Debut author Lisa Tirreno (she/her) has arrived in the Rambling Realm. During her stay, she kindly agreed to chat with me about herself, her debut novel Prince of Fortune, and the secrets of her writing process.

About Lisa Tirreno

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

What inspired you to start Prince of Fortune?

I’ve always written! I loved stories from a very young age—my grandparents kept me quiet with them—and so as soon as I could write, I was writing them as well. I still remember my grade-four teacher being delighted by a 22-chapter sequel to The Witches by Roald Dahl that I wrote in our weekly creative writing sessions, although I’m sure it wasn’t actually … any good lol.

About Prince of Fortune

What can you tell us about your debut?

What was the inspiration for Prince of Fortune?

I had a dream, which gave me the main characters (more about that below!) and which sort of crystalised for me that I wanted to write a story that centred around whether or not two young men would be able to get married. I had always written female main characters before, but I was incredibly angry at the time, at the “debate” my country was having over marriage equality. Our media was running the most awful things—irresponsible, unfair things—and somehow pictures of two grooms on a wedding cake were everywhere, like that should scare people.

As angry as I was, I didn’t want to write an angry book. I wanted it to be the kind of thing a queer kid – or any kid, or any adult, even – could pick up and escape into if they needed it, and feel better afterwards, and then be more able to deal with whatever real-world nonsense they had to deal with. I’ve been told that Prince of Fortune feels like a warm hug in book form, so I hope that means I succeeded.

There are still people who think there shouldn’t be happy queer stories—or, say, happy black stories, or happy stories about disabled people: the list goes on and on. It’s ridiculous, especially in the fantasy genre where you simply do not have to import real-world bias and discrimination. Every marginalised group deserves every kind of story and we have some catching up to do on that front.

If you were a character in your novel, who would you be and why?

Both my main characters have loving mothers, who want the best for their kids. I think if I woke up tomorrow inside the story, I’d probably find that I had been cast as one of them. I feel very motherly towards them.

If Prince of Fortune was turned into a movie, who would play the main characters and why?

I never know what to say to this question! As soon as I try to think about it, it’s as though I’ve never seen an actor in my whole life. Couldn’t name one.

Whoever was cast would need to look good in period dress, and at least be able to pretend that they can ride a horse well. The actor cast as Aubrey would need to have an enormous smile and whoever played Edmund would need to convince the audience that they don’t have so much as one tiny morsel of self-confidence, which unfortunately I’ve never believed, while looking at an actor.

Are there any fun behind-the-scenes moments or any hidden easter eggs in your novel that you’d like to share?

There’s a scene in a night market, which was the first scene I wrote. I really wanted to keep it in, and thankfully I was able to. I’d seen it in a dream—just a flash, of two teenage boys chasing each other around a bustling market, lit by torches. It was the first kernel of the story, in my brain. Their dynamic had stuck with me: one was cheeky and impish and the other was shy and just thrilled to be there, and to have the other one’s attention. They became Aubrey and Edmund.

Can you share a favorite quote or excerpt from your book?

I think my opening line is possibly one of the most quotable. I think it sets the tone, and tells you who Aubrey is at that point. I love a good opening line lol; I hope this is one.

About Writing

What was the most challenging part of writing your book?

Finding the time! Especially when my kid was younger. Trying to get uninterrupted stretches of time during the Covid lockdowns in particular was … interesting.

How would you describe your writing process?

Chaotic. I’m not just a pantser (the kind of writer who writes by the seat of their pants rather than plotting everything out first), I’m also a quilter (I write scenes out of order and then stitch them together as I realise where they need to go, in the story). It is not efficient. I am currently trying to plan a bit more and write a bit more linearly and it … is not working. I feel very confined and constricted, it’s not good for my creativity.

How would you describe your writing style?

I’ve been told by different people that it’s cheeky, voicey, and in Prince of Fortune’s case, “swoony”.

What have you learned from writing your debut novel?

How important craft is. I wish I’d appreciated earlier that you need to properly think about things like structure and pacing and so on, to write fiction well; it’s a rare person who just intuitively understands it. I wrote so many stories and couldn’t finish them; I used to get stuck and couldn’t solve the problems I was having, couldn’t even recognize what was wrong, just that something was.

There’s a real arrogance to thinking you can do something without having actually studied how it’s done. People don’t do this with other things – there’s no one going around saying they’re going to build a bridge someday and then trying to do it, without having even read so much as an article on bridge-making for beginners. I don’t know why our culture does this with writing lol.

Do you have any strange or fun writing habits or rituals?

I write when and where I can, so I don’t really go in for lighting a particular candle first or anything like that. I do make playlists, though, that I write to sometimes, both to get the mood ready and also just to block whatever noise is going on around me to try and stop from getting distracted.

What's your favorite writing snack or beverage?

I drink a lot of tea while I write. I have an entire drawer full of different kinds and another of mugs with different things written on them, depending on what sort of message I might need that day.

If you could choose any place—real or fictional—to write your next novel where would it be and why?

The main settings of my current work-in-progress is an old manor house near some magical woods. I think it would do wonders for my creativity lol.

What's the most unusual place where you've found inspiration for your writing?

I used to park my car in a badly lit old car park by the station, before taking the train into the city centre for work. There was a short cut through this run-down 1950s shopping arcade, which was fine during the day but slightly spooky late at night. While I never actually felt unsafe­—violent crime is pretty rare, where I live—I did once write the location into a vampire story, since it would have been a great place to nab people from, if you were a creature of the night in need of a quick snack.

I think inspiration is pretty easy; it’s the hours and hours of writing that’s hard.

Tirreno’s Advice

What do you think is the most important thing for debut authors to know?

I don’t know if I can properly answer that question until I’m out of my debut period and I expect I’ll have a completely different answer in five years; but I was glad I knew in advance that this was all going to be a slow process, with lots of rounds of editing. That part is a lot of work, and a bit of an emotional rollercoaster.

How did you go about getting your book published?

The classic textbook sort of way: I cold queried agents, got an agent, and he submitted my manuscripts to editors. One of them bought it. No surprises or magic bullets here, sorry! Just the standard slog.

What surprised you most about the writing and publishing process?

What a rollercoaster of emotions it would be. I think I would have expected to just be happy but I’m anxious a lot of the time, and I don’t even know most of the time what I’m anxious about. I catastrophize, when I have never catastrophized before in my life. So much of it is out of your control. And it’s a big change, after dreaming about this for so long! There’s a writing coach called Isabel Sterling who has a podcast called The Author Burnout Cure, and she talks about this sort of thing a lot on there. I’ve found it helpful.

Are there any resources or tools that were particularly helpful to you during your writing journey?

I went to some really helpful workshops at my city’s writing centre, on topics like structure, pacing, and worldbuilding, with some amazing Australian writers. They honestly made all the difference.

Finding quality critique partners really helped as well. The accountability was helpful—if someone’s waiting to read it, you’d better hurry up and write the thing—but more than that, having that person also be someone who writes in your genre, and who could give proper, critical feedback to help make things better makes all the difference. Being able to do the same for them was unexpectedly useful as well, because analysing other people’s writing helps you think about craft.

So I guess for me, interactions with other writers got me through. Writing can be so lonely; community is important.

What is the strangest thing you had to research for your book?

Ha—so many things, since it’s set in a fantasy version of the late 18th/early 19th century. I had to research so much about medical treatment, and the history of weaponry and warfare, that I’m probably on some watchlist now.

Tirreno’s Plans for the Future

What are you working on next?

My current work-in-progress is about an orphaned heiress who is just trying to find out how her father was killed, but accidentally frees an ancient priestess from a sacred grove that she’s been trapped in for thousands of years, holding back the end of the world. It’s set in a fantasy version of the 1930s, so there’s nightclubs and fast cars and bright young things, and it might all change completely between now and my next draft. We’ll see!

Where can readers find your book and connect with you?

My website is lisatirreno.com; it has links to pre-order my book or to sign up for my newsletter there. It also has my links to my social media; I’m most active on Instagram, where I’m @lisatirrenoauthor.

Is there anything you would like to say to your readers?

I love my book so much; I hope you do too.

Unfortunately, the time has come for Lisa Tirreno to continue her journey. But if you wish to find her outside of the Rambling Realm you can do so by visiting her website or following her on Twitter, Threads, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Goodreads.

You can get your copy of Prince of Fortune by following this link.