CJ Lyons: October 2009 Archives

New York Times Bestseller Heather Graham talks to fellow ITW author CJ Lyons about her holiday release, Home in Time for Christmas (Mira, November, 2009)

Prolific doesn't even begin to describe your release schedule.  How many books do you have out this year and how do you juggle writing, appearances, and family so well?

This year, yes! I wound up having a number of books on the market, but sometimes, it happens that way. As for Home in Time for Christmas, it is different. I don't think I kill anyone in it!
 
Hm. A bit frightening.

I think one of the toughest questions for a writer--or me, at least--is that of how long it takes to write a book. Not one has ever taken the same amount of time, and I think that most writers will agree with this--the time it takes to write a book is not the amount of time we sit at the computer. Books are thought out, plotted, and re-plotted. So, often, we're in another city--or another room!--and we see something or hear something that is the beginning of a new book while we're still in the middle of the old one. Life, after all, is a learning circumstance and a teaching session. Our characters come from people we know--old friends, or those we've just met--and our stories come from information that is processed into our minds.