Her latest book is the adult science fiction/psychological thriller, Blue Haven.
You can vist her website at www.AuthorLisaKing.com or connect with her on Twitter and Instagram.
Welcome to Blue Haven, the world’s most lucrative condo corporation—so exclusive that only five lucky residents live in this lush, tropical paradise, housed in a top-secret location.
Among them is twenty-five-year-old Aloe Malone, an introvert and former waitress who traded bussing tables for lengthy sleep-ins, ocean dips, Michelin-star restaurants, spectacular sunsets, and unlikely new friends—all thanks to a spurious lottery win.
Life’s good.
Damn good.
That is, until Aloe discovers a journal.
Seemingly left by a past resident named Eloise whose entries are both sad and evoking, Aloe quickly suspects there’s more to Blue Haven than meets the eye.
Her suspicions are confirmed when visions arise, gruesome hallucinations she can’t understand, followed by a strange yet familiar man lurking in places he shouldn’t. Something’s wrong. Or maybe it’s all in her head. Regardless, she vows to uncover the truth.
Except someone wants to keep her quiet, and it’s the last person she ever suspected.
Blue Haven is a science-fiction thriller that explores what innovation can achieve—and destroy—despite the best intentions. King’s imaginative world building and use of moral ambiguity make this page-turning novel a thought-provoking thrill that’s impossible to put down.
Book Information
Release Date: May 31, 2022
Publisher: The Story Plant
Soft Cover: ISBN: 978-1611883206; 336 pages; $26.95; E-Book, $7.49
Book Trailer https://youtu.be/DgnqxcZLRcg
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3LVsZB0
Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/3waPpHv
Indigo: https://bit.ly/3MWRayO
IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781611883206
Book Depository: https://bit.ly/3kNK4kk
📙 Thank you for your time in answering our questions about getting published. Let’s begin by having you explain to us why you decided to become an author and pen this book?
Lisa: Thanks for having me! I don’t think becoming an author was ever something I thoughtfully considered; more so, I’ve always loved to write, and penning a novel seemed like an enjoyable challenge. I gave it a whirl (and have kept whirling, years later).
Interestingly, Blue Haven was the first book I ever attempted, some thirteen-years back—which went terribly, and so began a decade-long hiatus that only recently ended when I decided to finally finish what I started, for good.
📙 Is this your first book?
Lisa: Blue Haven is my second published novel. My first book, Vanishing Hour, came out in 2020, just in time for a worldwide pandemic.
📙With this particular book, how did you publish – traditional, small press, Indie, etc. – and why did you choose this method?
Lisa: My publishing house, The Story Plant, is a small-press shop. It was my literary agent (Travis Pennington at The Knight Agency) who guided me here initially. I like the intimacy of small-press, the increased autonomy, and the philosophy of The Story Plant specifically: their dedication to authors and interest in developing new voices. Founding editor, Lou Aronica, is also an author himself, so I feel like he really gets it.
📙Can you tell us a little about your publishing journey? The pros and cons?
Lisa: My journey to publication definitely wasn’t overnight. I wrote a few unfinished manuscripts in my early twenties (Blue Haven being one), then completed a full manuscript by the time I was twenty-five, which remained unagented after a handful of queries (before I realized querying was usually more than just, you know, a few attempts). I started writing Vanishing Hour in my late twenties, finished it by thirty, and got extremely lucky with Travis during my first round of querying. Still, we worked on pitching and editing Vanishing Hour for years before it found a home at The Story Plant.
The biggest con, in my opinion, is time. Everything takes time, and that’s something I didn’t realize as an aspiring author. If you want to pursue traditional publishing, there’s the monumental task of actually writing the book, then comes finding an agent, subbing with editors, selling the book, and many rounds of editing before it’s published. Each of these steps can be extraordinarily time consuming. That said, I’ve learned so much over the past decade about writing and myself, and I’m not sure if any of that can be properly rushed.
Biggest pro? I’m doing something that I love.
📙What lessons do you feel you learned about your particular publishing journey and about the publishing industry as a whole?
Lisa: For me personally, patience and perseverance. Determination will get you where you want to go, it just might take a little (or a lot) longer than you think. To quote Dory from Nemo, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”
What I’ve learned about the publishing industry as a whole, is that it’s hard. I mean, you’re walking into a ruthless and rejection-forward space … voluntarily. But there are more opportunities now for aspiring authors than ever before—especially with the number of indie options and small-press houses that accept manuscripts without representation.
📙Would you recommend this method of publishing to other authors?
Lisa: Yes, definitely!
📙What’s the best advice you can give to aspiring authors?
Lisa: Don’t give up! And you will want to, at some point (see “ruthless and rejection-forward space,” above). There’s a reason you started writing: you enjoy it, and you have something to say. Focus on the why behind the words—get swept into a story, learn something, and most importantly, enjoy the process. Because if you’re not enjoying it, what’s the point?
📙 Thank you for your time in answering our questions about getting published. Let’s begin by having you explain to us why you decided to become an author and pen this book?
Lisa: Thanks for having me! I don’t think becoming an author was ever something I thoughtfully considered; more so, I’ve always loved to write, and penning a novel seemed like an enjoyable challenge. I gave it a whirl (and have kept whirling, years later).
Interestingly, Blue Haven was the first book I ever attempted, some thirteen-years back—which went terribly, and so began a decade-long hiatus that only recently ended when I decided to finally finish what I started, for good.
📙 Is this your first book?
Lisa: Blue Haven is my second published novel. My first book, Vanishing Hour, came out in 2020, just in time for a worldwide pandemic.
📙With this particular book, how did you publish – traditional, small press, Indie, etc. – and why did you choose this method?
Lisa: My publishing house, The Story Plant, is a small-press shop. It was my literary agent (Travis Pennington at The Knight Agency) who guided me here initially. I like the intimacy of small-press, the increased autonomy, and the philosophy of The Story Plant specifically: their dedication to authors and interest in developing new voices. Founding editor, Lou Aronica, is also an author himself, so I feel like he really gets it.
📙Can you tell us a little about your publishing journey? The pros and cons?
Lisa: My journey to publication definitely wasn’t overnight. I wrote a few unfinished manuscripts in my early twenties (Blue Haven being one), then completed a full manuscript by the time I was twenty-five, which remained unagented after a handful of queries (before I realized querying was usually more than just, you know, a few attempts). I started writing Vanishing Hour in my late twenties, finished it by thirty, and got extremely lucky with Travis during my first round of querying. Still, we worked on pitching and editing Vanishing Hour for years before it found a home at The Story Plant.
The biggest con, in my opinion, is time. Everything takes time, and that’s something I didn’t realize as an aspiring author. If you want to pursue traditional publishing, there’s the monumental task of actually writing the book, then comes finding an agent, subbing with editors, selling the book, and many rounds of editing before it’s published. Each of these steps can be extraordinarily time consuming. That said, I’ve learned so much over the past decade about writing and myself, and I’m not sure if any of that can be properly rushed.
Biggest pro? I’m doing something that I love.
📙What lessons do you feel you learned about your particular publishing journey and about the publishing industry as a whole?
Lisa: For me personally, patience and perseverance. Determination will get you where you want to go, it just might take a little (or a lot) longer than you think. To quote Dory from Nemo, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”
What I’ve learned about the publishing industry as a whole, is that it’s hard. I mean, you’re walking into a ruthless and rejection-forward space … voluntarily. But there are more opportunities now for aspiring authors than ever before—especially with the number of indie options and small-press houses that accept manuscripts without representation.
📙Would you recommend this method of publishing to other authors?
Lisa: Yes, definitely!
📙What’s the best advice you can give to aspiring authors?
Lisa: Don’t give up! And you will want to, at some point (see “ruthless and rejection-forward space,” above). There’s a reason you started writing: you enjoy it, and you have something to say. Focus on the why behind the words—get swept into a story, learn something, and most importantly, enjoy the process. Because if you’re not enjoying it, what’s the point?
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