Hello and welcome fellow readers to my new blog where I’ll write about all things writing, storytelling, sprinkled in with a little humour. Please send your thoughts and prayers as I do my best to be consistent with this new adventure (I’m serious). As many of you already know, my name is Lera Bishop and I am the author of the urban fantasy series Doppel Paladin (book 2 is underway, I promise!).
Today, I want to take you back to the beginning, what made me want to become an author, and how the high stakes world of Doppel Paladin came to be.
Q: What makes a person decide to write a whole book?
It was high school, grade 12, to be exact. I was in English class reading books that had no relevance to what I should’ve been learning. I used to hide my book inside the textbook, but I’m pretty sure my teacher knew I wasn’t paying attention. The first book I fell in love with was ‘The Coldest Winter Ever’ by Sister Souljah. I was hooked! No matter what I just couldn’t put it down. Then I ventured into all things written by Eric Jerome Dickey. Listen, I had nooooooo business reading those books at that tender young age. The things I learned (smh), but that’s beside the point! But then I picked up a series that made me realize that writing was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, ‘Confessions Of A Shopaholic’ by Sophie Kinsella. I never knew a book could make me laugh before. I loved the storyline and how quirky the main character was. I loved every book in that series and I’ve read each one several times. Whenever I wanted a pick me up, those were the books I’d gravitate to. And when Sophie Kinsella dropped a new book, best believe I was in Indigo purchasing a copy.
Years later, I’m a mom, a wife (now ex wife – yikes), working a 9 to 5 that I used to dream and pray for. But even after achieving that goal, a quiet sense of restlessness persisted. Something was still missing… I craved a creative outlet. So one day I decided to pray and ask God to give me an interesting story with intriguing characters and jaw dropping plot twists. I grew up in church, so prayer has always been my foundation. I bought myself a bunch of pens and small notebooks to take on my commute to and from work. Suddenly, the words, ideas and plots began to flow. So much, that most days my commute wasn’t enough time to get all my ideas down. From that moment I was committed to writing a whole novel.
If I’m completely honest, in the beginning I believed in myself so much, I had no struggles with imposter syndrome. I knew I had a story that was gripping and different. The TV shows I watched shaped how I wrote certain scenes. Back then I was obsessed with Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder. I enjoyed seeing different layers of a story and characters overlap within a scene. I did my best to showcase that within my work, because real life isn’t one dimensional, several things are always happening at once.
The core conflict of my story, the devastating secret, the power and betrayal, came from a few things.
The secret: unfortunately, all families have them. I just knew the family I was creating needed something readers wouldn’t see coming.
The power: I’m a boy mom, so we watched many, if not all, of the Marvel movies. I was heavily into all things super-powers while I was writing this book. And if I’m honest I think it aged well.
The betrayal: in my opinion, experiencing betrayal is one of the hardest parts of life. I don’t believe I could tell this story and have it be as impactful, if I didn’t show disloyalty in some way. Betrayal shapes us and sometimes can be a force that propels us to exactly where we’re supposed to be.
Q: How did you develop Mya Yu?
Here’s a secret, when I first wrote this book I, actually wrote Mya to be a different race/nationality. Initially she was Caucasian and Asian. Back then I thought that if I wrote a Black character I would be putting myself in a box. I know, silly way of thinking. Thankfully, after speaking to a family member and taking some time (11 yrs to be exact, yes I wrote this story that long ago) to mature and grow, I realized nobody can put me in a box but me. So I decided to make Mya Black and I have to say, it was one of the best decisions I made.
Q: Why Urban Fantasy?
When I began writing my book, I actually didn’t know the genre ‘urban fantasy’ was a thing (low key I only found out last year, when I published). I just wrote what felt the most natural. Creating a different world felt overwhelming at the time, and if I’m honest it kind of still does (kudos to those authors!). It was very important to me to write something that felt relatable and grounded in the world we live in, even though my characters had incredible abilities. I wanted the conflict and “family drama” to feel immediate and real, making readers clutch their pearls in disbelief… and Urban Fantasy was the perfect place to make that happen.
That’s why Doppel Paladin had to be written, to explore those painful, propelling moments that shape us. If you’ve gotten this far, thank you so much for being here at the very beginning of this new chapter! Publishing this book has been an absolute journey, and I can’t wait to share more of the craft, the chaos, and the characters (and maybe a few teasers for Book 2 ) with you here every month.
To kick off this blogging adventure: What’s the one thing you are most looking forward to seeing on this blog, or what’s your favorite thing about Doppel Paladin so far? Let me know in the comments below.
Until next time!
P.S. If you haven’t started Mya’s journey yet, grab your copy right here on the Home Page before you leave!