Saturday, January 15, 2022

What's New with Lisa Kinley

 

Thank you so much to the wonderful genre-istas of Romancing the Genres for letting me join today! My name’s Lisa Kinley and I write cozy mysteries featuring Hazel Hastings, a snarky, plus-sized romance author and college English professor with two cats, too many hobbies, and a popular Instagram account about donuts (but she hates being called a donut influencer).

What’s new in ’22 for me? It’s a big year! My debut cozy, Meet Cutes and Murder, just came out a couple of weeks ago. I’m planning to release the second in the series, Bad Reviews and Bloodshed this summer and the third, Romance and Red Herrings, in late 2022. There will be a lot of writing and editing and fretting and brainstorming in my future.

On the personal front, I turn 40 this year and will be starting a new job in two weeks. Both are big milestones for me. I began working at the job I just left in 2005, which is the same year I began writing romance novels (and the year I met the amazing Paty Jager!). I didn’t plan it, but the week I left that job is also the week I released my first book. Isn’t it funny how timing works out sometimes? I’m so excited about this new job, my upcoming cozies, and some romances I’m working on under another pen name.

My focus for this year will be consistency in my writing. For the past 17 years, I’ve been able to write what I wanted, when I wanted, and to whatever pace felt right. Sometimes that meant months away from writing, sometimes that meant writing in every free moment.

Now that I’m published and have editing appointments with someone who books out a few months in advance, I need to be more consistent with my productivity. I’m hoping my new job will help with that. It’s remote and narrower in both scope and responsibility than my previous one, which will hopefully leave me the time, energy, and emotional bandwidth to make writing more of a priority. This will be a year of learning my process, pushing my limits, and hopefully making steps toward being a full-time author.

Wishing you a wonderful 2022! I hope it’s full of all good things, great books, and rewarding words. 

And if you’re interested in a funny cozy mystery set in Oregon with some (elder) millennial vibes, check out Meet Cutes and Murder. You can also find me on Instagram, Facebook or my website.

6 comments:

Lynn Lovegreen said...

Meet Cutes and Murder sounds liek fun! Good luck in the new chapter in your life, Lisa.

Judith Ashley said...

Lisa, I can see that 2022 will be a standout year for you! Thank you for guesting at Romancing The Genres this weekend.

Lisa Kinley said...

Thank you so much, Lynn and Judith! I hope 2022 is an amazing year for both of you as well. Thank you for having me on the blog! It's been so fun to read through what others are planning for this year.

Diana McCollum said...

Enjoyed ;your blog post! Sounds like you have a wonderful year planned.

Deb N said...

I love the titles you chose for your books. Congrats on your first release, and here's cheers for the next 2 coming out this year. Good luck with the new job. And hopefully you can come back and guest again so we can hear about your progress!

Lisa Kinley said...

Thank you so much, Diana! I'm looking forward to the year. I hope yours is great!

Deb, thank you so much! I appreciate that so much!! I hope 2022 is great for you :)