Lisa Jackson, the veteran author nationally known for her more than fifteen bestsellers, including the number one New York Times Best Seller, FATAL BURN, is a bit surprised at her own reaction to her latest novel, CHOSEN TO DIE. “At times I lost myself more than I anticipated in several of my protagonists, even though I've had characters continue from book-to-book before. Maybe it's because of the planned three-book arc. I don't really know why, but I do know I found myself coming back again and again to Pescoli and Alvarez and to the dynamics of their relationship,” says Lisa. “I was also unusually on edge about Pescoli's boyfriend Nate and what he goes through. And for some reason I managed to scare myself more than usual.” She adds “I don't think you'll ever see me driving in the snow again.”
Involvement with her characters is not unusual for Lisa, who has frequently mentioned having to take breaks from her writing when her protagonists have gone through particularly emotional or horrifying situations. But she always comes back, usually after a walk on the beach. Invariably through the years, she's found herself forming relationships of her own with specific characters that have caught her imagination. That tends to lead to their reappearance in future novels.
For instance, the long-time New Orleans detectives and partners Reuben Montoya and Rick Bentz were not expected to have lead or supporting roles in a total of seven novels (so far), let alone for Rick Bentz to take over a book of his own (MALICE 2009). And Lisa was a little surprise when Travis Settler and his daughter Dani, secondary characters in DEEP FREEZE, insisted on having their story told. Dani ended up kidnapped in Fatal Burn and Lisa ended up in the number one slot on The New York Times Best Seller list.
It's been common knowledge for some time that Lisa has been killing people everywhere from Savannah, New Orleans and Baton Rouge to Los Angeles, San Francisco, the Pacific Northwest and, now, Montana. It's been worth it. Her readers come back again and again, her novels are fixtures in bookstores and on national bestseller lists and it all means that Lisa gets to do what she loves best--sit back down, open her mind to possibilities and spin another complex tale of suspense and relationships.
After more than twenty novels of murder and romance, Lisa continues to be fascinated by the minds and motives of both her killers and their pursuers. As she creates the puzzle of relationships, actions, clues, lies and personal histories that haunt her protagonists, she never forgets how fortunate she is that none of what touches her through her writing is real. She's very aware that the fictional fear and terror faced by her victims mirror the harsh reality of the sort of horror and madness that actually do touch far too many lives and families.
Lisa began writing at the urging of her sister, novelist Nancy Bush. Inspired by the success of authors she admired and the burgeoning market for romance fiction at the time, Nancy was convinced they could work together and succeed. They sat down, determined to write and to be published. They were--just not together.
Lisa and Nancy's first combined efforts went nowhere, yet each found success moving in different directions. It was more than twenty-five years later that they once again combined their talents and wrote the national bestseller WICKED GAME . It will be followed in February 2010 with WICKED LIES. Not long after that, the mass market reprint of Lisa's MALICE will be published, followed by her new hardcover WITHOUT MERCY, on sale at the end of March.
Lisa frequently appears at bookstores, libraries and other venues, including The Nick Linn Lecture Series for Friends of the Library of Collier County (Naples, Florida), Mohegan Sun's Winning Author Program (Connecticut), Fort Vancouver Regional Library Foundation Authors and Illustrators Dinner (Washington), and the Romance Writers of America's Annual Conference. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers and Romance Writers of America. Born in Molalla, Oregon, Lisa hasn't strayed far from her roots. She continues to live, love and work in the Pacific Northwest.
CHOSEN TO DIE by Lisa Jackson
Zebra Books, an imprint of Kensington Publishing
August 2009/On Sale 7-28-09/Mass Market Paperback/Original/Fiction
$7.99 ($10.99)/978-1-4201-0277-2 ● 1-4201-0277-X
LEFT TO DIE by Lisa Jackson
Zebra Books, an imprint of Kensington Publishing
Mass Market Paperback/Original/Fiction
$7.99 ($10.99)/978-1-4201-0276-5
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CONTACT: Joan Schulhafer, 973-338-7428, Maureen Cuddy, Kensington Books, 212-407-1573,
