Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Diana Coyle is talking with Lisa Towles, author of Specimen.

FQ: One of the first things I do when I read a book by an author I’m unfamiliar with is read the author’s bio to get to know them better. Would you please tell us a few things about yourself so that new readers, like myself, can learn about you?

TOWLES: I live in northern California, I'm originally from the East Coast, I'm a musician and come from a family of musicians, I'm a reader of thrillers but I also read other genres, and I work full time in communications. Specimen, my forthcoming thriller, will be my 13th published book.

FQ: Can you please tell our readers a brief synopsis of your book, Specimen, and what specifically makes your book unique? 

TOWLES: Specimen is an intense ride and what I'd call a Tech Thriller because it will appeal to readers who are into gaming, corruption, and espionage. It takes place in San Francisco and also the South Pacific, because the main character is from the Marshall Islands. I think what makes Specimen unique is that it has all the elements of a contemporary crime thriller but it's very much a coming of age story of 17 year old Thea Riggs who's just graduated from high school and thinks she's about to enjoy two leisurely months off before college. Not! LOL

FQ: Where do you look upon for inspiration for each book you write? 

TOWLES: I look at the world around me and I look inside myself, it's really both. The way stories "arrive" for me is very unscientific and more like an exercise in listening. It's very mysterious, it's different for every book, and I'm learning to love my convoluted process more all the time.

FQ: I loved how well-written Specimen was and how you wrapped the storyline around that insane internet game your characters were playing. Where did you come up with the gaming idea?

TOWLES: Thank you so much! The game part of the story evolved in part because this book was originally a book called Dead Sevens, which I wrote a long time ago and never had published. I rewrote the story about the original premise of a card game called Dead Sevens Crazy Eights, and then with the Cicada 3301 craze of the 2010's, I sort of pulled all those threads together. (Here's something about Cicada3301 in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/10/cicada-3301-i-tried-the-hardest-puzzle-on-the-internet-and-failed-spectacularly)

 FQ: When can your anxious readers expect your next book to be available and can you give us a quick synopsis of it?

TOWLES: Specimen will be out on December 3rd of this year and I couldn't be more excited about the release. Thereafter, I've got another thriller planned for Summer 2025, and I'm currently finishing writing a thriller that's sort of sequel to my June 2024 release, Codex.

FQ: What made you want to be a published author?

TOWLES: It wasn’t a conscious decision to write, I’ve just always done it ever since early childhood. And though I've had a great deal of formal writing training, I always sort of knew how to write stories. And then getting published, well, that's a whole different thing.

FQ: Please tell us what is your writing routine like?

TOWLES: I try to write every day, and I work full time so I don’t write in long stretches. I also try to do writing practice regularly, such as writing prompts, timed writing, etc.

FQ: I learned you write under your pen name Lisa Polisar. What differentiates Lisa Towles’ books from Lisa Polisar’s? 

TOWLES: Towles is my married name and the Polisar books are my earlier novels.

FQ: To wrap up our interview, is there anything you would like to add to tell our readers? 

TOWLES: Thank you so much for this interview and for taking the time to review Specimen. I hope readers enjoy it. If you read any of my books, I'd be so grateful for a short, Amazon review. And to follow or stay in touch with me, linktr.ee/authortowles.

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