So… I can’t remember exactly how I found Trisha Leigh… but I’m so incredibly glad I did. It could be that I was completely drawn in by the covers of her The Last Year series… because that happens quite often, but the covers aren’t the only amazing thing about these books. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… if you haven’t picked these up, you definitely need to. The story is unique and the writing is wonderful and the characters… well, you’ll fall in love with them just like I did.
BUT – Trisha Leigh is also known as Lyla Payne, where she writes the Whitman University New Adult series and I have to admit that she’s one of the reasons I still read New Adult. She writes realistic characters with realistic stories… and the writing is amazing.
ABOUT LYLA / TRISHA
I’ve long had a love of stories. A few years ago I decided to put them down on the page, and even though I have a degree in film and television, novels were the creative outlet where I found a home. When the idea for Broken at Love (my first New Adult title) arrived, I couldn’t wait to try something new – and I’m hooked. In my spare time, I watch a ton of tennis (no surprise, there), play a ton of tennis, and dedicate a good portion of brain power to dreaming up the next fictitious bad boy we’d all love to meet in real life. 
You have created some memorable characters amongst your books, who was/is your favorite and why?
Althea, for sure, although Ruby Cotton is pretty special to me, too.
Althea feels like such a real girl, even in the extraordinary circumstances. She’s insecure, brave, tentative, determined, and most of all, has the kind of unwavering loyalty that makes her the best person to have in your corner. The way she faced her weakness endeared me to her more than her strengths.
Can you tell us a little bit about your upcoming book The Historiansand when can we expect the release?
Argh! I wish I had news. THE HISTORIANS is a YA science fiction story that’s set in the distant past and the far-off future. There’s a love story that reaches thousands of years in both directions, a group of Elders with a devastating secret, and a boy in her Academy who hasn’t yet chosen a side.
It’s on sub with editors right now. If the book sells, it’s release date will be out of my hands. If it does not sell and I self-publish it, it will be available in 2014, for sure.
In your Whitman University New Adult Series we get to meet a lot of different characters… have you fashioned any of them from people you know?
Hmm. Some of them are certainly bits and pieces of people I know – I’m sure my college roommate has seen herself (or our antics) in more than one anecdote, as have my sorority sisters and anyone who graduated from my alma mater.
Quinn and Sam are both conglomerations of real tennis players (I’m a giant fan!) and others are mashups of favorite television characters (Chuck Bass, anyone??).
So, yes. But not totally.
The Last Year Series is one of my favorite series, what was your inspiration… where did the idea come from for that… because Aliens!
The idea for TLY came from a tweet – “my daughter came into my room in the middle of the night, terrified she didn’t exist”—and kind of blossomed from there! The aliens seemed like a natural choice, and also different enough from the rest of the post-apocalyptic stuff floating around out there.
Also, thank you. <3
You write both NA and YA do you prefer one over the other?
It’s a little bit of a hard question to answer, but YA is where my heart lies, and particularly, genre YA. The NA is a nice palate cleanser, though, and there is something fascinating about writing about kids at that point in their lives. Between 19-20 is probably when I really came of age, and I’m always sure I couldn’t have been the only late bloomer.
If you could introduce one of your characters to another character from another book, who would it be and why?
Oooh, good question! I think that Brittany (from TLY) and Blair (STAYING ON TOP) could have been really good friends, and Greer from TLY would have fit into a Whitman sorority quite nicely. I’d say Griffin and Sebastian should meet, but that seems like a recipe for disaster.
Maybe we could find poor Pax a nice WU girl, no? 😉
Do you have any writing quirks or rituals?
Hmm. I don’t know? I typically watch television (reruns) in the genre I’m writing instead of listening to music. And I can devour an entire bag of Hershey’s Kisses if they’re in front of me.
What is the one thing readers would be surprised to learn about you?
I’m allergic to peanuts? No, that’s silly. Um, maybe that when I sit down to pleasure read, it’s almost always contemporary YA—a genre I’ve never had any inclination to write.
What authors have influenced you?
JK Rowling. Madeleine L’Engle. Dean Koontz. Nicholas Sparks. Emily Bronte. Shakespeare. Sara Zarr. Gayle Forman. Carrie Ryan. SO MANY.
What is the last book that you recommended to someone?
JELLICOE ROAD or DARK INSIDE
Any advice for aspiring writers?
Write what you love. Don’t stop, no matter how many people tell you no.
Are you working on anything right now that you can tell us about?
I’m working on a couple of things right now!! Instead of another Whitman U book, I’m going to publish a contemporary romance as Lyla Payne that revolves around the mystery of what became of Anne Bonny in the 18thcentury.
I’m also planning to publish a new YA science fiction that involves a group of teenagers who have been government genetic experiments for their entire lives, and what happens when they’re allowed to join society for the first time.
And maybe, if there’s time, a YA mystery that I call Odd Thomas meets Veronica Mars. Make of that what you will…
Do you read a lot and if so, what are some of your favorite books?
Of course I read a lot! I’ll give you 10 of my favorites, but they’re always changing and I could name 50 if we had time!
1. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
2. A Separate Peace (John Knowles)
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (JK Rowling)
4. Where She Went (Gayle Forman)
5. Dark Inside (Jeyn Roberts)
6. Romeo and Juliet (is that cheating??)
7. Sweethearts (Sara Zarr)
8. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
9. A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L’Engle)
10. Shadow and Bone (Leigh Bardugo)
11. The Historian (Elizabeth Kostova)
If you could have written any book out in the world today, what would you pick and why?
The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova. It’s brilliant, it weaves contemporary and historical with a skill that I envy, and it takes a legend and brings it to life. The book is brilliant.
Do you have a dream cast for the Last Year Series or Whitman University Series?
I do! I’ve put some links to those posts below. J
The Last Year – DREAM CAST
Whitman University – DREAM CAST and Victoria Justice for Emilie, Kellan Lutz for Cole, Cassie Scerbo for Ruby, and Adam Gregory for Quinn.
Speed Questions
Coffee or Tea
Coffee
Cake or Pie
Pie
Chocolate or Vanilla
Vanilla
Morning or Night
Night
Twitter or Facebook
Twitter
Sweet or Salty
Sweet
Fantasy or Romance
Romance
Comedy or Horror
Comedy
Real book or E-book
Real book
Favorite TV Show
Seinfeld or Felicity
Favorite Superhero
Batman
Favorite snack
Cheezits
Biggest pet peeve
People who refuse to see their own worth
Favorite word
history
Dream job (other than author)
College professor
We have a couple giveaways happening here! Two winners! One winner will get paperback copies of the full The Last Year Series and One winner will get e-books of the first 3 Whitman University books and swag!
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