Lisa Samson dropped by the Dregs to have some wacky fun. Her character Scotty may have influenced some of her answers...you never know. Keep reading for a review of Hollywood Nobody. Click on Lisa's name and/or the book cover for more information on Hollywood Nobody and Lisa's other great novels. I tend to love deep thinkers with a quirky side and Lisa qualifies. Enjoy.
Fiction character you would most like to be or most identify with and why?
Nick Carroway from The Great Gatsby seems like a fine character to be because you get to hobnob with the wealthy, but you don’t have to act so stupid!
Some out there in writing land have strange rituals. Share yours.
My ritual is that I have no ritual, no schedule, no set strategy. I wing it every day. It’s great because it keeps the guilt complex healthy and I forget things all the time thereby digging myself into holes. Overall, I’d say it’s a fantastic strategy.
If you could change something in any novel, what would you change about it and why?
I’d make Club Sandwich a little less personal. I’d do this because real life is cluttered, and that doesn’t make good fiction.
What crayon in the box describes you on a good day? Bad day? Which one do you aspire to be?
Good day? Magenta. It’s hot and cool at one and the same time. Bad day? Timberwolf. My daughter told me this. It’s light gray, by the way. Also Screamin’ Green when I’m mad. I think, however, I’d like to be Cornflower, that annoying, clearish blue that always clumped a bit when you dragged it across the paper. (Just kidding.)
Pick one…..Pink iguana, purple cow, periwinkle giraffe. Which one and why? Can be negative or positive.
Periwinkle giraffe. Long necks are sexy.
What makes you feel alive?
Sitting around a table of great food, with friends, family and wonderful conversation.
Book, music, person, food you would take with you on a very long trip.
I’d take my daughter Ty, some Kurt Vonnegut, the Vince Guaraldi Trio, and a bag of Starbursts.
Where would you most like to travel ----- moon, north pole, deep seas, deserted island, the holy land or back to a place from your childhood, somewhere else? – and why.
Well, given who I’d travel with, I think we’d go to NYC at various points in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s.
Favorite season and why?
Autumn. I love the break in the weather, getting to wear sweaters and drink hot drinks without anybody looking at you like you’re crazy. (I drink hot drinks all year round.) The smell and the color of the leaves. It also feels like a chance to start over again, until New Year’s rolls around.
Favorite book setting and why?
On the Road, by Jack Kerouac. See answer to travel question above.
Which compliment related to your writing has meant the most and why?
“Your book saved my life.” A reader was on the brink of suicide when she read one of my novels and decide to try again. I cried and cried.
What criticism has cut the deepest and why?
Oh my gosh! A review of The Church Ladies on Amazon.com. The woman was so mean. Compared my writing to a kindergartner smearing around fingerpaints. Years later, I look back now and I can see how it’s filled with sour grapes, but I still hear her voice over my shoulder telling me, Lisa, “You’re no wordsmith.”
What would you do today if you knew you had only a week to live?
I’d take a portion of my savings, rent out a beach house and invite anybody who wants to come, to come. (Boy, you’d sure find out who your friends were too, if they weren’t willing to shift their plans! Ha!)
What is your favorite word?
Two words: heavy cream
What word annoys you more than any other?
Three words: Internal Revenue Service
Superhero you most admire and why?
Batman. Because he’s not inherently a superhero. He has to rely on gadgets and smarts, and he has a very interesting back story!
Super power you’d love to borrow for awhile?
I’d like to be able to teleport. I’d be all over the world all the time!
Favorite chore
Sweeping.
Grammatical pet peeve…sound off.
When people say, “She don’t like it.” Don’t instead of doesn’t makes me want to scream.
Societal pet peeve…sound off.
All the entertainment industry’s awards shows. For cryin’ out loud! How many of these things do they need? Isn’t a bazillion dollars, fame and the Oscars enough?
CREATIVE CORNER:
Pick any of the following and have fun with it.
Chick-Lit meets Dr. Seuss
Purse. Purse. Purse. Purse.
Shoes. Shoes. Shoes. Shoes.
Andie loves her purse and shoes.
Over rent, these she does choose.
(Conveniently, the landlord never shows to claim
A portion of her paycheck.)
Chocolate too. Oh dear, oh dear.
Chocolate calories on her rear.
Chocolate, chocolate in her desk
Chocolate, chocolate makes a mess.
(On her clean white shirt
Ten minutes before a presentation. Naturally.)
And then the men, the men, the men.
Sexy, hunky, lovely men,
Gorgeous men who make her dream.
Men who leave her gobbling up ice cream.
(Alone in her apartment, on her couch,
In her “fat pants.”)
My Review:
Full of opinion on Hollywood happenings and trapped in a nomadic edge-of-Hollywood lifestyle by her mother, Scotty really has no other outlet than to secretly blog her insider facts and opinions. Self-schooled and mature enough to be the adult when her mom can't hack it, Scotty spends her days turning activities into units and projects for higher learning and her nights wondering if she will be awakened at three a.m. and told that they are moving on.
Scotty's thoughts are years beyond her biological age because she has such an atypical life, yet there is an innocence and insecurity that pops up when life gets ubercrazy. With a cynical and world-weary voice delivered through teen angst and confusion, Scotty burrowed into my heart. A twist at the end will make me grab the next installment.
No empty preaching here. Just a girl who's wondering what the point is? What's truth? What is life supposed to be anyway?
Scotty's story crosses age barriers. Teens and adults alike will find themselves sucked into Hollywood Nobody.
Fiction character you would most like to be or most identify with and why?
Nick Carroway from The Great Gatsby seems like a fine character to be because you get to hobnob with the wealthy, but you don’t have to act so stupid!
Some out there in writing land have strange rituals. Share yours.
My ritual is that I have no ritual, no schedule, no set strategy. I wing it every day. It’s great because it keeps the guilt complex healthy and I forget things all the time thereby digging myself into holes. Overall, I’d say it’s a fantastic strategy.
If you could change something in any novel, what would you change about it and why?
I’d make Club Sandwich a little less personal. I’d do this because real life is cluttered, and that doesn’t make good fiction.
What crayon in the box describes you on a good day? Bad day? Which one do you aspire to be?
Good day? Magenta. It’s hot and cool at one and the same time. Bad day? Timberwolf. My daughter told me this. It’s light gray, by the way. Also Screamin’ Green when I’m mad. I think, however, I’d like to be Cornflower, that annoying, clearish blue that always clumped a bit when you dragged it across the paper. (Just kidding.)
Pick one…..Pink iguana, purple cow, periwinkle giraffe. Which one and why? Can be negative or positive.
Periwinkle giraffe. Long necks are sexy.
What makes you feel alive?
Sitting around a table of great food, with friends, family and wonderful conversation.
Book, music, person, food you would take with you on a very long trip.
I’d take my daughter Ty, some Kurt Vonnegut, the Vince Guaraldi Trio, and a bag of Starbursts.
Where would you most like to travel ----- moon, north pole, deep seas, deserted island, the holy land or back to a place from your childhood, somewhere else? – and why.
Well, given who I’d travel with, I think we’d go to NYC at various points in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s.
Favorite season and why?
Autumn. I love the break in the weather, getting to wear sweaters and drink hot drinks without anybody looking at you like you’re crazy. (I drink hot drinks all year round.) The smell and the color of the leaves. It also feels like a chance to start over again, until New Year’s rolls around.
Favorite book setting and why?
On the Road, by Jack Kerouac. See answer to travel question above.
Which compliment related to your writing has meant the most and why?
“Your book saved my life.” A reader was on the brink of suicide when she read one of my novels and decide to try again. I cried and cried.
What criticism has cut the deepest and why?
Oh my gosh! A review of The Church Ladies on Amazon.com. The woman was so mean. Compared my writing to a kindergartner smearing around fingerpaints. Years later, I look back now and I can see how it’s filled with sour grapes, but I still hear her voice over my shoulder telling me, Lisa, “You’re no wordsmith.”
What would you do today if you knew you had only a week to live?
I’d take a portion of my savings, rent out a beach house and invite anybody who wants to come, to come. (Boy, you’d sure find out who your friends were too, if they weren’t willing to shift their plans! Ha!)
What is your favorite word?
Two words: heavy cream
What word annoys you more than any other?
Three words: Internal Revenue Service
Superhero you most admire and why?
Batman. Because he’s not inherently a superhero. He has to rely on gadgets and smarts, and he has a very interesting back story!
Super power you’d love to borrow for awhile?
I’d like to be able to teleport. I’d be all over the world all the time!
Favorite chore
Sweeping.
Grammatical pet peeve…sound off.
When people say, “She don’t like it.” Don’t instead of doesn’t makes me want to scream.
Societal pet peeve…sound off.
All the entertainment industry’s awards shows. For cryin’ out loud! How many of these things do they need? Isn’t a bazillion dollars, fame and the Oscars enough?
CREATIVE CORNER:
Pick any of the following and have fun with it.
Chick-Lit meets Dr. Seuss
Purse. Purse. Purse. Purse.
Shoes. Shoes. Shoes. Shoes.
Andie loves her purse and shoes.
Over rent, these she does choose.
(Conveniently, the landlord never shows to claim
A portion of her paycheck.)
Chocolate too. Oh dear, oh dear.
Chocolate calories on her rear.
Chocolate, chocolate in her desk
Chocolate, chocolate makes a mess.
(On her clean white shirt
Ten minutes before a presentation. Naturally.)
And then the men, the men, the men.
Sexy, hunky, lovely men,
Gorgeous men who make her dream.
Men who leave her gobbling up ice cream.
(Alone in her apartment, on her couch,
In her “fat pants.”)
My Review:
Full of opinion on Hollywood happenings and trapped in a nomadic edge-of-Hollywood lifestyle by her mother, Scotty really has no other outlet than to secretly blog her insider facts and opinions. Self-schooled and mature enough to be the adult when her mom can't hack it, Scotty spends her days turning activities into units and projects for higher learning and her nights wondering if she will be awakened at three a.m. and told that they are moving on.
Scotty's thoughts are years beyond her biological age because she has such an atypical life, yet there is an innocence and insecurity that pops up when life gets ubercrazy. With a cynical and world-weary voice delivered through teen angst and confusion, Scotty burrowed into my heart. A twist at the end will make me grab the next installment.
No empty preaching here. Just a girl who's wondering what the point is? What's truth? What is life supposed to be anyway?
Scotty's story crosses age barriers. Teens and adults alike will find themselves sucked into Hollywood Nobody.
