20 (Okay, so 19) Questions with Isabelle Drake: Getting to Know Your Favorite (or soon to be Favorite!) Writer

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Tuesday, April 19, 2016

20 (Okay, so 19) Questions with Isabelle Drake: Getting to Know Your Favorite (or soon to be Favorite!) Writer



What can I say about Isabelle Drake? Wicked smart, fun, PR savvy like you wouldn’t believe. She tried to teach me the fine art of selfies over dinner but my arms just aren’t long enough (I’m kind of a T-Rex in that arena!). If you don’t follow her on Facebook to enjoy her whimsical outlooks on life and pulp Noir pin-ups, shame! She’s also an amazing and versatile writer I started following when books on disk first came out (she’s always been on the cutting edge!) who is now very successful as “The Nicer Side of Naughty” in the erotica market. I’m very excited to get my hands on her latest book, out TODAY! BEST FRIENDS NEVER is a new direction, the first book in her “Cherry Grove” series of YA whodunits, combining teen angst with a mystery to solve. I can’t wait to start reading . . . After you meet Isabelle and get a look at BEST FRIENDS NEVER, you’ll feel the same way.


Getting to know you:

1. Party dress or blue jeans?

I like to think I’m a party dress girl, but if I’m being honest I’m a jeans girl.

2. Spa day or gym workout?

Gym workout, if I have to pick. Why? Why must I pick?!! Seriously, an intense workout helps me think.

3. Night owl or early bird?

Night owl if I don’t have to work the next day. I love writing in the middle of the night.

4. Broadway or museum?

Visiting a museum restores my creativity; Broadway shows restore my spirit. So, it depends on what I’m needing.

5. Other creative outlets?

Gardening. That’s creative, right? All those colors and textures and planning how things will look as they grow together.

6. Favorite books from childhood?

1. Black Beauty from elementary.
2. Gone with the Wind from middle school.
3. Edgar Allen Poe stories from high school.


7. Three favorite movies?

1. Gone with the Wind
2. Tropic Thunder
3. THX 1138


8. What music are you listening to? (While you write?)

Disco on Pandora. If I’m really concentrating, I switch to my Lindsey Stirling station.

The Written word:

9. What type of fiction heroine would you be? Jane Eyre or Lara Croft?

Can I be combination of both? Delicate and refined but also a badass.

10. Favorite genre to read?

Like most other writers, I read all sorts of things. I love thrillers and old pulp paperbacks. I love beach reads and old Betty & Veronica comics.

11. What would you love to write that you haven’t?

A really gritty murder mystery. To see if I could write something so different from what I have been writing.

12. Fiction hero you would run off with?

Hayden, from my work in progress Servant of the Undead. He’s flawed by always trying to do the right thing even if doing the right thing takes him to scary places.

13. What are you reading right now?

The Bat, a crime novel, by Norwegian writer Jo Nesbo.

A Writer’s Life:

14. OCD plotter or free range pantser?

I usually start as a pantser then, after I stall out, do some plotting. I am the best and worst of both. LOL.

15. Live to write or write to live? Day job?

My day job is teaching writing! How awesome is that? Teaching composition keeps me attentive to the importance of audience and, of course, the students are awesome.

16. Do you have a set writing schedule?

I carry my tablet with me and work on a first draft as I can. If I’m doing revisions I carry the printed manuscript and work on that as I can. So, no, I don’t have a set schedule.

17. Solo muse or critique partner(s)?

If I use critique partners it is either after I have completed the first draft or when I get stuck on a plot points. I have to envision the story as a whole on my own before I can have a helpful discussion.

18. What’s on your desk?

Right now? An empty glass from last night’s Bulleit Rye, a stack of note pads I may have taken from hotels (The 3 on the top: Milford Plaza, New York; ‘Tween Waters Inn, Captiva Island, Florida, Renaissance Hotels, not sure where that one came from) and pile of sketch pads, colored pencils, and a tiny fuzzy kitten my sister made of me.

19. When can we get your next book and what’s it all about?

Best Friends Never comes out April 19. It’s the first book in my YA suspense series, Cherry Grove.



Here’s a bit about Best Friends Never:

Be careful who you keep secrets with, especially in picture-perfect Cherry Grove, a place where average isn’t good enough, and nothing is what it seems.

Lexi Welks wants two things—respect and a college acceptance letter that’ll get her out of too-good-to-be-true Cherry Grove. The problem is that the nasty, life-ruining secret she shares with Monica Sanders is about to go public. If their ugly truth comes out, her plans for college—not happening. And that’s only the beginning of her end.

Monica is the kind of student teachers adore—well-behaved, hard-working and always following the rules. She’s the kind of friend other girls follow—well-dressed, popular and always knowing the right thing to do. If only they knew the truth about her. The truth Lexi found out the hard way, after spending the past summer letting Monica talk her into doing things she knew could come back to ruin her.

Now it’s the first week of school and one of the seniors is missing. Lexi knows a thing or two about the circumstances of his disappearance, but she’s not talking. Neither is Monica. But wicked truths have a way of crawling to the surface and tearing through the most careful plans.

Want to check it out? Get it on 
Amazon.

Want to check out my other stuff? Go to my Amazon Page!

Or be social and visit me here . . . 






5 comments

  1. Great interview. Glad to get to know you better. Your new books sounds so interesting. Will it come out in e-format?

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  2. Love the interview, ladies. Wishing you much success with the YA series, Isabelle!

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  3. Great interview. I'm so excited to read the book!

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  4. I love diverse women, and it always shows up sooner or later in their writing. I'd say Isabelle nailed the Jane Eyre/Laura Croft...they're both badasses, just different eras. Great interview!

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  5. Thanks for visiting, Isabelle!! Me, I'm busying reading . . .

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