Lisa Mangum has worked with books ever since elementary school, when she volunteered at the school library during recess. She worked for five years at Waldenbooks while she attended the University of Utah, graduating with honors with a degree in English. She has worked in the publishing industry since 1997. In 2014 she was named the Managing Editor for Shadow Mountain. As an editor, she has worked with several New York Times best-selling authors, including Ally Condie, James Dashner, and Jason F. Wright. While fiction is her first love, she also has experience working with nonfiction projects (memoir, educational, cookbooks, etc.) and some children’s picture books. She is the author of four national award-winning YA novels: the Hourglass Door trilogy and After Hello. Besides books, Lisa loves movies, spending time with her family, and trips to Disneyland. She lives in Taylorsville, Utah, with her husband, Tracy.
Mangum will teach "Tips for Self-editing" and "Voice: Making Your Manuscript Sing" at our 2016 Writers Conference.
Introduce yourself. Where do you live and work?
I live in Utah, and I work as the Managing Editor of Shadow Mountain Publishing.
What kind of writing do you do?
I write Young Adult love stories, some contemporary romance, some fantasy, as well as short stories and novellas.
How long have you been writing?
I’ve loved words my entire life, but I started writing seriously in 2007.
Did you choose your genre, or did it choose you?
It was a little bit of both. I grew up reading epic fantasy, and I was actually working on a story for that genre when I got the idea for The Hourglass Door, which is a YA romance. The story hit me with such force that I had to switch gears and write it down. I had been reading a lot of YA the year before so I think that had something to do with it.
How many unpublished manuscripts are stuffed in your desk drawer (or in a folder on your computer)?
I have an idea folder on my computer with at least a half-dozen projects that I have started, but in truth, every full manuscript I’ve completed has been published.
What do you find most challenging or surprising about the writing process? The publishing process?
One of the most challenging things about the writing process is training yourself to be consistently productive. Life is busy, and there seem to be a thousand things demanding your attention. It’s easy to fall into the trap of “waiting for the muse to strike” before you write something down. It’s much harder—but much more effective—to write a set amount of words or for a set amount of time every day. For me, writing in fits and starts isn’t as helpful as when I commit to a scheduled routine.
As far as the publishing process goes, one major challenge is just getting your foot in the door. Sometimes you’ll go through a lot of rejection letters before you find that one agent or editor who will take a chance on your book and champion it for publication.
On what does your writing productivity depend? Is it a routine, a place, a special pen?
I like to write on my couch in the living room with my cat asleep on me. I tend to be more productive in the evening hours as opposed to early morning.
What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever gotten?
“Dream bigger.” Whatever goal you have set for yourself as a measure of success, dream a little bigger. Your dream is closer than you think.
What books do you recommend to fellow readers and writers?
On Writing by Stephen King is a great book for writers. My top five favorite books I read last year were All the Light We Cannot Seeby Anthony Doerr, Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, and Death Coming Up the Hill by Chris Crowe.