An Interview with Lisa Jensen

An interview with

Lisa Jensen
author of The Witch from the Sea

reposted from the Gotta Write Network

You'll find author Lisa Jensen either at a local movie theater, in the reference department of her library or at her desk writing her next novel.

For 25 years, Lisa been a film critic for the Santa Cruz weekly, "Good Times." She's reviewed movies for "Cinefantastique," "Take One," "Movie Collector's World" and "Coast Weekly." She's sat in the co-host chair for "Talking Movies," a film review TV program, hosted "The Golden Age of Television" and her film reviews have been heard on the radio. Lisa's written book reviews for the "San Francisco Chronicle" and written feature articles for the "Los Angeles Times" and the "Chronicle."

Her latest achievement is her book, "The Witch from the Sea," an "adult historical adventure/romance novel with heart-pounding action and blazing romance set against the background of 19th Century Caribbean Sea colonialism."

Enjoy our recent conversation together.

Denise: You have an extensive background as a film critic having written for the Santa Cruz weekly, "Good Times," as well as reviewing for "Cinefantastique," and numerous other publications. When did you develop an interest in being a film critic and reviewer? Did you take courses on film interpretation?

Lisa: I used to stay up all night and watch old movies on TV as a kid — that's about it for my background in film! I did take one film class in college, on Alfred Hitchcock. We watched about 20 of his movies and I drew a storyboard for a murder scene as my "final." (This was Santa Cruz in the '70s, when classes tended to be a bit free-form.)

I never thought of being a career film critic, but I love movies and I love to write. When GOOD TIMES solicited for a "stringer" film reviewer, it was an ideal opportunity for me to actually get paid for writing. Eventually, their alpha film critic moved on and I inherited the full-time job. That was 25 years ago.

You don't really need to know a lot about film history or film interpretation to be a good critic (although the more movies you've seen over a lifetime, the better). All you need is an opinion and the ability to construct a coherent sentence. After that, it's all on-the-job training.

Denise: Tell us about your experiences co-hosting "Talking Movies," and hosting "The Golden Age of Television." Was it network or cable TV?

Lisa: In the heyday of Siskel & Ebert, somebody at the local cable station got the bright idea to do a "Sneak Previews"- format movie review show with a male and female critic. I did a "screen test" with the fellow from the daily paper and they decided to put us on the air together. It was really pretty fun—except we had to cover 4-5 movies per show, more than the 2 a week I saw for the paper. At first I was petrified about being on TV, but I got used to it. (Watching myself, later, is another story!) And it was hard work rewriting my print reviews for a TV audience, where things have to sound a lot more conversational. But it was a great experience.

After that, my co-host moved to Maui, poor guy, but the station kept me on to host "The Golden Age Of Television," a 2 1/2-hour package of vintage TV shows that made the rounds to syndication and cable stations. I got to decorate my set with atomic '50s furniture and old toys, to get in the mood, and all I
had to do was write a short intro for each segment and read it off the teleprompter. That was about 10 years ago, and people still occasionally stop me on the street and say they remember that I used to be on TV.

Denise: A wonderful, new achievement awaits you with the publication of your debut novel, "The Witch from the Sea." Set in 1823, your book focuses on Tory Lightfoot, whose "rebellious nature and mixed blood are the source of constant scorn and abuse." Where does her quest for freedom lead her?

Lisa: She thinks she's going to run away to sea, which was common enough for boys in seaport towns of that era. (She starts out in Boston.) She doesn't find much freedom on the merchant brig on which she stows away, with its tyrannical captain and cowed crew. But Fate intervenes and she doesn't stay too long on that unhappy ship.

Denise: It seems that her decision to disguise herself as a man and stow away on a merchantman bound for Barbados only leads her to more trouble. What does she encounter and what choices does she make?

Lisa: There are many historical records of women who disguised themselves as men to join a ship's crew or become soldiers—the famous historical pirate Mary Read is one. Tory acts from that same urge to live a more liberated life. And it happens unexpectedly for her when her merchant brig is captured by pirates off the Cuban coast. Circumstances force Tory to choose to join the pirate crew to save her life—and that's when her true coming-of-age begins.

Denise: Does she find love, respect and freedom on the high seas?

Lisa: Of course! As the failed actor-turned-pirate, Jack, says to her about Shakespeare, "the comedies always end happily." But none of these things come easily for Tory, and never from the quarter she expects.

Denise: What made you write this book and what sources of research did you use for this time period and life at sea?

Lisa: I don't know; I had this idea about a young woman on a pirate ship—too many Errol Flynn movies, I guess! But I didn't want her to be Olivia DeHavilland, a beautiful hostage who steals the captain's heart. I wanted my heroine to be a working member of the crew who made choices to live that life and earned a place in that society. I'm fortunate to have a University of California campus right in town with a huge library, so that's where I did most of my research. I read evey book they had on piracy and the history of
the West Indies (now called the Caribbean) in the 1820s. It's a fascinating period, full of fortune-hunters, uprising slaves and revolution. I wrote most of this book while I was still computer-illiterate, so I never did much research online.

Denise: Tell us about your experience with Beagle Bay Books. Was Jacqueline Church Simonds the first publisher you sent your book to?

Lisa: My book has a very checkered past! I was signed up with a literary agency in New York that sold an earlier draft of this book to a German-language publisher. But that's the last sale they ever made. I have two beautiful editions of my book, one hardcover, one trade paperback, which are both, unfortunately, in German! I also have a stack of the nicest, most complimentary rejection slips from editors who all said they loved my writing and my characters, but that historical fiction that was NOT strictly category romance or mystery was "impossible" to market.

I parted ways with my agent, but I still felt my book had something to offer. So I rewrote it one last time, gave it a new title, and started hunting around for a small press that might be adventurous enough to take a chance on it. I heard about a new book about a female pirate called "Captain Mary Buccaneer," published by Beagle Bay Books, and when I went to their website (I was more computer-savvy by then!), I found they were actively looking for female-oriented historical fiction. It was the publisher's website of my dreams! And they've been great. They publish one book at a time, so my book has gotten a lot of attention in every phase of production, from my two rewrites (and one copy-edit) to cover design.

Denise: What forms of promotion have you considered to help introduce your book to your future fans?

Lisa: We took an ad out in Romantic Times Magazine, and I wrote a 300-word "cameo" profile to introduce me and my book to that readership. I'm getting listed on lots of pirate and romance-oriented websites. I'm doing a lot of bookstore readings and signings and radio and print interviews in and around
Santa Cruz, where people know my name from the paper. I've gotten some nice pull-quotes from Booklist and nautical historian Joan Druett, which we're plastering all over my page on Amazon & B&N.com. I'm also having 500 postcards made up of the cover art with my appearance schedule and website info on the back, which I'll be mailing to everyone I've ever met in my life! And of course, I'm starting to do some email interviews, which I love.

Denise: How can GWN Online readers order a copy?

Lisa: Oh, I'm so glad you asked! Please do visit my website (www.witchfromthesea.com) to read an excerpt and/or order a copy of the book. It can also be ordered from Amazon or B&N online. Or it can be ordered from any real-life neighborhood bookstore, as Beagle Bay distributes via Ingram. Enjoy!

--Denise Fleischer, GWN Online Romance Editor, book reviewer
Netera@aol.com
8/19/2001