Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn You: All the more important now

Posted by lisavb2012 on

As readers of this blog know, I recently published Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn You: Homeownership Decisions That Can Cost You Your House–a bit of a departure from the fiction works I talk about on this blog. The book compiles lessons I learned over 14 years of foreclosure prevention practice in a legal aid setting. It discusses strategies to avoid setting yourself up for future foreclosure or related problems (and the “why” of it all) across many topics: forward mortgages, reverse mortgages, HOAs, property taxes, title issues, second mortgages refinances, and more. My goal was to enable people to make more informed decisions earlier on so they didn’t make themselves vulnerable to problems later on.

Given all the uncertainties and risk going on of late–and the dismantling of consumer watchdog agencies–the information is all the more important for people to have in their hands, to protect themselves to the extent possible. Not only that, I suspect rescue programs are going to be harder to find. I know in Washington State, for example, the Homeownership Assistance Fund that came into being to tamp down foreclosures in the COVID crisis is ending new applications today. Many other states had already expended their funds and closed to new applications a while ago.

Point being, it’s all the more important to understand the risks of various mortgage products and related subjects, to better protect yourself way up front. No one can predict a catastrophic illness or long-term job loss, but I know from experience there are homeownership decisions that can pretty reliably set you up for foreclosure later. These can often be avoided from the get-go. And that’s the point of the book.

It’s available in ebook and paperback on Amazon, as well as ebook on Barnes & Noble.

Ravenna’s Story

Posted by lisavb2012 on

So…I finished my last novel, Scorched Earth, in late 2018 (it launched in 2019). After writing at a fairly rapid pace since my debut, The Genesis Code, came out, I decided to take a brief hiatus. I figured on 6 months, and it stretched to about a year. When I sat down to begin a new novel in late 2019, I decided to take a fresh approach, try some new things–while staying with my usual sci/tech/thriller sort of fare.

I decided to come at this one from the POV of the main character, in first person and present tense. For this novel, I wanted the character to be very front-and-center, and the science/tech more in the background. I found myself having to be scrupulous about not lapsing into past tense, but that wasn’t too hard.

I decided to “pants” this novel to see where that took me. Other authors do that with great results, maybe it would loosen things up for me. And, since this novel wasn’t going to be so intricately tied to a timeline that needed careful planning, it seemed a natural thing to try this time around. Normally, I’m a planner/outliner. Partly due to my nature, and partly due to the nature of my prior novels’ plots.

Then came the pandemic, working from home, a new foreclosure crisis to tackle at work, and everything else. Lots of distractions and that much more “picking up the draft and putting it down” along the way. Perfect storm. One of the benefits of outlining for me is to be able to pick up the draft and get right back into where I left off because with an outline I know where I need to go, I just need to write the story. For this one, I had no roadmap, I only had distractions. When I picked it up to work on it, I had no idea where I was going next, and momentum was very hard to find indeed. The only thing I knew was I did like what I had already written, and didn’t want to give up on it. But progress was beyond slow.

By the summer of 2023, progress had been frustratingly slow, and I finally decided the hell with pantsing, I’m going to take stock of what I had and get an outline going. And that made all the difference. Once I charted out where the character was going (both in her development and her physical travels), momentum returned and the rest of the drafting went far, far better. Not only that, but I realized Ravenna, too, is a planner. A lot about who she is and her motivations became so much clearer. I had been pantsing her character as well, which was also not working for me.

Recognizing that Ravenna was a planner and that she and I both needed and deserved a decent outline was the turning point. Her character, the way forward, the point of the book…all of it crystallized and I was able at last to get to the finish line of the first draft. This novel took significantly more time to write than The Genesis Code, when I was experiencing the entire process of writing a novel-length work for the very first time. Genesis took about two years start to finish. Ravenna took nearly five.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I write the outline and then slavishly follow it no matter what. I do depart if/when it appears justified, and I’ve redone outlines that weren’t working. But now I can say I’ve given pantsing a fair shot, and I can safely say I won’t be doing that again. At least not with a novel-length work.

And trust me, even though Ravenna had her plans all worked out, I made sure she hit plenty of snags along the way and had to pants it sometimes just to survive. Heheh.

Ravenna’s Road is up for pre-order now, coming 7/8/25!

Posted by lisavb2012 on

I’m thrilled to announce that my latest novel, Ravenna’s Road, is set for release by Crossroad Press on July 8, 2025. Meanwhile, it is available for pre-order in all the usual places: Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Smashwords, and Google Play.

Here’s a little preview:

In the not-too-distant future, climate change wreaks havoc on agriculture, the economy, public health, and the very fabric of society. Everything is in short supply: food, water, money—and hope.

Convicted of a murder she did not commit, Ravenna opts for a work-based diversion program in place of prison time. She becomes a first responder in Chicago’s toughest and most desperate section. She faces violence, suicides, and danger on every shift.

One day, Ravenna learns the immense personal sacrifice that led to her conviction was in vain. The discovery drives her to take a risky leap. Determined to make a new life for herself one way or the other, she meticulously plans her escape to Mexico, then sets out on the road.

But she encounters far worse obstacles and dangers than she imagined—and there’s no turning back. Her plan in tatters, she has to find a way to reach a safe place to start over.

Will the road be Ravenna’s salvation—or her undoing?

My new book is live–not my usual fare

Posted by lisavb2012 on

On this blog, I’m known for my dystopian fiction. But I have another side, the side that spent 14 years in legal aid as a foreclosure prevention staff attorney. I felt the need to consolidate into book form what I learned in that time in the hopes readers could benefit from what I had to say.

While my work involved resolving foreclosures that had already begun, along the way I observed various patterns. Though not all foreclosures are preventable or foreseeable, there are some actions/inactions that reliably lead to a heightened risk of foreclosure–and other issues–down the road. Other issues like messed-up title that creates problems for heirs, negative equity that prevents you from refinancing or selling (without a short sale and permission from your lender, that is), and more. So it was fiendishly difficult to choose a title that said everything I needed to say about the contents of the book. It isn’t solely about foreclosure. It’s about foreclosure prevention well ahead of any default, at opposed to active foreclosure defense. And I also wanted to telegraph that I deliberately wrote it in what I hope is an accessible, non-legalese way that won’t cause readers to slump into a coma of boredom.

Now it’s live on Amazon:

Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn You: Homeownership Decisions That Can Cost You Your House (eBook/Kindle)

And it comes in paperback , too!

I really hope folks read it, take it to heart, and make more informed decisions way, way upstream to avoid falling into foreclosure or other avoidable homeownership-related problems later on.

Prevention is far better than cure, believe me.

A brief summary of my backlist titles…

Posted by lisavb2012 on

Since I finally finished my most recent work and sent it in to my publisher, I figured I would post a little synopsis of my existing titles. People ask me which one they should start with. Well, they are all independent of each other, so it depends more on the sort of things that interest you. Here goes (in chronological order of publication)!

The Genesis Code. My debut novel. I completed work in this in 2006 (it was first published in 2012)–long before DARPA started testing brain implants on veterans to alter memories and alleviate PTSD, and long before Musk got the idea. So I was there first, folks! This one’s about a mega tech company that decides it would be a good idea to surrepticiously implant brain chips in its employees to boost productivity. Too bad the scientest who developed the chip has other plans, and intends to use those employees as unwitting test subjects for his scheme.

The Janus Legacy. Jeremy Magnusson inherits SomaGene, his father’s successful custom organ cultivation and transplant company. He takes over operations, only to find his father had been secretly developing other sources for transplantable organs. Jeremy faces an enormous ethical dilemma, even more so when his severe Crohn’s Disease forces him to seek a transplant–or die.

Ash and Bone. This one’s a novella. It’s a little tale of a haunted motel in a harbor town–and how it got that way.

Blockbuster. I consider this one a “BigPharma” thriller. A deadly, flesh-eating bacteria is on the loose, the body count is rising. Competition is fierce among BigPharma companies to find the cure–and Denali Labs believes it’s developed a business model to guarantee its success. How far will they go?

Skinshift. This one’s a novella. Dominic Donato’s partners in crime try to cut him out of a deal. They leave him for dead in the Mojave desert, but he manages to survive. And he wants revenge more than anything. He acquires a special power out there in the desert, and plans to use it for revenge–and more.

Broken Chain. I consider this one a “BigAg” thriller. An unprecedented wave of senseless and brutal violence is sweeping the nation, livestock is dying in droves. What is going on? The CDC sends out teams to investigate, and Dr. Kyle Sommers tracks down the cause. Something has gone horribly wrong with the food chain…

Moon Over Ruin. This is also a novella. Peter Watson loses his pregnant wife in a tragic accident. Despondent, he gets on the road to go somewhere, anywhere. He stops for the night in an abandoned old resort on a lake, thinking he has the place to himself. He doesn’t. Will he make it through the night?

Down the Brink. This one is, hands down, the darkest novel I’ve ever written. Zach Winters works in IT for a large for-profit prison company, and learns the very dark secret of how they boost their profits and feed the pipeline. He risks everything to try to put a stop to it…

Incidental Findings. This novel introduces young attorney Nikki Avalon, and her character may eventually be the basis for a series. It’s part legal thriller, part medical thriller. Nikki takes over a major product liability lawsuit against SignalBoss cell phones after the prior attorney mysteriously disappears. The phone appears to be causing serious neurological harm, and Dirk Demerest, owner of SignalBoss, will stop at nothing to kill the lawsuit and conceal the truth.

Scorched Earth. In this one, the largest drought in history has led to the largest wildfires in history. When I wrote it, I thought I was being over the top in having the entire panhandle of Nebraska ablaze. Soon after, there were the huge fires in Australia and California, and my plot didn’t seem so far-fetched anymore. Jake and Lexi try to escape to the west coast with their baby Ava. Will they make it to safety and a better life?

These titles are available in all the usual places: Amazon, Smashwords, Apple, B&N, Google. The Genesis Code and Down the Brink are also available in audiobook format on Amazon. The only exception is Moon Over Ruin–it is solely available on Amazon in ebook and paperback forms.

Thanks for reading!

Lisa

At last! My latest novel submitted!

Posted by lisavb2012 on

There were times I thought it would never happen, but I did recover my momentum and completed my 11th fiction title (I put it that way because two of my books are novellas, not novels).

As I mentioned in a previous post, I started this novel in December 2019. I decided to try “pantsing” this one for a change of pace. I’ve always outlined first. Pantsing just doesn’t give me the path I need to write as productively as I like. And then came the pandemic and everything associated with that. At work, we were thrown back into dealing with a new foreclosure crisis. It was a lot.

Last summer, I decided pantsing was just not working for me, and outlined the rest of the story. That made all the difference. I finally finished the first draft, then the various editing cycles, and finally turned it in to my publisher, Crossroad Press, recently. It still needs the editing/cover art and all that, so I don’t have a launch date at this time. But it feels good to finally have it out of my hands.

It’s called RAVENNA’s ROAD. To give you a little preview, here’s my draft of the back cover copy:

In the not-too-distant future, climate change wreaks havoc on agriculture, the economy, public health, and the very fabric of society. Everything is in short supply: food, water, money—and hope.

Convicted of a murder she did not commit, Ravenna opts for a work-based diversion program in place of prison time. She becomes a first responder in Chicago’s toughest and most desperate section. She faces violence, suicides, and danger on every shift.

One day, Ravenna learns the enormous personal sacrifice that led to her conviction was in vain. The discovery drives her to take a risky leap. Disillusioned at throwing away her life for nothing, she meticulously plans her escape to Mexico, then sets out on the road.

But she encounters far worse obstacles and dangers than she imagined—and there’s no turning back. Her plan in tatters, she has to find a way to reach a safe place to start a new life.

Will the road be Ravenna’s salvation—or her undoing?

(Good heavens, this platform won’t let me do something as simple as indenting it, so I went with bolding.)

Stay tuned for updates!

Reflections on The Genesis Code and more…

Posted by lisavb2012 on

This month marks 12 years(!) since The Genesis Code’s original release–and something like 17 years or so since I began writing it. I’d written short stories–had some of them published–before I started on The Genesis Code. I wanted to get a feel for the process with a smaller number of words to wrangle. Even so, I remember plotting/outlining/drafting it. I often felt like I was out on the ocean in a rowboat without any navigation tools! But I finally got it done, wrapped it up right before starting law school. I (correctly) presumed I’d better wrap it up because I’d have time for little else during law school.

Darkfuse originally published The Genesis Code, and I kicked my writing back into gear (I’d done nothing but legal writing during/since law school at that point). Wrote/published a number of novels/novellas with Darkfuse in that time. Darkfuse closed down, then Crossroad Press re-released all my Darkfuse titles and released a couple of new titles as well (Down the Brink and Scorched Earth). Somewhere along the way, I self-published a novella (Moon Over Ruin) that had originally been solicited by another publisher.

I took a little break from writing after my latest novel, Scorched Earth, came out. Started my current work-in-progress in late 2019. Decided to try “pantsing” it for a change (I’m a devout outliner). That was a huge mistake. Between the pandemic and the lack of a roadmap for the plot, the manuscript grew at a snail’s pace. It was hard for me to pick up and work on it when I didn’t have a clue what was happening next. Some writers can do that, and they do it well (I’m looking at you, Allan Leverone). I’m admitting here and now, that ain’t me.

I think it was sometime last summer, I picked the manuscript up yet again and came to that conclusion. I needed to stop and outline or it would never get done. It’s made all the difference. Yeah, it’s not done yet. I retired earlier this year, and am adjusting to a very different rhythm, catching up on neglected tasks around the house and all. Now I am within spitting distance of the end of the first draft, which is the hardest part, so that’s good!

Anniversaries always make me reflect on things, and so Genesis’s 12-year anniversary prompted me to take a look back at its origin, what I’ve done since, and where things are now in my writing life. I’ve been quiet for a while, but I’m not gone!

Thanks for reading…

Lisa

The Genesis Code was there first…

Posted by lisavb2012 on

So, Mr. Musk has done it. He’s implanted a chip in a human brain. Well, *he* didn’t do it, some robot did. 

My debut novel, The Genesis Code, was originally published in May 2013. And I actually completed the manuscript in 2006. In other words, I beat him to it by a long shot. 

And of course, being one of *my* novels, some things go terribly, terribly wrong in the plot. The implant ends up being a sort of Trojan horse, supposedly doing one relatively benign and useful thing, but in reality doing a hell of a lot more so the inventor can try out some things under the radar. 

The news story this morning: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/other/elon-musks-neuralink-implants-brain-chip-in-first-human/ar-BB1hsnrD

Actually, I thought DARPA had been trying out implants to tackle PTSD for a while now…but still long after The Genesis Code dreamed it up.

I’ve Entered Pixels’ Billboard Contest

Posted by lisavb2012 on

Pixels posted the rules for its Billboard contest and I couldn’t resist. I entered three of my imagines. Any images with 100 or more votes advance to the juried selection stage. Below are the links to vote for my artwork, if you should be so inclined. Thank you!

Noir Pier:  https://pixels.com/contests/billboard-contest-2022.html?tab=vote&artworkid=44817044

Portrait of Waldo the Parrot:  https://pixels.com/contests/billboard-contest-2022.html?tab=vote&artworkid=24938730

Boat Reflections in the Harbor:  https://pixels.com/contests/billboard-contest-2022.html?tab=vote&artworkid=23382621