Lisa and Laura Roecker Interview!

With the speed of super ninjas, Lisa and Laura Roecker have answered the interview questions! (Dude. They have the coolest website.)
They also have an awesome blog. Seriously, I break out laughing pretty much every time I read it.
I kind of have an author crush on both of them.
Anyway. Ahem. Without further ado....

First, the question every author gets...Tell us about your upcoming book, please!

LIAR SOCIETY is about a girl named Kate Lowry who receives an email from her dead best friend on the anniversary of her death. She launches an investigation to discover what really happened to Grace. Along the way, she finds friendship, love and uncovers lots of secrets lurking within the halls of her private school.

Liar Society is your debut. What's it like, knowing that you've made it--that your book is coming out, that people are cyber stalking you now, and that something you've written will be read by tons of people?

Very, very surreal. We haven't quite wrapped our minds around the fact that next year we'll be able to hold up our book and people will (hopefully) be talking about it. It's exhilarating and terrifying all at the same time.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love my sister, but half the time, I'd be totally willing to ship her off to the circus, especially if it was concerning something as opinionistic as writing. Do you ever just want to kill eachother?

Shockingly, we rarely screen each other's calls (we're habitual screeners, sorry Mom) and we've never really gotten in a fight over anything (writing related. Don't ask about that time in 8th grade when Lisa refused to let me wear her stinky clogs on my birthday). The hardest time for us is when we're building our outline. Laura asks annoying questions in an attempt to poke holes in Lisa's perfect plot. She hates it.

It was mentioned on your blog that you follow a pretty rigorous schedule--6 chapters a week? How long does it take you to finish a book at that pace?

The first book took around 3 months to complete--not sure how much sleeping we were doing during that time. But that doesn't take into consideration all the revisions. The latest draft of the manuscript is almost unrecognizable from the first draft we wrote last winter. Book 2 is going a bit slower, which is why we gave ourselves a strict deadline. We would love to have a draft finished by June.

What keeps you motivated to write so much?

I think having a writing partner is motivating. Whenever I read Lisa's chapters, I want to write immediately (and hopefully she feels the same after my chapters). We would never give up on eachother, which is helpful in staying focused.

You have a fantabulous agent. (Yes. I agent stalk. Ahem. Don't judge, please.) What was the process like to getting her?

Catherine was our dream agent from the very beginning. We had heard so much about Inkwell and they represent so many authors we respect, so she was definitely in our top ten. She actually requested a partial of the first (doomed) book we wrote and we were over the moon. Sadly, three days later we got the big R. The second time around, instead of getting an email, we got a phone call. It was incredible. She wanted to express her interest over the phone, from Australia! Needless to say, we did a whole lot of dancing and screaming after that phone call.

What happens if you disagree on something? How do you compromise?

It's not all that hard to compromise. If one of us feels strongly enough, the other one usually gives a little. Sometimes we meet in the middle, sometimes we surrendor. But really, the person who has the document last gets the final say. Muhahaha.

You two must be pretty close to be able to write together. Has it always been that way?

Yes, we've always been very close. Even throughout high school when we claimed to hate eachother, we were actually pretty close. Lisa always looked out for me and she still does. We also have a younger sister and we're all best friends.

What's the best thing about writing together? The worst?

The best part about writing together is getting the document back. I always get super-excited to read what Lisa added to my chapter and to read the chapter she wrote. It's like being a reader and a writer all at the same time. And that NEVER gets old. The worst part about writing together is creating the outline. It's always annoying not to have the plot figured out perfectly. We feel much better once we have a map.

And then...Is there anything else you would like to add?

I can't really think of anything! Thank you so, so much for having us!


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Thank you to both sisters for the interview, so very much! I cannot WAIT for Liar Society, and in the meantime, I'm going to continue to cyber stalk--Ahem.
Follow. I'm going to continue to follow their blog.
Obsessively.

More later.