to set p a display so people understand what it is you’re there to represent to how to deal with various interactions that you may encounter.

    There are two sections of particular note that I want to highlight as extremely useful: The section on finances and the section on the types of people who you will meet with.

    I already have a pretty good handle on my finances when it comes to these things, but it’s very useful for those who are not fully aware of their costs in doing events like this, but I know a lot of people who don’t really understand the costs of them. How to manage your budget is very important for you as a business and the breakdown is done in a very approachable way.

    As for the people, this was particularly beneficial for me. There’s not only a list of different types of people and names given to them, but also a rough guide of how to interact with different types of people, from positive interactions to negative ones. Just having this list and suggestions helped alleviate a lot of the anxiety around doing in person events.

    It’s just come out and I highly recommend it. It’s a great read if you’re just starting out, up to if you’ve been doing this for a while.

  • I feel like I’ve written this post before, but I can’t seem to find it so here we go! I’ve been asked quite a few times about the origins of Return to Wonderland and The Looking Glass Saga as a whole, so it’s time to get it all down.

    It started back in 2009 when Disney bout Marvel. It seems like a long time ago and arguably a good thing, but I was in comics back then ((Reviewed them on Youtube! And I worked at a comic shop!)) and I got to see the fallout that happened among the fanbase. People were pissed about the move, insisting that they were going to put Mickey Mouse ears on Wolverine and Disney-fy everything that they possibly could. It was considered a terrible move by a very large number of people and they thought the content would be sanitized to the point where it would be unrecognizable.

    And I got really sick of listening to these people. Somehow in the annoyance of it all, I started getting an idea to turn things the other way and superimpose the Marvel Universe over Disney properties. I had a decent understanding of some franchises and a less good grasp of others, but ultimately there were a lot of weird parallels and crossovers created.

    One of those was my Dr. Strange-inspired Alice in Wonderland. Here’s the thing to note about that. I am not that familiar with either Dr. Strange or the Alice in Wonderland Disney movie. I don’t think I’ve actually seen it. I read the book and absorbed the movie more or less through cultural osmosis. But I decided to do this mashup and do a take on it anyway.

    Essentially, Wonderland turned into a parallel to that other dimension that Dr. Strange is in charge of and she was the protector of all that madness. It was a neat idea and I moved on to do all the princesses and mash them up with franchises I was more familiar with.

    But the idea of that Alice story stuck with me and in the back of my head I kept revising it. It morphed and changed and I really liked the concept, but I didn’t have a fully formed story to put it to at the time. I had ideas, so many ideas, and nothing to do with them.

    And then NaNoWriMo happened. I’ve told the particular story of that incident, but that was the last straw to getting the story written and put together. For me, at the time, a lot of figuring out what the tory was going to be happened by actually writing it and seeing if I liked where it was going, then turning it into a thing as I went along. And for Alice’s story, I ended up really liking some of it and wanting to continue it. I borrowed the Harry Potter structure and started laying in the groundwork for the longer series and I’ve been working on it ever since!

    It’s been a weird trip. And now that I’ve got the first draft of the final book of the series done and it’s feeling like it’s getting close to done, I’m reminiscing more and more on how it started. It’s not very much like that initial origin, but there are glimmers still there and it’s fantastic to see.

  • I picked up Urban Heroes back at Creative Ink, but I heard TJ Lockwood reading from the book back at VCon. Side note, if you ever get the chance it’s worth going to see her read. I think she’s doing that more often now, and I came in knowing just as much as the first chapter reveals about the book. Which is to say not a whole lot, but I was interested.

    The story follows a woman named Cal as she navigates a world where humans and androids are not so peacefully coexisting so much as humans are distrustful of androids after an incident. Complicating the ethics of the matter is the fact that humans are often cybernetic ally enhanced to the point where the lines between the two are conceivably blurred. After rescuing a young girl, she and her partner, Axton, are on the run from the life Cal once had. You don’t really get the details of why they’re running for a while.

    The book does feel in large part like it is a middle book, which apparently it is. The girl they rescue doesn’t play a very large part in this story, but there’s hints dropped that there’s something special about her. Cal’s father is only mentioned and never shown. Her friend, Bree, mentions that she has allies but we only really see one of them. This whole story seems to be setting up Cal on a path to redemption and this book focuses largely on the narrative of  that first step.

    I particularly liked her usage of Canada, which is a weird thing to latch onto. The city names are used in the same way I’ve seen American cities used in other media, with the expectation that the names mean something and are enough to orient you. It feels natural and uses Canada in the way I wish it would be used in more media. As a Canadian, it just makes me happy.

    Overall, I really enjoyed the story. The world and the way it unfolded throughout the narrative was interesting,  and the story kept me engaged. I could sympathize with Cal’s choices ((Though I disagree with a couple personally)) and I liked the dilemmas that it came up. The sci fi is much more urban, and the focus stays very much on the characters, which I’m a fan of. If you like the sound of any of that, definitely check it out.

    Get it on Amazon!

  • Spoiler

    This is actually a post I made several years ago on a site that no longer exists, but still useful. Enjoy!

    [collapse]

    When writing the first draft of anything, I’d suggest never looking back. It’s hard for some people to do, I know. You want it to be perfect the first time, but first drafts are rarely ever masterpieces and they will almost always need heavy editing. You could spend hours making it perfect the first time, or you could have fun with it the first time.

    I like to write now and edit later, as I now realize that my first drafts will usually suck. Let it come out as it comes out and don’t worry too much about editing. If you can help it, don’t edit at all, leave it raw and then you can go back afterwards and fix everything if the story is worth it.

    Like zombies.

    Think of your story like a city infested with zombies out for your brains. The more you write, the closer you get to the chopper to get out of there. Unfortunately, these are running zombies and they’re always right behind you. Don’t look back, just keep writing/running until you get to the end/chopper. You can make it! YOU CAN DO IT!

    Then you’re at the chopper. Now you can look back at your story infested by zombies. There’s grammar and spelling mistakes, plot holes and character inconsistencies. That’s fine. It’s what the first draft is for. You are safe now, it’s done. Take a breath, get back to society and remember what it’s like to be around normal people.

    Then, when you’re very ready, go back to the zombies. And bring ammunition. Take your bombs/red pen and tear the whole thing apart. Keep going until it’s all good and inhabitable again.

    Although by this metaphor, it follows that your mistakes create zombies. I guess the metaphor still works.

    Run like hell, leaving zombies in your wake and make it to the chopper at the end. Look back and risk getting eaten by the zombies with no hope of ever reaching the chopper. Sure, you can turn back and kill a couple that are breathing on your neck, but don’t fight the whole army. Once you reach the chopper, recuperate some and come back with the big guns and bombs that will kill them all.

    Why yes, I am still looking for my notebook.

  • So first and foremost, Maddie Hatter and the Deadly Diamond is not at all an Alice in Wonderland story. That’s what I was expecting, some sort of steampunk reimagining of the classic following along with maybe the Mad Hatter’s daughter. So before we get too far into it, this is not that.

    What we have instead is a murder mystery where we follow intrepid reporter and steam lord’s daughter in hiding Maddie Hatter as she tried to solve the case so that she can finally earn her byline and escape the world of fashionista reporting. A mysterious mask has been uncovered and stolen, the dead man washing up on shore and what follows is intrigue as Maddie tried to get into as many places as she’s not supposed to in order to figure out what’s happening and report the story back to London while not being recognized by the upper crust of society.

    One of the things that I had trouble adjusting to in this book was the language. There’s a certain flavour to steampunk that always takes me a little longer to adjust to. I don’t know why I wasn’t expecting it, but it surprised me nonetheless and it took me a fair few chapters before I properly fell into the rhythm of the story to start trying to pick out the clues along with our heroine.

    Maddie is a lot of fun to follow through her journey. She’s witty and insightful, quick and eager to try new things. She had an interesting perspective on the world she is living in and watching her try to puzzle together the pieces of the mystery’s been great.

    I did like this story, though it wasn’t what I was expecting. I think a younger audience would likely enjoy it a lot more. There’s a lot of great stuff in here, from the touches of world building throughout to the mystery itself. You feel for the character and there’s a good story underneath it all.

    Get it on Amazon!

  • The book is almost done! I’ve decided to release the ebook first so you can get the next installment of the story sooner, and the paperback a little later. Beauty Sleep will be coming out June 19, 2019!

    After all this time, the end was finally in sight.

    Alice long ago learned that life wasn’t fair. She had tried everything to defeat the Bandersnatch, but he remained deep in the forest of Lucena Academy. With only one semester left, she thought she could just enjoy herself as much as possible and wait until he finally took her away forever.

    But when Adrianna suddenly falls into a coma, Alice knows there’s something strange happening. At the direction of the monster about to claim her, she must go back into Wonderland and through the depths of Neverland to find a way to wake her up. Alice knows time is running out for her, but she will stop at nothing to make sure Adrianna is okay.

  • I didn’t know what I was getting into with I’ll be Gone in the Dark. My impression was that it was a documentary book about a serial killer, the Golden State Killer, and how he eluded the investigators time and time again until present where his case still has not been resolved. I was very surprised and happy to find that was not what I was getting into at all.

    I love the true crime stuff, but I’ve become a little jaded in that I almost expect the killers to be held up on this pedestal, to be made figures of wonder and awe to idolize for their cunning and their ruthlessness. This book does not do that. Instead, the focus is largely on the victims and the events that happened told through a stunning narrative lens that brings you much more into the scene of the attack and focuses squarely on the victims rather than the killer.

    McNamara does a fantastic job of painting the picture of these victims and their encounters with the killer, and of how their lives are rocked by the attacks. The people who find the bodies, the people who are in the house at the time of the attacks, everything is entered largely on the people whose stories we know. It’s respectful and keeps your attention where we know the story as opposed to speculating too much on what we don’t.

    Even when she follows the investigation, it largely focuses on what the impact of the investigation was on the people instead of idolizing the killer. ((This is a problem with true crime and I don’t know if I’m making myself clear here)) He’s treated as a puzzle that people are coming together to solve, as more of a hypothetical and she draws a line between what we know and what is only speculation. There’s no real dancing up to a line to make him seem like more than he really is, he is just a thing that exists, a puzzle to solve and no one has yet. Nothing more, nothing less.

    McNamara died before the end of this book and you can definitely tell where her writing stops and other people have stepped in. There’s something more human and lively about how she talks about the murders and attacks that is lost when she is. But it’s still a fantastic read throughout, and if this is the start of thing you like then I would definitely recommend checking it out.

    Get it on Amazon!

  • Yes, I know it’s like I just redid the covers for The Looking Glass Saga, but I did them again! I was getting a little unhappy with the way they looked next to one another on the shelf with the colours, so it’s mostly just a pallet swap for all of them. Have a look and let me know what you think!

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