A chat with Shelley Lieber (and Elyse Grant)
Shelley says:
I can honestly say, “Books are my life.” It probably began
with the children’s stories my mother read to me. One glorious day, my father
brought home a book for me to read by myself. It was a first-grade reading
primer. I can’t imagine where he got it, but I still have the well-worn
hardcover on my bookshelf!
From that day on I was addicted to reading, and I have no
intention of trying to break the habit. Since graduating from college, my
career has been rooted in some area related to books and communication: I’ve
held positions in book publishing, magazine publishing, marketing, and public
relations as an editor, writer, author, publisher, marketing director,
publicity agent, consultant, and author advocate.
Some may know me as Shelley Lieber, The Wordy Woman, author
and publishing consultant. In that persona I wrote 4Ps to Publishing Success and
Publishing Made Easy & Profitable; created the VIP Authors writers
community; and founded Visual Impressions Publishing, a publishing vehicle for
independent authors.
But there’s another writer-protagonist in this story. About
ten years ago I was transitioning from divorced, single-mom, freelance writer to
being an empty nester in a second marriage with a new career as a publishing
consultant. A few years later, I began writing Sex in the Suburbs, a nonfiction book about my midlife experiences
re-entering the dating world when one day the story abruptly morphed into
fiction. You’ve probably heard authors talk about characters having lives and
minds of their own. That’s exactly what happened to me.
Elyse takes
over...(Oh, please! If we wait for you to tell the story, these nice readers
will be here all day...)
My novel, THE PRINCE CHARMING HOAX, began life as a nonfiction
book by Shelley Lieber that was going nowhere fast. I’m a fiction writer and
I’d been waiting many years to emerge. My opportunity finally showed up one day
when Shelley was struggling to organize and present all the stories she had
conducted from her real-life interviews with divorced and separated women as
research for the book. I saw her falter in frustration and I quickly jumped out
and took over the keyboard, introducing her to the characters of Leah Gold and
Roxanne Stein. Suddenly everything seemed to fall into place, and the story
unfolded.
Shelley returns...Thanks,
I’ll take it from here.
The Prince Charming
Hoax, a sizzling hot story of self-growth and empowerment, was almost seven years in the making.
While in the final editing stage and preparing for the release of the ebook, it
occurred to me that I was also gearing up for my personal “release” as the
author of erotic fiction. Contemplating these momentous events, I was struck by
the realization that Shelley Lieber and Elyse Grant are the real-life models
for Leah Gold and Roxanne Stein. Shelley and Leah are the “good girls,” smart, creative,
with nurturing mom-type personalities. Roxie and Elyse are the “naughty girls,”
sassy, ambitious, with a penchant for bending the rules and having fun.
The truth is that every woman has these two personalities
within. Mine are just living it out publicly! I hope you enjoy The Prince Charming Hoax. FYI: This is
Leah’s book with Roxie as co-star. But in the third novel of the e-trilogy,
Roxie will get the lead role. (Elyse
says: “If I have anything to with it—and I do because I’M the fiction
writer—Roxie will get the lead in book two.”) (Shelley replies: “Yes, well, I’M the editor, so we’ll see who wins
this argument J.”)
Please follow Shelley and Elyse’s escapades in the real and
literary worlds at their blogs:
Connect online!
Amazon: http://amzn.to/Y5YRaC
Facebook: http://facebook.com/shelleylieber
Twitter: http://twitter.com/wordywoman
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