Interview with Lisa DesRochers, author of PERSONAL DEMONS

I’m happy to welcome Lisa Desrochers today to talk about her debut YA novel, PERSONAL DEMONS which just released in September.

Story Overview from Goodreads:    Frannie Cavanaugh is a good Catholic girl with a bit of a wicked streak. She's spent years keeping everyone at a distance—even her closest friends—and it seems her senior year will be more of the same...until Luc Cain enrolls in her class. No one knows where he came from, but Frannie can't seem to stay away from him. What she doesn't know is that Luc works in Acquisitions—for Hell—and she possesses a unique skill set that has the King of Hell tingling with anticipation. All Luc has to do is get her to sin, and he’s as tempting as they come. Frannie doesn’t stand a chance.

Unfortunately for Luc, Heaven has other plans, and the angel, Gabe, is going to do whatever it takes to make sure that Luc doesn’t get what he came for. And it isn't long before they find themselves fighting for more than just her soul.

But if Luc fails, there will be Hell to pay…for all of them.

Hi Lisa!  Thanks so much for joining me to talk about your *hot* new debut, PERSONAL DEMONS.  I love the idea of heaven and hell fighting over a teenage girl’s soul and especially when it’s by two attractive boys. Yet, Frannie is a deep character on her own, who struggles with issues from her past as well as following the belief system of her very religious parents. How did the idea for the story come to you? 

Personal Demons really started with Luc. His name popped into my head one day and I knew he was a demon because…well…his name is Lucifer Cain. I sat down and started writing from his perspective, which turned out to be one of the funnest things I’ve ever done. (You ever been in a demon’s head? It’s surprising the things you’ll find in there. :p)  We both knew he was at Haden High for a reason, but neither of us knew what it was…until Frannie showed up.

Do you see yourself in Frannie?

I see some of me in certain aspects of her. On the outside Frannie is pretty tough. She’s taken some hard knocks in her young life and has built walls to protect herself from getting hurt. As we get to know her, we find out that, on the inside, it’s a whole different story. She’s vulnerable and confused. She’s also very flawed. I think this describes a lot of us at adolescence. My own life experiences are very different than Frannie’s, but I can remember feeling like I had to put up the though front so people wouldn’t realize how seriously screwed up I felt on the inside.

I love how the idea of personal demons reverberates through the story beyond the obvious. Was this an intentional theme when you started out or did the story just evolve in that direction?

Personal Demons didn’t have a title until I was about half done with it. I don’t write with an outline, so I had no idea where the story would go or how the characters would evolve. But, as the story came together, it was clear that Frannie was struggling with both literal and metaphorical demons.

I *love* music and I’ve read that music played an important role in the origination of this novel. Can you tell us a bit about that? And do you play any instruments?

I mentioned that Personal Demons started when Luc’s name popped into my head. That happened while I was listening to one of my favorite bands, Saving Abel, and reading their bio. They say they took their name from the biblical passage “there was no saving Abel” in the story of Cain and Abel. So, we have Saving Abel to thank for the inspiration. There are many songs that influenced the story. The biggest two were Nickleback’s Savin’ Me, which Luc’s character built around, and The Fray’s You Found Me, which was the inspiration for Frannie. The whole story revolves around the themes in these two songs, and The Fray fans have picked up that Frannie’s neighborhood park is on the corner of First and Amistad. =)

As for me, I’m an instant gratification type person. I’ve sung forever, but I’ve never been patient enough to learn to play an instrument. I have a beautiful baby grand piano and a guitar that I want to know how to play. I just don’t want to have to learn to play them.

Okay – I’ve read that you didn’t tell your husband you were writing a book!  Why?  And does he know now?!

Honestly, I didn’t tell anyone I was writing until I had an agent. I was pragmatic enough to know that the chances of ever getting published were next to none. My reasons for not telling anyone were threefold. First, I was pretty sure my writing sucked and I’d have been mortified to have anyone else read it. (I’m still embarrassed when people I know tell me they’ve read my book.) Second, the last thing I wanted was for people to keep asking me if I was having any luck with getting published if I had nothing to tell them. As it turned out, the process of finding and agent and editor went pretty fast, but it might never have happened. Third, I’m fairly vain. I hate to fail. But it’s only a failure if someone else knows about it, right? (Yes it’s warped, but that was my rationale.)

I told my husband after I got agented in September last year. The rest of my family found out because we were all together when Personal Demons went to auction the Monday before Christmas.

Tell me a secret about Frannie.

She’s afraid of worms.

What is your favorite part of PERSONAL DEMONS?

I have a lot of favorite parts. All of the scenes with Luc and Gabe jabbing at each other are fun. But so are the kissing scenes. (That’s why I have so many!)

I get the feeling that we will see more of Frannie’s Father and Grandfather in the next book.  Can you give us a teaser about what to expect in your sequel, ORIGINAL SIN?

In the next two books Frannie’s family history comes to light. It turns out that no one is who she thought they were. Original Sin takes some dark turns and Frannie finds herself fighting to save some of the people she cares about most.

Lisa, thank you so much for joining me here today and I’m so happy I had a chance to read PERSONAL DEMONS!