1--What is the title of your latest release?
IN CHARM’S WAY
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
The fourth standalone story in the Witches of Thistle Grove series, In Charm’s Way is about a witch who casts a risky, forbidden spell in order to regain the memory she’s lost, and finds herself getting much more than she bargained for—including a slew of dangerous creatures intent on eating her, and a sultry, half-fae monster hunter with motives of her own.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I’ve been hanging out in the enchanted town of Thistle Grove, Illinois—complete with four witchy families with different talents, a magical lake on top of a mountain, and everything from occult megastores and themed restaurants to apple orchards and an oversized spin on Renaissance Faires—for three years, and I’m still loving it!
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Absolutely… if she’d let me! Delilah Harlow isn’t exactly known for being gregarious. Or approachable. Or even really very pleasant. But once you get past the prickly veneer, this fiercely independent scholar and her raven familiar are surprisingly sweet, and make for delightful company.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Ambitious, brusque, self-sufficient.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
This story is the first time I’ve backtracked and layered in several scenes while writing a first draft—I usually only plow ahead while I’m drafting. But now I know to sit back and assess whether I might have missed something crucial, and am willing to go backward instead of forward when necessary.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
A bit of both. I tend to read over the last ten pages I’ve written before jumping into writing, and I often make minor edits while I do so. I also have a fantastic critique group who often give me substantive feedback that I incorporate as I’m drafting. But I rarely make major changes before I’m completely done.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Trashy nachos, involving Doritos and multiple kinds of melted processed cheese. Microwaved, of course.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
My writing space is my bed, or the couch. I only very occasionally sit at my desk to write, because I apparently love it when my back hurts.
10--Who is an author you admire?
Jacqueline Carey. Her Kushiel’s Legacy is one of my all-time favorite series—it gives me chills just to think about those books—and she’s incredibly prolific across genres.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Again, Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Dart. I’d never read an alternative historical fantasy in which the heroine was an openly bisexual courtesan, and in which BDSM was so frankly and beautifully depicted. I had no idea genre fiction even had room for such characters and themes—the kind of writing I desperately wanted to be doing. Reading those books gave me permission to push myself beyond my comfort zone in my own stories (even knowing my mom was always going to be my first beta reader).
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
This has happened to me twice; once for my YA duology, and once for Payback’s a Witch, the first of the Witches of Thistle Grove books. In the latter instance, we submitted a proposal rather than a full draft—and when my agent called to let me know there would be a seven-publisher auction for a rom-com featuring a bisexual romance, I cried on the stairs outside my house. I still tear up thinking about it!
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
SF&F with a literary bent.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
This is a tough one; I’m much more of a series person (my favorite show is Battlestar Galactica, featuring Katee Sackhoff as Kara Thrace aka Starbuck, my first onscreen wife). Now that I’m wracking my brain for movies, the only one I can dredge up is apparently… The Matrix? So, sure, let’s go with that before my skull melts.
15--What is your favorite season?
Oh, easy. Fall, the witchiest season!
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Dinner, ideally followed by either an immersive theater show or a themed burlesque performance. Alternatively, just take me directly to Medieval Times or a Renn Faire.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I recently read Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett and fell in absolute love. It’s the perfect magical read, gorgeously atmospheric and funny and eerie. I also recently watched the first two seasons of The Bear, and it’s now in my top ten all-time favorite shows. So much food! So much familial trauma! So much difficult healing and found family! Love that it’s set in Chicago, too. I’m loosely planning a restaurant tour of all the local venues (that I can afford) featured in the second season.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Japanese. I crave sushi more often than any other food. Closely followed by buffalo chicken sandwiches, if these qualify as a cuisine.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Aspirational me takes a dance or aerial yoga class. Actual me more often reads with a glass of wine or rolls around on the floor with my son until someone (me) gets hurt.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
More frolicking in Thistle Grove!
The Witches of Thistle Grove #4
A witch struggling to regain what she has lost casts a forbidden spell—only to discover much more than she expected, in this enchanting new rom-com by New York Times bestselling author Lana Harper.
Six months after having been hit by a power surge that nearly obliterated her memory, Delilah Harlow is still picking up the pieces. Her once diamond-sharp mind has become shaky and unreliable, and bristly, self-sufficient Delilah is forced to rely on friends, family, and her raven familiar for help. In an effort to reclaim her wits and former independence, she casts a dangerous blood spell meant to harness power with healing capacities.
While the spell does restore clarity, it also unexpectedly turns Delilah into an irresistible beacon for the kind of malevolent supernatural creatures that have never before ventured into Thistle Grove. One night—just as things are about to go terribly sideways with a rogue succubus—a mysterious stranger appears in the nick of time to save Delilah’s soul.
Gorgeous, sultry, and as dangerous as the knives she carries, Catriona Quinn is a hunter of monsters—and half-human, half-fae herself, she is the kind of sly and morally gray creature Delilah would normally find horrifying. Though Delilah balks at the idea of a partnership, she has no choice but to roll the dice on their collaboration. As the two delve deeper into the power that underlies Thistle Grove, they uncover not only the town’s hidden history but also a risky attraction that could upend Delilah’s entire life.
Romance Paranormal [Berkley, On Sale: August 22, 2023, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593637968 / ]
Lana is the author of four YA novels about modern-day witches and historical murderesses. Born in Serbia, she grew up in Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria before moving to the US, where she studied psychology and literature at Yale University, law at Boston University, and publishing at Emerson College. She recently moved to Chicago with her family.
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