Elizabeth Delisi is the author of the spellbinding time travel romance Lady of the Two Lands.  She is also the author of numerous other novels and an editor.  So we are very lucky that she has managed to fit time into her hectic schedule to do an interview for the Magical Romance Website.  A very big welcome to Elizabeth Delisi.

LB    First of all could you please tell us a bit about yourself as an introduction to the visitors of the Magical Romance site.

ED    I've loved to read ever since "See Spot Run." I usually have two or three books going at once--one or two in my bedroom, a couple on my eBookMan e-book reader, and a few magazines scattered around the house. My tastes are pretty eclectic--I love paranormal romance, but also romantic suspense, mystery, horror, science fiction, fantasy, and even an occasional mainstream. Besides reading (and writing, of course), I also love to do "crafty" things like knitting, crocheting, tatting, weaving, and beadwork, and I'd love to learn how to paint. I spend lots of time making promotional items like bookmarks and fliers, and I spend lots of time reading about and practicing with the Tarot. I'm married to a great guy, my high school sweetheart, and we recently celebrated our 25th anniversary. We have three children, and one grandchild with a second on the way! We live in Kansas and also share our home with one bossy cat and one neurotic dog.


LB    Lady of the Two Lands is a time travel novel that is set in Ancient Egypt. For those who have not yet had a chance to read it can you tell us about this book?

ED    Hattie Williams is in a museum, sketching a gold necklace that belonged to Hatshepsut, first female Pharaoh of Egypt. She touches the necklace and the next thing she knows, she’s lying in a strange room with a breathtakingly handsome, half-naked man named Senemut bending over her. Hattie discovers she’s been thrust into the body and life of Hatshepsut. Before she can return to her own time, she must find out who assassinated the real queen Hatshepsut, so history can be put right. Soon, she discovers she's fallen helplessly in love with Senemut and isn't sure she even wants to return home. To protect Tuthmosis from the assassins, she and Senemut arrange to put her on the throne. But, what should she do when she finds herself, an obscure artist from twenty-first century Chicago, crowned ruler of ancient Egypt?


LB    How difficult was it to include real people from history in the novel? How much research did you have to do to make this work as well as it did?

ED    I had to do a lot of research--much more than I expected going into it. Every paragraph brought up a new question: What did ancient Egyptians eat? What did they wear? What kind of medicines did they have? What were their coronation rituals like? What were their bath facilities like? Did they enjoy music? How did they travel? The questions were endless. I spent whatever time was necessary to answer the questions, as I wanted the details of the book to be as authentic and accurate as possible.

Several of the characters in the book, including Hatshepsut and Senemut, are real historical figures. I tried hard to make sure the historical events portrayed were as truthful as I could make them. Since practically nothing is known about everyday conversations, and we can only speculate about the nature of the relationship between Hatshepsut and Senemut, I felt free to improvise as best fit the story. It was a lot of fun!


LB    Egypt is a fascinating country. Have you ever visited it and if so what did you enjoy the most? If not, would you like to and what would you like to see there?

ED    I've never visited Egypt, but I'd love to. I've been mesmerized by it since I was twelve years old. One of the high points of my life was getting to see the King Tut exhibit--twice! If I'm ever able to visit Egypt, I want to see as many of the temples and tombs as possible. Especially, I'd like to see Hatshepsut's temple; Akhenaten's abandoned city at Amarna; the temple at Karnak; Abu Simbel; the Valley of the Kings; and of course, the pyramids and the Sphinx. And naturally, the museums would be high on my "must-see" list as well!


LB    You have quite a few other books out there too. Could you tell us about those?

ED    I have a mystery that was released a short time ago called FATAL FORTUNE. It's the first in the Lottie Baldwin Mystery Series. Lottie is a colorful character, a psychic who uses her Tarot cards to solve mysteries. She manages to get herself in quite a few scrapes but always gets out, sometimes with the help of her boyfriend, sheriff's deputy Harlan Erikson.

One of the exciting things about this mystery series is the new Tarot deck I commissioned for it, the Fatal Fortune Tarot. Now, Lottie has her own personal deck to solve those mysteries! Two sequels to FATAL FORTUNE are due out next year: PERILOUS PREDICTION, a novella-length story, will be featured in a mystery anthology due out in Oct. 2004 from NovelBooks, Inc.; and DEADLY DESTINY, the next novel in the series, will also come out in Oct. 2004 from NovelBooks.

Also due out from NovelBooks next year is my suspense novel, SINCE ALL IS PASSING. It hits the shelves in April of 2004.

If you enjoy contemporary romance, I have a novella in each of the following anthologies from DiskUs Publishing: CUPID'S CAPERS, HOLIDAY HEARTS, and HOLIDAY HEARTS 2. Also available from DiskUs are my two short story anthologies, PENUMBRA and MIRROR IMAGES.

In addition, five of my writing-technique articles are featured in THE BEST OF NOVEL ADVICE, from Novel Advice Press; and I have two essays in the anthology CRUMBS IN THE KEYBOARD from Echelon Press.


LB    What are you working on at the moment and what can we expect to see on the shelves from you in the coming months?

ED    I'm working on the two "Lottie" sequels that I mentioned above, which will be out next October. Also due out next year is a third "Lottie" story, "Mistletoe Medium," in a holiday anthology called ENCHANTED HEARTS. It's a "prequel" to FATAL FORTUNE, telling about Lottie's introduction to Harlan, and will come out from Hard Shell Word Factory.


LB    Which genre of books do you enjoy writing the most?

ED    That's a tough one, because I enjoy writing them all! But if I had to choose only one, I would probably pick paranormal romance. I think it's the thread that links almost all of my works together. All the "Lottie" mysteries have a paranormal tinge because she's psychic and reads Tarot cards. My short stories are definitely of the "Twilight Zone" variety, and of course LADY OF THE TWO LANDS is a time-travel romance, so is definitely paranormal. I must have a little gypsy in me, because I can't resist putting in one or two of those weird and wonderful elements!


LB    Besides writing your own novels, you also work as an editor. Do you find it difficult to edit your own work just because it is yours, or do you find that having seen common mistakes made by others that you are less likely to make them yourself?

ED    Well...a little of both. Seeing mistakes others make helps me figure out what works and what doesn't, which is very helpful. But there are still huge blind spots when it comes to editing my own work. It's not that I don't know what needs to be fixed, but I know the story so well that the words blur and I skim over them, missing things I should catch. When I've read the same sentence a dozen times or a hundred, I skip what's printed on the page and my mind just fills in the blanks. Fortunately, I have several wonderful critique partners, including my first reader--my husband--and they catch the things I miss!


LB    You are very involved in writing workshops. Do you have any small tips for aspiring writers out there?

ED    Stick to one point of view (POV) character per scene or chapter. So many beginning writers jump into every character's head, which is confusing and distracting to the reader. You don't need to show every character's thoughts. Figure out which character has the most at stake in the scene and write the scene from his/her POV. That doesn't mean you can't let your reader know how your other characters feel, though. You can imply a lot with dialogue, action, expression, and body language.

Use contractions! So many people write "I am not" instead of "I'm not," or "we will have" instead of "we'll have." This might seem like a good choice when you're writing, but when you read it, it sounds stilted and awkward. Only write out the words on rare occasions, for special emphasis.

Learn the rules of spelling and punctuation and grammar. Your spell-checker will NOT catch everything, and a sloppy manuscript may not get past the slush pile.

Avoid exotic dialogue tags. "Said" or "asked" is usually best. Some lines of dialogue don't need a tag at all if it's clear who's speaking, and others can take an action tag instead.

Avoid adverbs and superlatives. If you have to tell the reader how something was done, then you didn't chose the right verb in the first place. "Dashed" is better than "walked quickly," and "gorgeous" is better than "really beautiful."

But my best tip is--never give up! If you want to write, and if you keep learning and studying and practicing and submitting, if you refuse to be discouraged, then you'll succeed one day.


LB    Do you have a message for all your readers out there?

ED    I love to hear from you! Let me know which of my books you've read, how you liked them, what you'd like to read next. Also, please visit my website at www.elizabethdelisi.com and check out all the free things, sign up for my newsletter (a contest in every issue!), check out my signings and appearances schedule, leave me a note in my guestbook. I couldn't do what I love to do without you!

I would like to once again thank Elizabeth for taking the time to do this interview.  And I am sure that we all look forward to seeing more of her novels out there.

Read a review of Lady of the Two Lands