Authors > Lisa Jones > Author Revealed

Lisa Jones
Photo Credit: Jen Freehill

Lisa Jones

Author Revealed:
Q. Do you have one sentence of advice for new writers?
A. Love the process more than the reward or your head will explode.
Learn more about Lisa Jones
Lisa Jones Revealed
About Lisa Jones
  • Previous occupations:
    waitress, ski instructor, kayak instructor, cook, newspaper reporter, newspaper editor, travel writer, condo cleaner in Aspen,
  • Favorite job:
    writing for the crazy joy of it, waitressing for a mellower and more sustained sense of well-being
  • High school and/or college:
    Manual High School, Denver, Colorado, and the University of Colorado, Boulder
  • Name of your favorite composer or music artist?:
    Bob Dylan, Christine Kane, Leonard Cohen, the Pogues, Greg Brown
  • Favorite movie:
    Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
  • Favorite television show:
    Slings and Arrows, Scrubs
Revealing Questions
Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
A. A state of complete openness most easily attained in the wilderness, or a sweat lodge, or after dancing or body surfing for a long time.
Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
A. Right here, at home. I travel too much.
Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
A. Oppressed people, and princesses
Q. Which living person do you most admire?
A. Stanford Addison and Barack Obama
Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
A. all the superlatives -- beautiful! amazing! incredible! penultimate!
Q. What do you regret most?
A. disproportional displays of temper followed by bad amounts of ice cream
Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
A. To take things less personally.
Q. What is your greatest achievement?
A. my happy marriage
Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
A. my hot temper
Q. What’s your best quality?
A. warmth
Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
A. I'd like to be a whale on a planet like Earth but populated by a species that unlike our own is not hell bent on destroying the oceans.
Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
A. accessibility. I think. Or hurriedness.
Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
A. May Dodd, the heroine of Jim Fergus' One Thousand White Women, as well as the Stazi policeman who gets transformed on the job in the movie THE LIVES OF OTHERS
Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
A. Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers movies
Q. If you could meet any historical character, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
A. I would have a few choice words for Col. John Chivington, who masterminded the Sand Creek Massacre.
Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
A. commercials before movies. at the theater!
Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A. gardening
Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
A. a doctor
Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
A. trustworthiness, honesty, kindness
Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
A. peaches
Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
A. Abandoned Love by Bob Dylan; Get Together by Jesse Colin Young, Now That You Know by Christine Kane, I'm Your Man by Leonard Cohen, Mystical Warriors by Primeaux & Mike
On Books and Writing
Q. Who are your favorite authors?
A. Per Petterson, Marilyn Robinson, Ann Patchett, Jane Smiley, Louise Erdrich, Nuala O'Faolain, John Gardner, Jim Harrison
Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
A. What is the What, One Thousand White Women, The Once and Future King, Gilead, Moo
Q. Is there a book you love to reread?
A. I always reread my favorite books; I'm about due for a third round of One Thousand White Women.
Q. Do you have one sentence of advice for new writers?
A. Love the process more than the reward or your head will explode.
Q. What comment do you hear most often from your readers?
A. That they laughed.