On The Outside: Lisa Schroeder

Sorry, I didn't post last week, we had an author visiting and it was jammed packed. I also realized I haven't set an official day of when these would be posted, so I would like to clarify that also, they will be posted on Monday every week, unless I have an author who would request it to be on the release day for their new book.

Lisa Schroeder is the author of two young adult novels, I HEART YOU YOU HAUNT ME, and her newest book, FAR FROM YOU, released December 23rd 2008. You can visit her online at http://www.lisaschroederbooks.com/

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I'm one of those authors that has to have a title while I'm writing. It may change as I go along, but I can't leave that top space on the manuscript blank, for some reason. One of my little quirks as a writer, I guess.

So at first the title of my latest book was LOST WITHOUT YOU. When I started writing, I knew the elements that would be in the book - a singer/songwriter as a main character, named after ALICE IN WONDERLAND, with the book playing a part in the story; a mother who had passed away from cancer; and a deadly snowstorm that would cause Alice to reexamine her feelings about life and her family.

After I was done writing, I sent the book to my agent, and one of her concerns was that the book might be criticized as being just another book about a dead mother. So I tried to put the emphasis more on Alice having trouble accepting her stepmother and her new half-sister rather than so much about missing her mother. Of course in the book, she does miss her mother, but there are other issues she's struggling with, not just that.

After I revised, I knew LOST WITHOUT YOU wasn't going to work anymore, because it was a title that, to me, put the emphasis on missing someone. For days, I drew a blank. I put a cry for help out on my blog, and still, nothing. One day I was out for a walk and listening to my iPod. And one of the songs I had listened to numerous times as I wrote the book came on during that walk. And the first line of the song made me literally stop. It's really weird, I still can remember that exact moment.

The song? From Where You Are by Lifehouse. The first line of the song is:

"So far away from where you are.."

Narrow that down, and it's FAR FROM YOU. And that is how the title came to be.

If you look in the acknowledgments of my book, you'll see I mention Jason Wade, the lead singer and songwriter for Lifehouse. That's how important his music was to me in writing this book. And, coming up with a title as well!

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Thanks Lisa!

If any author wants more details on how you can do an On The Outside post with me, please email me at kels.m.17@gmail.com with On The Outside in the subject line and I'll get to you immediately with the details!