Bio Lisa Blackwood grudgingly lives in a small town in Southern Ontario, though she would much rather live deep in a dark forest, surrounded by majestic old-growth trees. Since she cannot live her fantasy, she decided to write fantasy instead. An abundance of pets, named after various Viking gods, helps to keep the creativity flowing. Freya, her ever faithful and beloved hellhound, ensures Lisa takes a break from the computer so they can rid the garden of cats with delusions of conquest. Okay, now I'll attempt serious. No promises. One of the first questions authors get asked is why we write. Answer: I think we have to so our brains don't implode and create a blackhole from the ever increasing mass of all the ideas bouncing around inside our skulls. LOL. Authors write because it's in our blood. Ashayna and Sorntar from Betrayal's Price were two of the first characters I thought up. I was thirteen. Back then, Ashayna had a different name. Of all my characters, only Sorntar and Lamarra kept their original names. Yes, that first manuscript was as horrible as you can imagine. I put them aside when I was seventeen. Life, higher education, working full time--I no longer had time for writing. Or so I thought. The Muse is a strange beast. It let that part of my mind rest, as if dormant. Occasionally, I'd think fondly of that old story. Then when I was twenty-five, surgery forced me to take eight weeks off work. Unknown to me, the Muse was rubbing her hands together and cackling with glee. One day during my down time, I decided to have a look at that big, never-ending story. Oh, yes. I laughed. Even then I recognized utter crap writing. I gave it a little polish and started looking at agent websites. Wince. Ouch. Didn't know any better. I did one intelligent thing--I only submitted to a very small number of agents. One agent blog mentioned a writing workshop called the Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. I gave it a go. There I learned about every newbie mistake, large and small. I think I committed ever crime known to writers and made up a few of my own. Writing is a craft, and it took me a long time to grasp the basics. And this time, I don't think the Muse is going to let me escape. I have four new stories in the works, with no end of ideas in sight. ::Sigh::