Author of Unprecedented Times

Today, I am thrilled to be spending time with Science Fiction author Lisa Haden. She is joining me to talk to us about her debut book, Unprecedented Times.

BOOK TROPES:

• What-If
• Alternative History
• Dystopian
• High Stakes
• Lethal Virus
• Ticking Clock
• Multiple Points of View
• Threat to Humanity
• Second Chance Love

Helen: Your cover has two scenes on it, what were your thoughts behind the design and why did you choose this cover?

Lisa: The cover of Unprecedented Times is a reflection of the story itself. It is designed to echo a world torn in two, a world consisting of complete devastation and total isolation. These two worlds run in parallel to one another in the novel and it was important to me that this be mirrored in the cover. Without giving too much of the story away, in the book, the virus mutates and we have to decide what to do. Our choices are to do nothing and risk losing up to 70% of the world’s population, extract the infected to avoid further infection, or to eradicate the infected entirely to kill off the virus. This decision is made by the world leaders and it divides the world as we know it, this cover is a reflection of that division. 

Helen: It an effective image. Why did you give your book that title? Is there a special meaning or back story about the title?

Lisa: The title Unprecedented Times came from the term that was overused during the pandemic by the media. Everyone called our experience of the pandemic unprecedented, telling us we were living in “unprecedented times”… it seemed to fit my story perfectly. I started writing this story when the virus very first broke out in China, I had a feeling it was going to be something big so when real life started following my story and people began terming it as an unprecedented time, it struck me that this was the perfect title. However, I didn’t expect the pandemic to have quite the impact it did, or go on for as long, in hindsight, everyone is sick of hearing this term now (myself included), if I could go back, I might choose to call it something different.   

Helen: I think everyone was surprised by the impact and duration of the pandemic. Why did you decide to write this particular story?

Lisa: When the virus first broke out in China, I followed it closely, I had a feeling it was going to have a global impact. Meanwhile everyone around me was saying it wasn’t anything to worry about and wasn’t going to affect us at all. I remember thinking what if it does? What if the virus spreads? Or heaven forbid, what if the virus mutates into a more lethal strand? My over-active imagination took over and my story idea was formed in January, just a couple of weeks after the virus first broke out.
So I wrote this particular book because I had a story idea that was so vivid in my mind, I just had to put it down, but also because I was going through a difficult time in my personal life. I’d wanted to be an author since childhood and had many story ideas over the years, but I lacked confidence and never believed I was good enough to write and release a story people would actually enjoy.
At the time of writing this I was in a relationship that knocked what little confidence I did have out of me. For more than a decade, I was made to believe I was completely worthless and I wanted out of this unhappy relationship. However, due to the pandemic and being in lockdown with three young children, I was stuck in it. I saw my lack of confidence rubbing off onto my children and I felt like needed an escape from my miserable reality, so I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone and try to gain some confidence back by writing my first novel, if only to lead by example for my children’s sake.  

Helen: There are so many hidden impacts from the pandemic, I am glad you found writing as a way to cope with a difficult situation. When did you realise you had a passion for writing?

Lisa: As a child, I would often write poems and short stories. I loved creating new worlds and expressing emotions through creative prose, just as I enjoyed reading and escaping into other people’s realities. I won my first award for writing when I was about 12 years of age, I wrote a poem for an anti-drugs campaign and it was selected as the winning poem in a competition running across all the schools in my region. Hundreds (if not thousands) of children submitted poems and mine was selected and it was a thrill for me, not to win, but to have my poem enjoyed by so many people.

Helen: Who inspired you to write? Was there someone specific in your life who set you on the writing path?

Lisa: The authors I read growing up who created worlds I would get lost in for hours at a time. Starting with children’s authors such as Roald Dahl and Beatrix Potter, leading into classic authors such as Shakespeare, the Bronte Sisters and George Orwell, and then an abundance of other authors, including Stephen King and Anne Rice.

Helen: Unprecedented Times is science fiction. Is this your prefered genre to write in?

Lisa: I have only released one book so far, a science fiction-dystopian novel. The genre was determined by the story idea I had. However, other story ideas I have had fall into other genres, mainly in the fantasy, science fiction and comedy genres, because these are the genres I prefer to read in.

Helen: Tell us a little about the protagnist of your book, and why you wrote them.

Lisa: I actually have four main characters in my book. When I first drafted the story idea I had one main character, but in reality, the virus impacted so many people in so many different ways, it made more sense to have the story written from different viewpoints. Writing the book this way allowed me to open up the story line even more, making it more personal, more touching and more dramatic. Having a leading scientist in the story gave me the opportunity to explain the science involved, to make the story more realistic. Having sisters in the story allowed me the chance to explore family values and the impact of the pandemic on families. While having a couple in the story enabled me to add romance into the story and explore romantic love, this couple work as a nurse and a police officer and this gave me the chance to show the impact of the virus on those working on the frontline. Writing the story from four viewpoints means that future generations (who didn’t live through the pandemic themselves) will have a better understanding what it was like to experience the pandemic first-hand.

Helen: That is so interesting, and must have been a challenge to keep all those POV’s straight. If one of your protagonists could answer this question, what would they say is the reason we hsoudl read your book?

Lisa: You should read this book because you need to know how bad the pandemic could have been. Yes, the pandemic was devastating, it impacted every person in the world and we lost millions of lives as a result… but it could have been so much worse. This book will make you question what you know, question your own morals and make you reflect on what you would do in what feels like an impossible situation. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you think, but most importantly, it will make you more appreciative of what you have and the people you have in your life.

Helen: Nice answer! Who is your favourite character in your book?

Lisa: Next question please… this is like asking me which of my children is my favourite (answer: whichever child is being the best behaved that day). Hmmm, if I had to choose my favourite character, it would probably be Ben. He is funny and loyal, caring and big-hearted, he has similar tastes in music and books as I do, and he’s kind of cute in a scruffy kind of way. I think in Ben I created the kind of man I could easily fall in love with, so this would probably make him my favourite, but I love all my characters in different ways, even the characters I’ve created that readers love to hate.

Helen: It is a bit of an unfair questions, and gets more difficult as you write more books! Are you working on anything else at the moment?

Lisa: My current WIP is called “New Normal” and it is the second book in the “Alternative History Trilogy”. It picks up where the last book finished, following the journey of the same four characters, answering questions from the first book, while raising more questions which will be answered in the final installation in the trilogy.

Helen: What is the most difficult part of writing for you?

Lisa: With the trilogy I am writing now, the hardest part (apart from finding the time to write) is research. My readers have all remarked that my story is scary because it could have been real, my story could actually have happened. To make the story believable I had to research and understand things like disease control, immunisations, viruses, pandemic spreads and responses to such events. I am not a natural scientist, so all of this was a massive learning curve for me. My story includes genuine facts and statistics, it was important to me that it feel as real as possible, so writing it involved hours upon hours of heavy research and a great deal of planning. The research and planning time took just as much time as writing the novel did, but I firmly believe it was worth it based on the feedback I’ve received from readers so far. The research for book two in the trilogy has taken just as much time, if not more (for reasons I can’t explain without giving away the story), so this has definitely been the most challenging part for me.

Helen: Research can be a veritable rabbit hole. One question leading to another. We writers’ learn a lot of useful and even more useless information! Let’s switch to talking about your writing process. You mentioned just know how much time research takes. How do you fit your writing into your everyday life?

Lisa: With great difficulty (insert crying laughing face here). I am a single mom of three (my children are 12, 8 and 4), my youngest (my son) is autistic and demands a lot of my attention. I am also a self-employed content writer and digital marketer (because I have to pay the bills).

On top of this I have an auto-immune disease (coeliac) and hypothyroidism, so when I do have a spare five minutes to myself, I am completely exhausted (I don’t often get more than 3 hours of undisturbed sleep). So I literally write when I get time.

My children spend time with their father on the weekends, so I catch up on my paid work and house jobs as quickly as I can and steal time for my creative work as and when I can. I would love to write creatively daily, but unfortunately, I have to prioritise real life. However, even when I am not able to sit and write, I still work on the story in my mind, developing the story and the characters, so that the story is like a movie playing in my mind and when I do find the time to write, it all just flows out of me.

About the Author

Lisa Haden

Lisa Haden, author of “Unprecedented Times” a sci-fi story, dystopian book and the first installment in the Alternative History Trilogy. 

A singer/songwriter and lyricist, available to stream on all major music streaming platforms, played on BBC Radio Introducing Show and added to a BBC Sounds playlist. 

Also an accidental GIF maker… in addition to being a self-employed content writer/digital marketer and most importantly, a single mom of three, plus two cats. 

Follow Lisa:

Author Website

Instagram

Purchase Lisa’s book: Unprecedented Times via Amazon

Link to book on Amazon UK: eBook | Paperback

Link to book on Amazon US: eBook | Paperback

As an Amazon Associate I may benefit from purchases made using these links.

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