LisaSuzanne

[00:00:00]

Laura: Hi, Lisa. Welcome to What's Your Next Podcast.

Lisa Suzanne: Hi, thank you. I'm excited to be here.

Laura: So happy to have you here. Tell us a little about yourself. Oh

Lisa Suzanne: So I, I'm Lisa. I'm a romance author. I live in Arizona with my husband and two kids ages five and eight. And I've been

Lisa Suzanne: publishing since 2013. Before that I was a high school teacher and college instructor, and now I'm doing the writing thing full time.

Laura: my gosh, I love it. So you've been writing for almost 10 years. It's going to be like an anniversary. No,

Lisa Suzanne: Yeah. 11.

Laura: 11. I was like, I feel like I'm in 2022. What a time.

Lisa Suzanne: I actually had to look at that earlier today. It's really funny. I was commenting in a author Facebook group on something. And was just saying how like I'm actually ahead in my publishing schedule and I've never have been in my 11 year career and I looked at the year like 11 years. What did that happen?

Laura: Yeah, it's like, oh my gosh. And so [00:01:00] you probably haven't seen that the industry has changed dramatically because I started, I joined the industry in some way, in some sort of fashion, first leader in 2016. And I see, I saw the dramatic changes that happened between 2016 to 2020.

Lisa Suzanne: Yes.

Laura: And like, and it just continues, I'm assuming like you were probably right after the 50 shades of gray and no limited, you know,

Lisa Suzanne: actually in before Kindle Unlimited started. That was 2015. And there was KDP Select before then, which was kind of the same idea, but like the first iteration of KU came about in 2015. So I've been there from the beginning. I'm a KU author all the way.

Laura: So what has been some of like surprising things you have learned in this journey of being a writer and doing this not full time for almost for more than a decade,

Lisa Suzanne: Yeah. So I've been full time since 2016 when I had my son. Still that's eight years, right? That's crazy to think I don't know. [00:02:00] I don't know where the time goes, but I think the, like, the biggest thing I've learned about being a full-time author and this being my career, is that like maybe 10% of my day is actually spent writing and the rest, the, like the, you wear all the hats as an indie author.

Lisa Suzanne: So I'm the publisher, I'm the marketer, I'm the advertiser. So I do all these things, I have to make all these decisions with cover design and, you know, communicating to other people. And I have my PA and I have my like TikTok creators and things like that. So it's like, you're constantly like running this business and like, I'm not a business person.

Lisa Suzanne: I'm a former English teacher who loves to write books. And so it's just wearing all these different hats and learning all these different things to run a business.

Laura: yeah, it's a full time job, like, just managing. I mean, people seem to be like, oh, I just spent time reading and the reality is I was. So much more work.

Lisa Suzanne: Right. Right. It is.

Laura: Yeah. Oh

Lisa Suzanne: But, [00:03:00] and, you know, I always say this, like, I love every aspect of this career. Like I've enjoyed getting to learn the business side of things. And actually my husband was a business major in college. And so like we, he has some of that background. So I talked to him about a lot of things, but the one thing that I don't like is editing

Laura: my gosh.

Lisa Suzanne: everything else.

Lisa Suzanne: I'm good. But when it comes to editing, it's like, Oh, I got to do this.

Laura: You gotta do this. Yeah. Yeah, so you probably loved the first, you know, writing the draft, the story, putting it all together, and I was like, oh no, I gotta actually fix the story.

Lisa Suzanne: Now I have to read it.

Laura: Read it over and over until

Lisa Suzanne: Like a hundred times.

Laura: Oh my gosh. So, you write, tend to write a lot of sports novels, I'd say that's kind of like your bread and butter.

Laura: So, where do readers can get started within your series? Because you have multiple series, multiple universes.

Lisa Suzanne: I do. I do. So, home game is the first sports romance I ever published. And it was actually my 30th book back in 2021 was when I published it [00:04:00] and it was, it's the kickoff of my entire Vegas aces universe. And so all of the books that I've written since then are related to that team in some way. But now we have a new team, the San Diego storm, and it is Obviously a San Diego team and it's brand new.

Lisa Suzanne: It came out actually in wedding, the wide receiver, which just released a couple of weeks ago and two weeks ago today, actually. And it, so it's my new team. And like the Vegas aces is just like where I started with football. And then we have a spinoff baseball team as well. So if you're into baseball romance, there's that one's curveball is where you start with that.

Lisa Suzanne: But what I used to do is when I first started was I did five book series. So the home game, the series that starts with home game first Vegas aces series follows the same couple through five books and each book ends in a cliffhanger. It is available on a box set for those of you who can't stand that.

Lisa Suzanne: So it's available in one volume and it's all in Kindle [00:05:00] unlimited too. So, that is, that series is Vegas aces. So it starts with home game. So that's why I recommend starting However, if you like standalones, I just started publishing the Nash Brothers series, which the first book is Dating the Defensive Back and that's a standalone.

Lisa Suzanne: So it's like the whole story told in one volume instead of the five book series, just to try something different. Cause I actually have eight, five book series out now, which sounds like the, this crazy world, right. To have all these books. I have four. 40 books in that series, but they're all like little standalone series.

Lisa Suzanne: So you don't have to read, you can start anywhere, you know, you want to. So really I'd recommend if you like standalone, start with dating the defensive back, and if you like series, then start with home game,

Laura: And then let's head back from your old backlist, because you have more of them, you have so many books, where can they, where can readers get started? Like, which ones do you recommend for them to, you know, once you're like, [00:06:00] okay, I need to work on sports, give me something else, you know,

Lisa Suzanne: before I wrote sports, I was rockstar romance actually. And that's actually not even where I got my beginning, my first six books I unpublished because I felt like they didn't represent my brand anymore. Which feels like so much work now, but I have 73 books out at this point. So I know I'll keep you busy for a while, right?

Lisa Suzanne: Except for those first six. But I would recommend starting the rockstar world starts with a little like destiny, and that is a trilogy. And it does have, it's a love triangle. So I know a lot of people are very like, no love triangle. So if you don't like love triangles, don't start there. But that's kind of where my rock stars started was a little like destiny.

Lisa Suzanne: And it's a love triangle between this English teacher. Cause you know, right. What, you know, and A rock star who she just had the one night stand with and then she meets this other guy and starts dating him and he's this big CEO while he turns out to be the rock stars brother. So it's a love triangle with brothers.

Lisa Suzanne: So that's a fun one. And then if you prefer standalones, cause that's a trilogy. With [00:07:00] cliffhangers, if you prefer standalones, I have my favorite bands series. So it's the MFB series. And that starts with take my heart. And I actually just got illustrated covers for those. So I'm re releasing those and a little bit of a fresh edit on some of them.

Lisa Suzanne: Two. So that start with Take My Heart. That's also available in a box set on ku. So that's just called my favorite band, the Complete series. So that's a fun one. It, it's, each book is a standalone on a different member of the band.

Laura: how do you write so much? Like, what's your schedule? Like, what does it look like for you? Is it every day the same? Or is it some structures and just like, you know, some discipline and showing up or, you know,

Lisa Suzanne: Yeah. A little bit of

Laura: You know, your 10 percent is writing and then the rest is just managing the business, you know.

Lisa Suzanne: So I have I've always had a goal to write 2000 words a day. It doesn't always happen, especially on weekends. You know, I've got two kids, five, like I told you [00:08:00] before, five and eight. So they keep me really busy, especially on weekends. But I also have a husband who's very supportive of this career and he's really good at like inventing time for me to work.

Lisa Suzanne: So, you know, he'll take the kids to the park for an hour and give me a Saturday afternoon to get something done and. Things like that. So, like, we work really well together to invent time for that. But, so my writing goal is 2, 000 words a day, but I'm actually a really fast writer, and I've started doing dictation, so I'll take a walk around. After the kids go to bed and dictate and it's really that's been a game changer for me because I can write like twice as many words in the same amount of time, especially if I can multitask. Like, I'm a big multitasker. So if I can take a walk and get a little exercise while I'm writing, because I'm dictating then that makes it go even faster.

Lisa Suzanne: So that's been working out really well for me. Yeah, I don't know. So just for me, it's really like having that goal and trying to hit that goal every day of getting at least 2000 words.

Laura: So how does Dictate work? Is it just sending [00:09:00] yourself like long podcasts, like voice memos to yourself and then how do you transcribe it or?

Lisa Suzanne: Right. Absolutely. Yeah. I have an app called the dictate app. It's I have an iPhone. So it's the dictate app. And so I've been using that for probably a year and a half or so. And like you just hit record and your screen has to be on, but then you can just talk to it and it'll. Yep. Transcribe your words as you're talking.

Lisa Suzanne: So I don't do a lot of punctuation when I'm dictating. I go back through and add that in after the fact. So like, I have to clean it up after I do that, but it also records your voice. So if you miss a word or it doesn't translate it correctly or transcribe it correctly, you can go back and listen to that spot.

Lisa Suzanne: But I live in Arizona where it's like 115 outside. Like on a normal day. And I've noticed if I'm walking and it, my phone starts getting hot, it'll skip. Like it won't pick up everything I'm saying. So I started, this is more recent, that same app has a transcribe feature. So I've [00:10:00] started just doing voice recordings on my phone and then uploading it to the dictate app and it'll transcribe it for me.

Lisa Suzanne: So that's been out really well for me. And I've noticed too, like If I can like fold laundry and dictate or, you know, like do stuff around the house and dictate. But I can't, for some reason, I'm really weird like this. I can't dictate in the house if my husband's home and he works from home too. So if he's like out doing a project in the field, whatever, he's not at home, I can get all kinds of stuff done.

Lisa Suzanne: I'm like cleaning the house and getting 2000 words and whatever but if he's home, it's harder. So I'll usually walk outside and do it. I don't know. I just can't like have somebody listening to me while I'm doing it.

Laura: I understand. So I tend to send voice messages or like maybe podcast episodes to my friends. I have like pretty, I have like a close group of friends and we'll send each other like 10 to 15 minute messages. And I live by myself. So I just go on my own walk and I just like do my own thing and all that stuff.

Laura: But when I'm traveling and I'm actually at home with my family, I cannot do this. I'm like, I sound so weird. First of all, my [00:11:00] family's in Puerto Rico. So we speak Spanish. So I'm speaking English and like,

Laura: There's something to be said about like having an audience, like even though you're sending it to someone, you know, in my case, I'm sending it to my friend, like a voice message, it's still like, I don't want the audience to be like, and there's an outside audience to understand what is happening.

Lisa Suzanne: right, right. Yeah, totally. You get it.

Laura: I get it. So awesome. So it's kind of a wedding the wide receiver. It's a hangover in Vegas marriage. We're not sure what just happened. And it's also a little bit forbidden because we have, she was, he was engaged to her sister's guy, even though she was like, not the right thing. We gotta be honest. It was not the right thing.

Laura: What is the other word to put?

Lisa Suzanne: So I actually have a prequel story and I don't know. I think I put it up on my website, but it was in a little anthology where it's called the night we met and it's when grace meets Spencer and she's, it's supposed to be like her [00:12:00] cousins introducing the two of them, but then her sister, Amelia, like, swoops in and steals him, you know, cause that's what Amelia does.

Lisa Suzanne: And she's very selfish. And we learned that very early on in Wedding, the Wide Receiver. And so Grace kind of always had this crush on him, but obviously didn't act on it because he was dating her sister and then got engaged to her sister. Well, when Wedding, the Wide Receiver starts, he's breaking up with her sister.

Lisa Suzanne: And so like, he's really, you know, Well, actually, when it starts, it's like the morning after the wedding, and then, you know, it's like, neither of them knows what happened. They like, they're totally hung over. And so then it backtracks in time. And we back up and learn a little bit about the history between them and, you know, how they met and stuff.

Lisa Suzanne: And it leads up to the wedding. Then it's from her point of view. So the first chapter is his point of view. I think it's chapter 16 is her point of view, same morning when they wake up and don't know what's going on. And stuff. And so the it was really kind of fun with that dynamic of the little bit of forbidden where she's, you know, getting involved with [00:13:00] her sister's ex, but it's like they've become really good friends over the last couple of years that they've known each other.

Lisa Suzanne: So there's something there for them already, like a strong base for them already. And then she finds out there's this secret clause in her grandma's will that says whoever's married first for a year, which I mean, we all know is like, not realistic, right? People don't do that, but it's fiction. Like, we go with it because it's, that makes it fun, right?

Lisa Suzanne: So whoever gets married first and stays married for a year will inherit the family vineyard. And this is like Grace's lifelong dream is to run this vineyard. And so when she finds out how horribly Amelia was treating Spencer, she flies out to Vegas to see him and tell him what she knows and say, Hey, I got a plan for how we can get revenge on my sister.

Lisa Suzanne: And they get drunk. They have an allergic reaction. One thing leads to another and they wind up married. So

Laura: what else can you ask for in Vegas? Like, you know, it is perfection.

Lisa Suzanne: Well, thank you. It [00:14:00] was, it's so fun. And I mean, you know, Vegas aces, obviously I'm a fan of Vegas. Like I write a lot of stuff in Vegas, but it's just like, you know, it's like a fun little fantasy land, right. To write about too. So.

Laura: And so what can we expect after the wedding wide receiver from this fall? Like which books are on the queue now that you're ahead?

Lisa Suzanne: Yes. So up next is, and it's already done and actually being recorded right now in audio, is Tempting the Tight End, which is the third Nash brother, fourth Nash brother, actually, but the third book in the Nash brother series. And that's Asher. He's the youngest brother and he's kind of our wild card.

Lisa Suzanne: Like we don't know. So Spencer from Wedding the Ride Receiver is like the logical, responsible, serious one. The one you would never think is going to go to Vegas and get married drunk, right? That's his story. But the next one is Asher and he's the one you would expect that from. And he's, that's not how he is.

Lisa Suzanne: So he, his story is a coach's daughter, which has been very confusing for people because the coach of the head coach of his team is his older [00:15:00] brother. So people are like, well, wait a minute. How can you hook up with the coach's daughter? They get a new offensive coordinator and it's that man's daughter who he has a little one night stand with doesn't know who she is.

Lisa Suzanne: And when they meet again, it's under the circumstances where he finds out who she is. And then that's also a forbidden one because you don't mess with your coach's daughter. Right. But he falls fast and he falls hard, so we'll see what happens.

Laura: this is so exciting. And then we got the San Diego stars. That's like the next year, like the

Lisa Suzanne: Yeah, that'll be coming next after, yeah. I actually have, I haven't announced it yet, but I have a surprise Christmas book coming that is a spin off with some characters people have been asking for from Dating the Defensive back. So I'm not going to say who, but you'll get to see some characters, you know, in that one.

Lisa Suzanne: So that's coming in December. Oh, Tempting the Tight End is October 3rd, and then my Christmas book will be December 2nd. Yep.[00:16:00]

Laura: you know, for the next, like, couple of years,

Lisa Suzanne: Yeah, for sure.

Laura: That's perfect. You know, what else?

Lisa Suzanne: And well, then the one I'm writing now is coming in March and then the one after that's coming next June. So I already have like half the year planned for next

Laura: There we go. Oh, amazing. Lisa, tell us where you can find me online.

Lisa Suzanne: Yeah. Author Lisa Suzanne. com is my website and I try to keep that up to date with all the latest news and events I'm attending and things like that. My Facebook reader group is just team LS Lisa Suzanne's reader group. I'm probably most active in there. And also my newsletter. I send that once a week.

Lisa Suzanne: All the links for all those places are on my website too.

Laura: Thank you, Lisa, for being on the show. Bye. Bye.

Lisa Suzanne: Yes. This was so fun.