Name: Lisa Heartman
Age: On the right side of 40
Title: Romantic Suspense Author
Married/Single: Married
Kids: Only furry, four-legged ones
City you live in: Gilbert
A typical day in my life includes…
coffee, swearing in traffic while I dictate story notes, more coffee, marketing and administrative responsibilities, even more coffee, appreciating the sunset while I rock-out to the radio in more traffic, and writing up ways to get my characters into or out of trouble.
I was born…
in New Jersey into a large, loud, Italian family full of amazing role models.
My favorite thing about Arizona…
is not shoveling snow. Yes, there are tons of great things about Arizona. We have beautiful national parks, breathtaking sunsets, and loads of activities throughout the year, blah, blah, blah. But I don’t have to shovel snow, and that simple fact puts a smile on my face.
I’m listening to…
I have a very eclectic taste in music. I have lots of different playlists for different projects I work on, but I often listen to my iPod on shuffle so I never really know what’s coming. Some days I go from Rascal Flatts to Amy Winehouse to Ozzy Osbourne to Rihanna to Elvis Presley before my first cup of coffee is done.
My family…
is incredibly supportive of my writing. They celebrate with me when I hit milestones and encourage me to keep going when it gets tough. They are my biggest cheerleaders.
If I could have dinner with anyone, it would be…
Shonda Rhimes. I would love to pick her brains on everything from storytelling to life in Hollywood.
One thing I cannot live without…
coffee.
When I was younger, I wanted to be…
an FBI agent. I was so sure I wanted to be an FBI agent that I talked my parents into buying me a navy blue suit and white dress shirt, which I proudly wore to school because I wanted to look the part. That was my dream job until we visited the J. Edgar Hoover building on the eighth-grade school trip, wherein speaking with a real FBI agent I realized I might have to shoot someone someday. Now I write about the FBI, and that seems like a more appropriate fit.
I’m inspired by…
everyday heroes. Ordinary people who accomplish extraordinary things.
The one person who motivates me is…
me. I remind myself constantly of what I’m writing and, why which varies from day to day. I set goals for myself to accomplish and reward myself when I achieve them because celebrating little wins along the way is important. And I make sure to give myself a break, emotionally and mentally, from my writing to be with friends and family.
If I could change anything in the world, it would be…
how quickly people are to judge one another.
The perfect day would be…
sitting under an umbrella at the pool with an ice-cold beer and a stack of romance novels.
My first job was…
at a frozen yogurt shop where I consumed about as much fro-yo as I served up. As you can imagine, the job didn’t last long, but that five pounds I gained stayed with me all through high school.
My favorite escape…
is cruising to new destinations with my family.
My life…
is a series of sassy comments that I try not to say out loud, inside jokes with the people closest to me, watching cooking shows and salivating over delicious recipes that I will never make, and finding the right balance of danger and desire to write romantic suspense novels.
I’m currently working on…
research about gangs in the US for book two of the Kate Howard novels. Title to be released later this year.
Always…
accept a piece of gum or mint if it’s offered to you.
Never…
pass up the opportunity to tell the people around you how much you love and appreciate them.
Favorite Quote…
“Never forget that you are one of a kind.”
Biggest Dream…
for one of my books to be made into a movie or TV series.
My Pet Peeve(s)…
drivers that don’t use their blinkers or use them and forget to turn them off for seventeen miles. I’m not really sure which is worse, but I’m equally annoyed by both.
