Fiction Addict

With only two novels under her belt, Tosca Lee has quickly established herself as an author not to be missed. Her debut novel, Demon: A Memoir, wowed us with its unique look behind the veil of spiritual warfare. Havah:The Story of Eve is a fascinating look into the life of the first Woman and Man that is simply impossible to put down.

Recently Tosca signed a three book contract with B&H publishing. Her next book will cover the life of Judas Isacriot and is scheduled for a 2011 release. More about the author:

Tosca Lee received her BA in English and International Relations from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. She has also studied at Oxford University.

As a Leadership Consultant, Tosca regularly works with managers and leaders of organizations throughout the Pan-Pacific region, Europe, and the U.S.

Tosca is a former Mrs. Nebraska-America 1996, Mrs. Nebraska-United States 1998 and first runner-up to Mrs. United States and has been lauded nationally for her efforts to fight breast cancer.

In her spare time, Tosca enjoys cooking, studying history and theology, and traveling. She currently resides in Nebraska with her Shar Pei, Attila.

Tosca also enjoys modeling part time.

WHY I WRITE FICTION by Tosca Lee

The short answer: I’m not sure I can’t.

For as long as I’ve been reading or, before that, listening to stories (so basically, since I was old enough to speak), I’ve lived with one foot in this world and another somewhere in that Place Where Stories Happen. (I’ve recently named that place “Nabutabi”—blurted out one day in talking with my beau, who just nodded.)

I’ve never liked leaving that place. When I was younger, I wrote all kinds of additional scenes to Lord Valentine’s Castle and The Mists of Avalon and Star Wars (writing myself right into Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing and then his arms, in fact). I hated the feeling of being orphaned back in this world after the story was done.

Apparently (or at least, according to my family), I’ve always been a tad melodramatic. I’m not sure I really agree with that; I’d say that there’s always been some kind of amplifier on my filter, which makes things seem somehow more magical, more dangerous, more significant, or more mysterious to me than to Nabutabi non-citizens.

There’s more. There’s the Narration Thing. I tend to narrate life in my head, prose style. Sometimes I read pages in my sleep. I see conversations in paragraph form, complete with quote marks.

I know.

It gets worse; there’s the Compulsive Thing. Being without paper or pen turns me into a mumbling Rainman. That is to say, it really bothers me, because I need to get stuff on paper, even if I never use it.

When I talk to writer’s groups, students, or aspiring authors and they ask for my best writing advice, it is always: “Don’t do it.”

There are two reasons for this—first, if you can avoid it, then maybe you should. Fiction, especially, is not a good way to stay focused, remember things or chase normalcy, and definitely no way to become rich no matter what people think. Nor is it a good way to eat well, sleep well, or stay in shape.

The second is that there’s plenty of competition already. So go on, shoo.

But if you really can’t help it, if you, too, are surrounded by scrawled-upon envelopes and notes written in the margins of receipts and church bulletins, if you visualize speech and see the More in everything around you… well then. Welcome to Nabutabi.

You can find out more about Tosca Lee on her website.