Campus Celebrity: Lisa Richardson

Lisa Richardson is a third year student of Creative and Professional Writing, who has just self-published her second novel.

Blog of the Dead – Life is the sequel to Lisa’s first zombie novel, Blog of the Dead – Sophie, and was released on Friday 28th February 2014.

The most incredible thing about Lisa’s self-published novels, is that not only has she done the publishing and marketing work herself (as well as the writing, obviously) but she has done it all while raising two lovely little boys and attending university – that’s pretty special.

Blog of the Dead started life, as the title would suggest, as a blog. In her first year of university along with her classmates, Lisa was encouraged to create a blog and internet presence. With her love of zombies in mind and inspired by the Folkestone Zombie Walk, Lisa wrote a survival blog of a Folkestone based student. Her blog gained popularity throughout Folkestone and beyond, and her fans were eager for each instalment. With the blog’s success, Lisa was encouraged to release it as a novel – and now two years after starting the blog, her second book has been released.

Why did you choose to do the Creative and Professional Writing degree at Christ Church?

I was getting quite close with literary agents, having had a few agents request the full manuscript of novels I had written. But on every occasion the novel would be rejected at the final hurdle. Having been writing novels for around six years by that point and having amassed a huge pile of standard rejection slips, I knew even having an agent request my manuscript was a big deal. I knew it meant I had potential as a writer, and I wanted to discover where I was going wrong and how I could become the best writer I could be. When I Googled writing courses, the one at Canterbury Christ Church came up and I thought it looked interesting. Covering both creative and professional writing, I thought it would not only improve my creative writing but also develop skills in other areas such as journalism or mediums such as writing screenplays.

You have just self-published your SECOND novel, how have you found the self-publishing experience?

It’s been really hard and really easy! It’s easy in the sense that self-publishing creates an opportunity to be in control of my own writing career. I no longer have to send countless submissions to agents just to be rejected, resulting in me trying to adjust my writing so it hopefully fits into what the market is looking for. With self-publishing I can write what I want, I can publish it when I want and I can promote in the ways that suit me.

The hard part is obviously I have to write the material, and that is something that – as strange as it might sound – gets harder the more I learn about the craft of writing. The more I know, the more aware I am of every word, every sentence length and structure. I’ve also found writing and publishing book two – which is a sequel – to be really difficult. I’m suffering from ‘Second Book Syndrome’ where the fear of disappointing my established readership – who quite likely have their own ideas of what they’d like to happen to Sophie and her gang – almost led me to press ‘delete’ on more than one occasion.

Marketing your own work is hard, soul destroying and very time consuming. I have had to learn to strike a balance between time spent promoting and time spent writing, or I wouldn’t get anything done. Marketing is a case of trial and error, trying something like handing out flyers and checking the sales reports to see if the time and money spent on that particular strategy has any effect. It can be quite disheartening when you’ve worked so hard and spent precious cash and it doesn’t translate to sales. But you have to learn from it and move on to the next strategy. Building up a Twitter following and having a Facebook page really helps with self promotion. If you want to be a self-published writer you have to have a Twitter account – build it up now, before you publish and start making contacts. You will need them!

You’re pretty well-known for your love of zombies! What is it that you love so much about them?

I have thought a lot about this. I think in some ways zombies remind me of the masses and the survivors are the people who cling onto their individuality – the longer they survive, the stronger their sense of individuality. That idea appeals to me because I’m quite stubborn about who I am and I refuse to change to fit in. The older I become the stronger I feel about it. But what I love most about zombie stories is the human interest. I’m fascinated by the bonds that form between people in extreme situations, the way that in a zombie apocalypse – or a natural disaster in films such as in The Day After Tomorrow – strangers can form such strong bonds in such a short space of time that they can become more important to each other than family. It honestly has little to do with blood and gore (although they come into it) and more to do with me being a big softy who is obsessed with relationships between odd couples, or people who wouldn’t otherwise have met. The Walking Dead and the movie Siege of the Dead prove the zombie genre doesn’t exist to just shock but it can be heart-warming and moving too.

What are your hopes for the future of Blog of the Dead?

I’m going to write a third book in the series, hopefully to be released next year. Then if anyone would like to offer me a movie deal, that would be nice …

What is your next project?

After the Blog of the Dead trilogy, I have another zombie book planned. Then I want to move away from zombies for a while. I have an idea that focuses more on madness and the unreliable narrator.

You graduate this year, what’s the next step in your writing career once you graduate?

I have decided to stick with self-publishing. It can be demoralising submitting to and being rejected by agents. I’m a better writer now than I was three years ago when I previously submitted to agents, but the temptation to change what you write to fit into what the industry is looking for is something I want to avoid. Self-publishing gives me freedom and power over my writing career. And there’s no pressure on me – if I want to take a break, I can. The only deadlines are the ones I give myself.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

One thing that annoys me is when someone says to me, ‘One day, if I’m made redundant/retire/have a bit more time, I’ll write a novel’. There’ll never be a better time than now. Just do it. Don’t let the whole thing daunt you, take it in little steps. You’re not born with a lifetime’s worth of knowledge and experience; you gain a little every day, some days more than others. Everyone has an hour or half an hour to spare each day – or even 5 minutes (it’s amazing what you can achieve in 5 minutes, honestly!). Sit down, don’t let the white page intimidate you – you don’t have to show anyone what you’ve written until you’re ready – and write. I love this Neil Gaiman quote and it’s so true: “This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until it’s done. It’s that easy, and that hard.”

Lastly, do you have a motto/favourite quote?

“Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.” Albert Einstein – I think it’s quite appropriate for a zombie writer!

Follow Lisa on Twitter

‘Like’ Lisa’s Facebook Page

BUY Lisa’s books on Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lisa-Richardson/e/B00CTMHZ6Y/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

• advice
• amazon
• author
• writer
• zombies