Meet the Author of The Earth Stones Trilogy: An Interview with Lisa Cram
How did you come up with the idea for the Earth Stones Trilogy?
Serendipitously! My daughter turned me on to YA sci-fi and fantasy when she was in middle school. I loved the pacing; the idea of “other beings” secretly living among us; of characters from different worlds or brought together by impossible circumstances, falling in love for the first time.
I devoured YA and other fantasy stories with vampires, werewolves, magicians, fae, and science fiction with dystopian themes. But I craved something different. Spending so much time on the water, you realize what lay beneath the surface is an entirely different world filled with alien creatures. A world not much different than outer space in terms of our understanding. A world lapping against our shores. A world you can easily dive into. I began to wonder: what kind of intelligent beings could dwell in those deep dark places? Beings like us?
Mer (sea-based) mythology felt like a natural choice to launch from, and, of course, pirates fit in here, being those who could readily have a surprise encounter from the Mer world. Then I set the beginnings of said contact to be in the Pacific Northwest, the San Juan Islands specifically, where I’ve spent a large chunk of my life.
What authors inspire you?
I read a wide variety of authors and genres. I lean toward fast-paced reads with science/fantasy elements. I also love thrillers, especially psychological. And horror involving science and the human psyche (humans scare the living shit out of me). Sometimes I like diving into historical fiction when feeling nostalgic. I love wry and dark humor. Regardless of genre, I’m a sucker for a good love story. Love is a magical and mysterious connection that grabs us when we least expect it. I believe every story should carry this emotional thread, regardless of who (or what) is involved.
Some authors that stand out: Dean Koontz, Dennis Lehane, Lanai Taylor, Brandon Sanderson, John Scalzi… In my youth I read what my parents shelved: Wilber Smith (Courtney Series), early James Patterson (Alex Cross series) and Clive Cussler (Dirk Pitt), John D. MacDonald (Travis McGee series), and of course, The King, as in Stephen. This is not a complete list! I have a HUGE to-read list so I’m sure this list will continue to evolve and grow over time.
Did you always want to be an author?
Er, no. I won’t lie. I didn’t yearn to write a novel as a kid. And I never, ever imagined I would be a published author. I ventured into the software industry instead. It wasn’t until later in life that the writing bug bit me. And when it did, it bit hard, and I was terrified because it kind of snuck up on me and it was something I had no idea how to tackle. I’m a terrible speller. I use the wrong words. All. The. Time. I had no idea how to write fiction. What’s a character arc? How do you format dialogue? I was totally clueless.
But what I do have is an active imagination and a love for fiction. I have a lifetime of stories bouncing around in my head with hopes I can write them all before I fade into stardust.
So you were blindsided, terrified, and clueless… What broke the ice? What got you writing?
Not what, but who: my close friend, Audrey.
Picture this: early May, the opening day of boating season—this is a big deal in the Pacific Northwest because of all the water, and lots of people have boats and they like to party on said boats with their yacht clubs—and the theme for our yacht club that day was pirates, naturally! And part of this “pirate theme” included concocting rum drinks and playing silly games, among other things.
Audrey was offering tarot readings, for fun, not seriously (even though she does possess an otherworldly sense of things). She sensed deep frustration and apprehension within me. My reading went from fun to serious quite quickly. She stated, firmly, that if I didn’t do something to address it, it would become toxic. Oh shit, I thought, I knew exactly what that potentially toxic thing was. So I confessed: I had this story idea but no idea what to do with it, that I was stuck.
So she suggested the obvious: Why not just sit down and… write? Then she added with a wicked little smile, what possible harm could come from that?
Put that way, I felt a little stupid.
So the next day I started writing and the seed of the Earth Stones Trilogy was born. Though it would take 14 years for it to fully manifest.
What kind of research do you do when writing science/technology based fiction?
For Earth Stones, I wanted it to be based in our present-day reality. Which meant modernizing my pirates and making the existence of humans adapted to live in the sea believable. So everything was spawned from real-world technology and science constructs.
I did a lot of research on the Internet, flipped through scientific magazines, read non-fiction, and tapped into the experiences and knowledge of friends. I let my imagination spin, then added my own twist. Sometimes the best ideas pop up when you unplug and give your brain free rein for deep thinking.
In your book’s author bio you mentioned you grew up near the shores of New Orleans and Puget Sound. Can you tell me more about your childhood?
Was this where you learned so much about boats and sailing?
Ah, that started much earlier. While living in Louisiana, we got our first sailboat when I was eight. We picked it up on a stormy day in late December. The broker suggested we come back another day, but dad would have none of it, excited to learn what this sailing thing was all about—and we met the wind! Nauseated, cold, and wet, we somehow survived that first sailing, and many more wild sailing experiences on Lake Pontchartrain, a shallow six-hundred-thirty square mile estuary near New Orleans.
Because of the sailboat, we lived on the bayou. It wasn’t until later I learned the bayou was filled with alligator garfish and water moccasin snakes. As kids we didn’t know any better, water skiing and swimming among them during the hot summer months.
Once in Seattle, we got another sailboat and sailed the San Juan Islands and into British Columbia, Canada. But my parents had bigger sailing dreams. Enter Fram, the ferro-cement-hulled sailboat dad built in the backyard.
Dad eventually finished that boat and my parents sailed the South Pacific for more than six years. I had the benefit of joining them in exotic places like the San Francisco Bay, Sea of Cortes, Fiji, and New Zealand; we sailed and scuba dived together. I feel lucky I had the opportunity to share those experiences with my parents. They are no longer with us, but they live on in memories and their written story; of imagining their dream, bringing it to fruition, and living it. The Stone Boat Odyssey by Ralph & Phyllis Nansen is available as an ebook on Amazon. Lest I forget my childhood, I can simply crack open that book and relive it.
The boating bug continued into my college years. I lived on a 1935 36’ wooden powerboat that my dad, my husband (he was the boyfriend at the time), and I restored. That was the first of many boats my husband and I acquired over the years. So being near the water and boating has been a big part of my life.
Sounds like you’ve lived a varied and disruptive life!
I didn’t know anything other, so to me it was normal. But one thing that remained stable throughout was my love of story and reading books. Coupled with all the adventures, the seeds were planted long ago for me to tell my own stories.
Tell me something else about you.
My life took a much more interesting turn when I went to Western Washington University (WWU) in Bellingham, Washington, and I met my husband, Doug. I knew when we first met that he was the one. There is something to be said about that first kiss…
Anyway, we joined a couple of guys looking for a singer screamer and a guitar player to complete their punk rock band. Me being the screamer. I jumped at the chance on a whim—why not? Sounds fun!
We gave it our best, taking a year off from WWU to hit the stages in Seattle, but at the time Seattle wasn’t ready to embrace a punk rock band like The Accident, so we disbanded, went back to school. It wasn’t until later that Nirvana changed all of that.
Our timing was off, but not our music, which evolved to less screaming and more toward alternative new wave, coming out in the early eighties. If you dig around on YouTube you just might find a couple of grainy black and white videos we cut before MTV was a thing (hint: include “Kill the Bee Gees” in your search for the “The Accident”). And recently, I was honored to be one of many featured women in the book Hit Girls: Women of Punk in the USA, 1975-1983 by Jen B. Larson.
Are you a self-published author?
Yes. I love the flexibility it gives me to choose when and what I publish. With the Earth Stones Trilogy, I wanted to finish writing all three before releasing the series. Why? Because when I find a story I love, I binge read it. Having to wait for the next installment is frustrating. Earth Stones is a complete story, composed of three connected volumes. I published them one right after the other so my readers would have a choice to enjoy the trilogy at a pace that works for them.
If true, then who is Thunder Road Publishing?
Clears throat, raises hand. Ah, that would be me. I formed my own publishing company, Thunder Road Publishing LLC, to have full control over my writing future and to keep my personal life separated from business.
It’s a great time to be an author right now. I love wearing different hats and being the boss. We have choices. But I will be honest, publishing isn’t for the faint hearted. It’s a slog with many roadblocks, at least the first time through. But it’s been worth it, at least for me. I’m in it for the marathon, not a sprint.
What writing books would you recommend to new writers?
To write that first draft of Flow As Water, and the others that followed, I needed help. And encouragement. Lots of it. So I devoured every book suggested for new writers I could lay my hands on. It’s just the way I roll. There are too many to list them all and not all I would recommend, but one I must suggest to anyone who wants to write is this one: On Writing by Stephen King. My paperback version is heavily dog-eared and tattered around the edges.
Beyond that, I suggest new writers seek books on writing by other writers. Experience is everything. I also suggest considering online courses.
I am also a fan of YouTube. I love authors! We don’t need to compete and the more we help each other, we help ourselves. And there is a plethora of them willing to share everything they’ve learned.
What tool do you use to write?
I started with Microsoft Word, which is an awesome tool. But Word leaves “gifts” embedded in the .docx file that can cause great headaches during the ebook/print book conversion process. I now use Scrivener which was designed specifically for writers. It’s reasonably priced, can be customized, and there are many YouTube vids covering various topics by other writers. I can generate a PDF and docx file to pass on for conversion without embedded weirdness. Plus, I can easily create an EPUB file to provide to my beta and ARC readers, and for myself as part of my review process. I’ve found many typos by reading my drafts on the Kindle. Something about shaking up your brain that naturally glosses over those pesky gremlins after seeing them in the same format a billion times.
Are you seeking beta readers?
I have a core team of beta readers currently. Periodically, I may offer Advance Review Copies (ARCs), which I announce to my subscribers.