***Stay tuned later today for my review of this wonderful book!***
About Lisa April Smith
Author
Lisa April Smith lives with her husband, He-who-wishes-to-remain-anonymous, in
Eternal Playland, Florida, a delightful spot just off I-95.
Ms. Smith describes Eternal Playland as: "a little piece of level heaven
with occasional dampness, where the bugs are plentiful but respectful, and even
the smallest strip mall contains at least one pizza place and a nail
salon."
Before
discovering a passion for writing, Ms. Smith sold plumbing and heating and
antiques, taught ballroom dancing, tutored, modeled, designed software and
managed projects for IBM and returned to college multiple times to study anthropology,
sociology and computer science, in which she holds degrees, as well as psychology,
archeology, literature, history and art. Combine those widely diverse interests
with a love of travel and a gift for writing page-turners and it’s easy to understand
one reviewer’s unbridled praise for Exceeding
Expectations, “She (Ms. Smith) has a brilliance for conveying characters,
and the intellectual capacity to place them in historical settings that sparkle
with glamorous detail . . . that make it fun to read . . . ” But it takes much
more than lush settings, an eye for detail and a love of history to write a page-turner.
Read what another reviewer said about Exceeding
Expectations: “Lisa April Smith . . . has woven an intriguingly rich
tapestry of delightful well-developed characters into a perfectly balanced plot
bursting with riveting mystery, crimes of the petty and the horrible sort,
suspenseful twists, and romantic tension complete with love scenes that sizzle
and pop. . . Clearly, this author has, and wishes to share with her readers, what
the French call joie de vivre – not simply the joy of life – but an
all-encompassing appreciation for every facet of life.”
For more about Lisa, her books, and upcoming
projects visit her website: http://www.LisaAprilSmith.com.
Lisa April Smith can be contacted at WriteLisa(at)LisaAprilSmith(dot)com
Follow her on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/LisaAprilSmith
Friend her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LisaApril.Smith
Thank you for stopping by, Lisa. I’m looking forward to learning
a little about you and your approach to writing.
A: Thank you for inviting me, Crystal.
Q.
I curious, Lisa, did you always want to be a writer?
A. Reading has always been
an integral part of my life. My family all read voraciously. For most of my
life prior to getting married, we didn’t own a television. We were the last
American family to own one and when it broke my father refused to fix or
replace it. He insisted that television was turning our brains to mush because
no one was reading. I always knew that I could write because I never received
less than “A’s” on essays and term papers. And I do remember, when I was in elementary
school, daydreaming about characters and inventing elaborate plots, but at
twelve grownup responsibilities forced me to focus on the practical.
Fortunately, I found time to read – non-fiction to feed my hungry curiosity and
fiction for escape and solace. But it wasn’t until my children were grown that
the need to write fiction resurfaced, abruptly, with the impact of a
tsunami.
Q. What can you tell us about Exceeding Expectations, your new
book?
A. I
wanted the book to be a page-turner suspense, primarily written for women, so
naturally I included romance. The factual events that inspired it took place in
Palm Beach, which triggered my imagination to
incorporate additional lush settings, like an expansive estate in Virginia, an
entire 5 story Manhattan
townhouse, and Paris. But frankly, I adore the characters. There’s the
irresistible rascal Jack Morgan – lackluster artist, gifted lover who prefers
women older than himself, and utterly devoted father. His daughter Charlotte
(Charlie), a self-deprecating 23 year old who is aware that she’s pampered,
over-protected and unprepared to do anything besides marrying a member of her
elite social class. Raul Francesco, the flirtatious young
lawyer, Cuban expatriate, who enjoys teasing Charlie, when he’s not helping her
deal with the fallout of her father’s devastating suicide. But I also provide
supporting characters with unique personalities. I don’t want to ruin the
surprises that I’ve worked to hard to include by identifying and describing
them. Readers will discover them for themselves.
Q. Do your books require much research?
A. Absolutely!
Some books more than others. I’m a stickler for accuracy. When I find the 2nd
or 3rd critical error in a book or movie, that’s it for me. I’m done. Fortunately,
I love history and find research fascinating. I estimate that for every
researched detail I use, thirty are waiting to be plucked from my Word files or
taking up needed space in my brain. Is it any wonder I have problems
remembering names?
Q. When you’re away from your desk, what you enjoy doing to
relax?
A. I
love travelling outside the US
– which we do from time to time, when I can convince my husband to cooperate.
However, if you’re talking about everyday activities, I read, watch reruns of
“30 Rock,” play golf, tend to my cactus and orchids, visit museums, talk on the
phone with my kids, volunteer tutor at an afterschool program and do laundry.
While most people consider laundry a tedious chore, I find filling and emptying
the washer/drier an excellent mindless break. Ironing? Not so much.
Q. Can you tell us some
of the places you’ve visited, where would you like to see that you haven’t and
name the place you’d most like to return to?
A. A three part question: 1) We’ve been to
Aruba, Guadalupe, St. Martin, the Dominican
Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Canada,
Italy, France, England,
China
– loved them all. 2) I’d like to go everywhere but if I had to choose a few
favorites it would Spain, Argentina, Holland,
Peru, Russia and Israel. 3) If I had to pick only one, I would go back
to China
– in a heartbeat. We spent three weeks touring and there’s still so much we
haven’t seen. It’s a huge, very diversified country with deserts and
snow-capped mountains, sophisticated business-centric cities and rural
farmland. And because many parts of China haven’t been affected by
industrialization you can still find examples of things being done the same way
they were done hundreds of years ago. That’s fascinating!
Q. What is your favorite ethnic food?
A. I have two favorite ethnic foods: Chinese and Italian.
Q. Have you ever fantasized about living in a foreign country
and where would that be?
A. When
we were in Stesa, a town in northern Italy
on the shore of Lake Maggiore it was hard not to fantasize
about living there. The view of the snow-capped Alps
across the broad water is breathtaking. The weather is so mild throughout the
year that palm trees flourish there. Summers are cooled by its proximity to the
largest lake in Italy.
The people I met were warm and gracious. And when I got the urge to travel,
getting around Europe doesn’t require seven
hours in a plane. The only negative is the distance to my family, which is the
reason my daydream will always remain a daydream.
Q. What particularly pleases you about writing fiction?
The
creative experience. I’ve always envied painters, sculptors, composers. Imagine
applying oil to canvas and fashioning a masterpiece. Imagine hearing wonderful
music in your head that hasn’t been heard before. Imagine turning a shapeless
lump of clay, or block of stone, into an object that produces emotions in
viewers. Writing is an art too. With words as their sole tool, authors weave
them into stories and place invented people into invented problematic situations.
If the author is truly skillful, she not only entertains, she touches,
transports and meaningfully moves readers. That’s a powerful and addicting
drug.
About Exceeding Expectations
It’s 1961 and Palm Beach socialite, irresistible rascal and
devoted father Jack Morgan
encounters genuine danger while staging his suicide to shield his beloved
daughters from disgrace. Next, meet his daughter Charlotte (Charlie), an
over-indulged 23 year-old struggling to cope with the traumatizing loss of her
beloved father, her sister’s resulting mental breakdown and the discovery that
she’s suddenly penniless. Fortunately Raul, an admiring young attorney, appears
to offer assistance. As terrified as she is about daily survival, Charlie soon
realizes that she has to learn what drove her father to kill himself. With
Raul’s much needed ego-bolstering, the drive of necessity and unforeseen determination,
Charlie finds a practical use for her annoyingly lean 5’ 11” frame. In time, this
career finances her hard-wrought independence, her sister’s costly treatment
and an emotional eye-opening journey to Paris.
Jumping back in time to romantic pre-WWII
Paris, readers
meet young Alan Fitzpatrick – aka Jack
Morgan – lack-luster artist and expert lover and the bewitching girl who will
become the mother of his children. Not even Charlie’s relentless detective work
will uncover all Jack’s secrets, but in a fireworks of surprise endings, she discovers
all that she needs to know and more: disturbing
truths about her father, her own unique talent, crimes great and small and a
diabolical villain.
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