An Interview with Lydia Laceby, author of Redesigning Rose!

Today I am pleased to welcome Lydia Laceby, author of Redesigning Rose. Lydia has stopped by to tell us a little more about herself and where she got her inspiration for Redesigning Rose. 

About Redesigning Rose:

Rose Parker's husband has been lying. About everything.

When a conversation with her husband triggers questions, Rose Parker uncovers alarming answers that shatter her perfect life. But it is only when she shoves her belongings in her SUV and drives off that Rose realizes just how far from perfect her life actually was. She has nowhere to turn.

While debating between distressing sleeping arrangements-her mother’s house full of questions or a hotel room with too much solitude-Rose bumps into an acquaintance from her gardening class and allows bubbly, exuberant Becky to indulge her in a wild night full of whiskey, weeping, and whispered confidences. Suddenly, Rose has a new friend, a roof over her head, and two gorgeous men moving her out of her marital home.

As Rose struggles to settle into her new life, she remains determined to comprehend her past. And with time and distance and especially wine, comes knowledge. Frank wasn't the only one lying to her. Rose was lying to herself.

Welcome, Lydia!

Q. Can you please tell us more about yourself and your book, Redesigning Rose?

I’m a lover of reading, writing, gardening, knitting, baking, cooking, Johnny Depp (whose poster was plastered on my walls twenty-five years ago,) and, somehow, The Walking Dead. My novel, Redesigning Rose, is a story about a woman who unwittingly discovers her life – particularly her husband – isn’t what he seems. Crushed, she crawls out of his web of lies and works to rebuild her shattered life, realizing in the process just how much she’d given up for the man she married. A novel about family, friendship, and putting the pieces back together, Redesigning Rose examines the lies we tell each other – and ourselves.

Q. What inspired Redesigning Rose?

I started scribbling my thoughts and feelings on my failed marriage a few shorts weeks after it imploded. Cathartic doesn't even begin to describe the experience. And then, when my brain felt sorted, I edited and erased and embellished everything, putting poor Rose through the ringer. Specifically speaking regarding inspiration, I've been chronically lied to by a few boys (they really don’t deserve to be called men,) and I wanted to highlight just how damaging this can be.

Q. Redesigning Rose has a very heavy gardening theme. Is gardening something that you yourself enjoy and how much research went into Rose's story?

I love gardening! My mom has always had stunning gardens, and during the summers I stayed with my Granny, I was yanked out of bed at the crack of dawn to weed her gardens on more mornings than I care to recall. For some reason, though, I still ended up loving it as an adult. As far as research goes, I did spend some time reading about plants and flowers, particularly surrounding their proper names, as well as searching flower names for girls - Rose being the obvious one.

Q. When Rose's marriage ends, she realizes that she has put everyone else on the back burner for years, even losing friends. Did you draw upon this from personal experience? What advice would you give to people, both the guilty party and those cast aside, that find themselves in those situations?

I have put everything else aside from time to time, although not necessarily due to a relationship. I’ve been plagued with fatigue for over a decade which waxes and wanes, and sometimes everything falls off to the side while I recoup; sometimes it’s family and friends, sometimes it’s work, sometimes it’s my relationship. I wish I was one of those perky people who only needs five or six hours of sleep a night. But I’m very much not.

I do, however, have fabulous friends who I see once or twice a year, and we pick up right where we left off even though we’re not in each other’s lives daily. There are no negative feelings. We all know we’re busy, particularly after the baby boom of 2009. I think realizing this, that people get busy and that you can still be fantastic friends without seeing each other daily, is important. I also think making the effort is, too. Committing to getting together and making time for each other is important. Be open and honest about it. Discuss it if you’re having a hard time. Communication is key.

Q. Being a blogger and an author, how do you split your time between the two? Does one ever get in the way of the other?

Yes, yes, and yes. As someone who needs 8-9 hours of sleep a night, I find myself quite limited on time, particularly when there are other things that need tending to: laundry, food prep, grocery shopping, Boardwalk Empire and The Walking Dead, spending time with family and friends and my dreamy new husband – who I swear I brought into my life (or reintroduced him as we knew each other fifteen years ago) when I wrote Redesigning Rose in a “The Secret” type way. All of these things munch away at my writing and blogging hours.

I simply don’t have enough time. During the week I try to work on book blogging things before crawling into bed around 9:00 with a book until I can’t read any longer. On weekends, I attempt to crawl out of bed early to write, which is something I cannot do after work – I belong on the Walking Dead at that point. I do try to eke out a review or blog post or interview here and there at the various temp jobs I do and hold massive writing and editing stints in between jobs.

Q. Did you always know you wanted to write? Do you remember a particular moment when you realized this was what you wanted to do?

I've always known, although I ignored it for decades due to a masochistic tendency to work as a customer service representative in various call centers. Years before a computer made its way into our home, I banged around on an old typewriter, writing a soap opera. I was thirteen. Apparently, I felt I knew a lot about soap opera things. Needless to say it never aired. The dream gathered cobwebs and dust for years as life got in the way, but I found my way back to it, and here I sit with a published novel. Sometimes I have to pinch myself.

Q. What have been some of the challenges you have faced during writing and on the road to publication?

Challenge 1: Patience. Every time I thought I was close to finishing Redesigning Rose there was more editing to do, another draft to complete.

Challenge 2: Time. There really isn’t enough of it. If I could, I’d sacrifice sleep for writing time, but my husband may not like me very much anymore.

Challenge 3: Editing. I didn’t get the right editing when I needed it which resulted in some wasted money. Ouch, but live and learn.

Q. What are you working on now?

I began a novel almost three years ago during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and have barely looked at it since. So, when another, awesome idea blossomed I couldn't decide if I wanted to run with that or marry the two. A couple of weeks ago I began investigating combining the two in earnest, and I think they will be wed in the near future. Now I just need to find some time to work on it!

Q. What are your top five recommendations for readers who have just discovered Chick Lit or for those who haven't yet?

Oh geez, this one’s really hard! Can I go with authors and then one of their books, as all their books are fabulous?

Silly & fun:

Sophie Kinsella - I’ve Got Your Number

Lindsey Kelk - The Single Girl’s To-Do List

Kirsty Greenwood – Yours Truly

More serious:

JoJo Moyes - Me Before You – this novel could very well end up being my favorite book of 2013.

Sarah Pekkanen - Skipping a Beat

About Lydia Laceby:

Lydia Laceby is the co-founder of Novel Escapes, a chick lit and contemporary women’s fiction review website. Since 2009, she has read and reviewed as much women’s fiction as humanly possible while designing, organizing and expanding the website from two reviewers to five.

In her spare time, she knits cute baby hats, would pick cheese over chocolate–if she had to choose–and regularly cheats on her allergy free diet.

Lydia has always wanted to write and began her career writing a soap opera at the tender age of thirteen. It never aired. Redesigning Rose is her first novel.

Where to find Lydia:

Website

Novel Escapes

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

Purchase Redesigning Rose:

Amazon

B&N
The Book Depository

Thank you again to Lydia for stopping by! Be sure to come back tomorrow to check out my review for Redesigning Rose (it's amazing) and enter to win yourself a copy too!