7 Minutes With... Tosca Lee
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I'm so pleased to welcome my friend Tosca Lee to the Tao today. Her new book, THE PROGENY, kept me up way too late one night. A fabulous premise, I know you're going to love it, and love her. And... she's a newlywed! So give her some love! Take it away, Tosca!
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Set your music to shuffle and hit play. What’s the first song that comes up?
Linkin Park’s “One Step Closer” :D
Now that we’ve set the mood, what are you working on today?
Edits for the sequel of The Progeny, Firstborn. And eating my way through half a rack of ribs. :>
What’s your latest book about?
A 21 year-old named Emily Porter, who is starting over in the North Woods of Maine after erasing her memory of the last two years . . . and soon learns she’s a descendant of the infamous “blood countess” Elizabeth Bathory—and that she’s being hunted. Now everything she erased to protect she needs to rediscover to stay alive.
Where do you write, and what tools do you use?
I spend most of my time writing at the farm where I live with my husband, three boys, a cat that drools when you pet her and a dog that drinks out of the toilet. I use Word to write in, but Scrivener to organize my notes and research. I think it also does a lot of other stuff like wash your dishes and organize your taxes, but I can’t figure it all out.
What was your favorite book as a child?
Green Eggs and Ham. Though I was very disturbed that the pictures weren’t in full color and so colored them in myself.
What’s your secret talent?
I can levitate peas. Okay, just one pea at a time. I can levitate pea. Ask me to amaze you next time I see you in person.
What are you reading now?
The Fifth Wave. I stole it from my 15 year-old.
When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
Not until college. I had been talking with my dad about how my favorite books take you on this amazing ride, and how cool it would be to make a ride like that for others. And then I blurted out: “I think I want to write a book.” My dad made me a deal: if I spent the summer writing a novel, full-time, he’d pay me what I would have made working at the bank as a teller. So I took the deal and wrote my first novel—a historical novel about the Neolithic Stonehenge people. It’s still in my basement with the rest of my skeletons.
Who is your writing idol? Have you met him/her? If so, did you completely nerd out or keep your cool?
I stalked, met and took a picture with Lee Child last summer at Thrillerfest. I look like a complete grinning idiot.
What’s your favorite bit of writing advice?
One I tell myself all the time: write like no one will ever read this. It keeps my first drafts honest and me sane.
What do you do if the words aren’t flowing?
Eat and watch TV.
Are you creatively satisfied?
Not yet!
What would you like to be remembered for?
Being a great mom.
Alright, now for the really important questions:
Beach or mountains? Beach
Coffee or tea? Coffee
Skydive or bungee jump? I broke out in a sweat just reading this question. Please, I want to live.
Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate
Winter or summer? Summer
Cake or pie? Bacon
Cats or dogs? Dogs. (Sorry, Misty.)
Pens or pencils? Pens
Truth or dare? Dare me. Except to skydive or bungee jump.
Print or ebook? Print, every time.
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Tosca Lee is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of Iscariot, The Legend of Sheba, Demon: A Memoir, Havah: The Story of Eve, and the Books of Mortals series with New York Times bestseller Ted Dekker (Forbidden, Mortal, Sovereign).
A notorious night-owl, she loves watching TV, eating bacon, playing video games with her kids, and sending cheesy texts to her husband. You can find Tosca hanging around the snack table or wherever bacon is served.
And here's a little bit more about Tosca's new book, THE PROGENY.
I’m twenty-one years old and my name doesn’t matter because it’s about to be erased forever.
When you wake up, you remember nothing. Not your name, or where you were born, or the faces of the people you knew. Just a single warning written to yourself before you forgot it all:
Emily, it’s me. You.
Don’t ask about the last two years… Don’t try to remember and don’t go digging. Your life depends on it. Other lives depend on it.
By the way, Emily isn’t your real name. You died in an accident. You paid extra for that.
You start over in a remote place with a new name, a fresh life. Until the day a stranger tells you you’re being hunted for the sins of a royal ancestor who died centuries before you were born.
You don’t believe him, until they come for you. Now you’re on the run.
Every answer you need lies in a past you chose to erase. The only thing you know for sure is that others are about to die and you need those memories back.
But first, you have to stay alive.
