Lisa Braxton
Author Interview - Lisa Braxton
Author of Dancing Between the Raindrops: A Daughter’s Reflections on Love and Loss and My 5 Favorite Gentrification Fiction Books: A Guest Post by Lisa Braxton
Dancing Between the Raindrops: A Daughter’s Reflections on Love and Loss, is a powerful meditation on grief, a deeply personal mosaic of a daughter’s remembrances of beautiful, challenging and heartbreaking moments of life with her family. It speaks to anyone who has lost a loved one and is trying to navigate the world without them while coming to terms with complicated emotions.
Lisa Braxton’s parents died within two years of each other—her mother from ovarian cancer, her father from prostate cancer. While caring for her mother she was stunned to find out that she, herself, had a life-threatening illness—breast cancer.
In this intimate, lyrical memoir-in-essays, Lisa Braxton takes us to the core of her loss and extends a lifeline of comfort to anyone who needs to be reminded that in their grief they are not alone.
Author Interview - Lisa Braxton
Author I draw inspiration from:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Notes on Grief
Author Interview - Lisa Braxton | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
Sitting up in bed. It's my most comfortable and relaxing place. I can easily immerse myself in a good book without any distractions there. Sometimes my dog, my Pembroke Welsh Corgi likes to join me. We cuddle and I pet her while I read.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
I'd like to be stuck on an elevator with Sidney Chambers, the main character in the Grantchester mysteries, Sidney Chambers and the Perils of the Night, by James Runcie. Since Sidney is a vicar and a part-time sleuth, he could use his sleuthing skills to help us figure out how to get out of the elevator and if that didn't work, he'd pray our way out of being stuck.
Author Interview - Lisa Braxton | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
The moment I began to read. From an early age I was fascinated by the idea of being able to decipher lines and curves and swirls in different combinations being able to tell a story.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
Hardbacks are weighty and substantial, which makes them appealing. Paperbacks have flexibility. If need be, I can curl them up to fit into a purse or other small spaces. I don't care for ebooks. I like the feel of a book. I like being able to physically turn the pages. I only listen to audiobooks if I'm driving. And afterwards, I'll still get a copy I can read. My mind tends to drift less if I'm reading as opposed to listening.
The last book I read:
Cora's Kitchen by Kimberly Garrett Brown. It held my interest all the way through. It was a page turner with lots of tension, but I found myself laughing at parts of it. I found the first-person narrative and epistolary style fascinating.
Author Interview - Lisa Braxton | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
I prefer to write with a pencil on a legal pad. That way I can erase easily. Once I feel I have a decent draft of something. I'll type it on my laptop, making more revisions at that stage.
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
I'd be a photographer. In college, in addition to taking journalism course, I took photography and loved it. If I had time, or could go back in time and add on a profession, I'd become a commercial photographer.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
The late 1800s. I sometime fantasize about walking around in a bonnet, fan bodice blouse, cloak and full skirt to the floor
Place I’d most like to travel:
New Zealand. I've traveled to many countries but I've never been there before. I've watched many TV shows filmed in New Zealand and the terrain looks gorgeous and the vineyards plentiful.
My signature drink:
Mojito
Favorite artist:
Painter Paul Goodnight. He is an artist based in Boston, MA whose practice is dedicated to the perpetuation of the art and imagery of the African diaspora.
Number one on my bucket list:
Continuing my studies in Spanish and being able read it and converse in it.
Find more from the author:
X/twitter @Lisareidbraxton
IG: lisabraxton6186
https://www.facebook.com/lisa.a.braxton/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisabraxton/
About Lisa Braxton:
Author Interview - Lisa Braxton
Lisa Braxton is the author of the memoir in essays, Dancing Between the Raindrops: A Daughter's Reflections on Love and Loss and the novel, The Talking Drum, winner of a 2021 Independent Publisher (IPPY) Book Awards Gold Medal, overall winner of Shelf Unbound book review magazine’s 2020 Independently Published Book Award, winner of a 2020 Outstanding Literary Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, and a Finalist for the International Book Awards. She is an Emmy-nominated former television journalist, an essayist, and short story writer. She is on the executive board of the Writers Room of Boston, a writing instructor at Grub Street Boston, and the president of the Greater Boston Section of the National Council of Negro Women. Lisa is a member of the Psi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
She earned her Bachelor of Arts in mass media from Hampton University, her Master of Science in journalism from Northwestern University and her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Southern New Hampshire University.
