Women in Literature: Lisa Ray

Lisa Ray is spending her retirement hiking and writing. (Photo courtesy of Lisa Ray)

Former Thomas Nelson English professor Lisa Ray has one word of advice for aspiring authors: write.

"People treat it like you have to wait for some inspirational moment," she said. "That's not actually true. What you have to do is just write, and write like it's a job."

Ray, who retired last year after 25 years at the College, is writing her fourth Urban fantasy novel, making her a great fit for Thomas Nelson's coverage of women in literature as part of Women's History Month in March. She was four or five chapters into her latest work when the pandemic hit, and it slowed her down, although she said it takes three or four years for her to go from idea to published work.

She's hoping this one will be available sometime in 2024.

"I promised my husband I would slow down a little bit because he is a slow, careful, methodical reader, but he's the best editor I've ever had," she said, noting he hasn't touched the third book in her series.

Time is not a pressing concern for her, though. And since it's been so long since her last one was published, she wants to reread all of them.

"I've made up a lot of acronyms and different agencies, and I realized I was starting to get confused about some of them and I couldn't just trust my memory," she said. "I've been going through and creating a glossary of terms. I'm almost through with that."

She also said she's having too much fun, especially with her characters.

Ray grew up in North Carolina in a household of readers, so she has always been surrounded by books. Her love of reading, and being read to, began at an early age. One day when she was 4, her mother started reading her "Alice in Wonderland" to see how long she would pay attention. When her mother stopped about halfway through, Lisa said, "Is that all?"

Her mother had to finish the book, stopping only for lunch. It took about eight hours.

"I've always loved reading," she said, adding Science Fiction and murder mysteries are among her favorites.

She describes her books as "fun fluff," hoping readers enjoy themselves while learning a few things.

"I'm not asking too much of anybody in these books," she said.

Several women writers have been particularly inspiring to her, among them Patricia Briggs, Lois McMaster Bujold, Tanya Huff and C.J. Cherry.

"All four of them create worlds and create characters," she said. "Those four women do that so well."

One of the most important science fiction writers she's read is Octavia Butler, among the first really successful African American science fiction writers.

She admits it's not always easy finding time to write, especially for those who aren't retired. But as few as 30 minutes a day is helpful.

"Some of what you write might be crap, and you just revise it because writing is about writing," she said. "That's all there is to it. It's not a magic wand. It's writing. The more you do it, the better you'll get at it."

She hosts regular seminars for the Muse Writing Center in Norfolk, and she's part of a writers' conference at Christopher Newport University on May 4.

Her first try at a novel was about 25 years ago, but it didn't go well.

"I tried to publish through publishing companies," she said. "I tried to find an agent. Nobody was interested."

That part of her career was on hold until her mother died about 15 years later, when she realized the time to write "was now or never," and got serious.

"Hopefully, it won't take other people having something extreme happen to give them that little push," she said. "Do or do not, as Yoda would say."

And write, write, write.