Interview Kay Layton Sisk

by

Tamia Dawn Osburn

1. What inspired you to write Sara's Soul?

Sara's Soul is the third book in my Texoma series. After having written Lyla's Song and Jemma's Heart, I realized I'd left a major character dangling: the jilted boyfriend from Lyla’s Song. He needed a happy ending so I wrote Sara's Soul and gave him one. I thought that would be the end of the series, but the rest of my fictional rock band demanded their own stories, so I'm now writing the 6th and final one.

2. What type of book do you prefer to read and why?

I love to read romance. And, yes, I know that to be genre romance, the books end happily. But isn't that great? It's the journey of our characters, not their destination.

3. In the genre in which you write, who are your favorite authors?

Kathleen Gilles Seidel who will at last have another book out early next year. Blair Bancroft, who writes Regencies for Signet, and has a contemporary here at Wings. They are both intelligent writers who never disappoint.

4. Other than in the genre you write, are you interested in writing in any other? Why?

Maybe that ubiquitous, "women's fiction." Stories of women and their relationships with each other, sisters, friends especially. Why? Maybe because I'm getting older and seeing the value in those relationships more and more.

5. What is your writing schedule like? Are your disciplined or are you a spur of the moment writer and write when the mood strikes??

I have become disciplined since a friend challenged me to write 100 words a day. Of course, I rewrote our "contract" to get two days off a week. But it has made me put my rear in the chair most days and produce something. I'm a morning person, but I write in the afternoons.

6. How long did it take from start to finish to write Sara's Soul?

Six months.

7. What is the setting and background of Sara's Soul?

As I said, it's the third in a series. It takes place in north Texas, on the large man-made lake, Lake Texoma. I got to bring back my familiar characters from the previous books.

8. What do you like most about the characters you write about?

That I have control. <g> I like for them to be honorable. Having said that, they might not always have been such, but they're becoming honorable.

9. What is the least that you like about the characters you write about?

They get their own minds and--whoosh!--there goes my story line until I rein them back in.

10. Have you started another book, and if so, can you tell us a little about it?

Anya's Scheme, the 6th and final book in the Texoma series. Anya Smith becomes choreographer to Bone Cold--Alive, the rock band. Bo Bailey is the last bachelor of the group and the one most opposed to anyone telling him where to go. So, of course, it's love.

11. What are your hopes and dreams for the future of your writing?

I want to continue to write stories I'd like to read. I'd like for Wings books to eventually be on the shelves in the brick-and-mortar bookstores because no matter how much I tell my friends that it's easy to order online, some of them will never do it!