Author Interview: Elizabeth Allison

About the author:
Elizabeth Allison lives in London, Canada with her husband and their four children. She loves cupcakes, floating in the pool, hand-battered fish and chips, diet Dr. Pepper, and her dogs Mortimer and Mickey. She is meh about the cat. Elizabeth's second novel, "Emily's New Everything," will be published by Black Rose Writing in 2021.

What inspires you to write romantic fiction?
I didn't really set out to write romantic fiction as much as I just started telling a story about a younger me and the hopes and dreams that I had then, along with the belief in true love that I still have in my middle age…

Tell us about how you write.
I mostly write in the summer because I'm a school Principal. Generally, I get up and out to my chair on the deck by about 8. I write through until about 1 most days, stopping to let the dogs in and out and refill my coffee. I put my feet up on another chair and type with my MacBook on my lap. I have a spiral bound notebook with scribbles and plot points and I try to just write from one point to the next. Sometimes the story kind of takes over sideways… When it's 1pm or when I hit a wall before that, I quit and usually jump in the pool…by that time the teenagers are sometimes even up.

Do you listen to or talk to to your characters?
I hear it all in my head. I'm an auditory learner. Sometimes I have to say the things outside to hear myself say them but mostly I hear it as if I'm watching it on TV in my head. The narrative comes out the way I talk to myself in my head. People who know me and read my work sometimes think the main character is me because she sounds like me. In reality, I'm way less witty and cool than she is. It's easy to write witty comebacks with the benefit of hindsight and time….

What advice would you give other romance writers?
Just keeping writing. Write it now and fix it later.

How did you decide how to publish your books?
This book was published with Black Rose Writing, an amazing publishing house. What I really want in future is an agent and a big publishing house and a spot on the book table at Costco and the cover in the window of Barnes and Noble. I'll keep working until that happens. If I takes too long my son might have to push my wheelchair past the table at Costco but I'm okay with that.

What do you think about the future of book publishing?
People need escape, now more than ever. I don't know a lot about business but I know how good a new book smells, or an old book from a used book shop for that matter. I know how much I love my kindle for the last half hour I'm awake at night. Publishing might change in format but as long as there are people who need to read, I don't think we'll see the end of the publishing industry.

Which romance sub-genere(s) fit your stories best?
Contemporary Romance, Chick Lit, Romantic Comedy

My books are available in the following formats:
eBook, Print