Lisa Daily

Hi Lisa. Great name! Thanks for agreeing to chat with Enchanting Reviews about your books.

1. What made you want to make the switch from writing non-fiction to fiction?
I've always wanted to write a novel, and I kicked the idea for FIFTEEN MINUTES OF SHAME around in my head for a year or so. The idea just wouldn't go away -- it kept nagging me, waking me up in the middle of the middle of the night, I couldn't think about anything else. I had lunch with my editor one day and just blurted out the idea -- and she encouraged me to write it.It was scary to go from something I felt really comfortable doing (non-fiction) to something I had no idea how to do, but the process was thrilling, and the most fun I've ever had writing.

2. What sparked the idea for FIFTEEN MINUTES OF SHAME?
The week before my dating advice book, STOP GETTING DUMPED! was first published, a very prominent dating expert was going through a very public divorce, and she was really taking a lot of heat in the media. At the time, my husband and I had just been married a few years - I remember having this moment where I thought about how awful it would be to go through one of the most difficult times in your life with the entire world watching -- and the idea for FIFTEEN MINUTES OF SHAME was born. As I developed the story, a lot of the funniest scenes dealt with the world of television - the disparity between how something (and some people) look on TV, versus in real life, has always been hilarious to me.

3. What was the hardest part of writing FIFTEEN MINUTES OF SHAME?
The hardest part was the night after I sold the book. My publisher bought the book on nine chapters and a proposal, which is fairly rare for a first novel. I had this moment when I thought, "Ohmygod, what if I don't know how to write a novel?"

4. What's your writing routine like?
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I take my laptop down to the beach and work from there. If I were a hermit, I’d write all night and sleep all day, but reality impedes, so I cram as much writing time as I can when our kids are in school, sandwiched between taping my weekly TV segment, doing media and writing my dating advice column. I use a rough outline that includes basic character sketches and a general idea of the action, and I also use a technique called “storyboarding” that I borrowed from Janet Evanovich and my days as an advertising copywriter.

5. Describe the story in three words.
Dating Expert Dumped.

6. What do you like best about your heroine, Darby? What do you like least?
What I like best about Darby is that she's a funny, somewhat klutzy dating expert who wants to see everybody get a little piece of happily ever after. And she's a fighter, she never gives up.What do I like least about her? It makes me sad that her life circumstances have made her feel so alone in the world.

7. Have any of Darby's dating mishaps happened to you?
Darby is a lot like me --although, to the best of my knowledge, my husband is not planning to dump me on national television. Hmmm. I'd have to say no, Darby's dating life is far more strange and disaster-prone than mine ever was.

8. What was your favorite scene to write?
I love the scene where Darby finds out her husband is cheating, on live national television - it's surprising in many ways, laugh-out-loud funny. The screenwriter who bought the movie rights to FIFTEEN MINUTES OF SHAME loved that scene as well - I think it's everybody's favorite scene. ...I'm still waiting to hear from Matt Lauer.

9. What would readers be surprised to know about you?
I'm very handy with a hot glue gun.

10. What's next for you?
I have a new dating advice book for women over 40 coming out in January called HOW TO DATE LIKE A GROWNUP. It's fun and funny, practical advice for grownup women. I'm also working on a new novel, entitled THE TRUTH ABOUT GOSSIP.

Lisa, thank you so much for answering our questions. It was great having a chance to get to know you! Thanks again for allowing Enchanting Reviews to review your book.

Interviewed by Lisa
May 2008