Name Lissa Pelzer

Age  A lady never tells

Where are you from

The UK originally, but I’ve lived in the US, France, Japan and Denmark. I’m currently living in Germany

 

 
Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

I first thought seriously about a career in writing during university. I was mesmerized by Patricia Highsmith novels and idolized her work and her lifestyle.

 

 
Fiona: When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I go in and out of phases of considering myself a writer. Once I had a job as a content writer, churning out 3000 words a day for a salary, then I felt like a writer!

 

 
Fiona: What inspired you to write your first book?

Patricia Highsmith’s Talented Mr Ripley. I desperately wanted to create a character than aspirational.

 

 
Fiona: Do you have a specific writing style?

I try for an economic, plot driven style, but know that sometimes readers like a little waffle too.

 

 
Fiona: How did you come up with the title?

My first book in the Carol Ann Baker series is called No More Birthdays. This title was designed as a hint towards the twist in the story. The detective trying to help Carol Ann after she’s killed a man in self-defense wrongly thinks she is a minor who will be eligible for leniency. It’s also meant to suggest danger, once someone dies, they don’t have any more birthdays.

 

 
Fiona: If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

No. Because you can do that forever. You have to know when to stop.

 

 

Fiona: Can you share a little of your current work with us?

I’m currently working on a synopsis for a Virago competition. The brief is “suspenseful and original”, but otherwise it’s up to you. It’s hard to always be original. Too original and no publisher will go near it. A publisher’s dream book is always a little like another book which came before.

 

 
Fiona: Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Editing after the first draft and remembering what has changed is a challenge. Sometimes, you read the first draft through and realize some tiny thing you wrote on page 52 doesn’t connect to something you wrote on page 99, so you change it. But then after the change, you remember there was something relevant on page 5, that now you’ve made the change, needs to be changed too. And on and on it goes a thousand times. I find that maddening.

 

 

Fiona: Do you remember the first book you read?

Princess and the Pea! I remember using it as a gauge to see how much I could read.  Once I could read the whole book alone, I was very proud of myself.

 

 

Fiona: Do you have a blog/website? If so what is it?

www.lissapelzer.com