When Lisa Mantchev heard I was getting the band back together, she brought out her bass guitar and a couple of IMPlifiers -- I mean, she wrote back to me around the end of July 2006 with answers to the questions I sent out.
Michael: Where are you now?
Lisa Mantchev: The Pacific Northwest... more specifically the Olympic Peninsula in Washington.
Michael: Still writing? If so, what's your current/next project?
Lisa Mantchev: I'm working on my Next First Novel, as well as various short stories. I also have a corporate-sponsored lifestyle blogging gig in negotiations.
Michael: Do you have a Web site?
Lisa Mantchev: http://www.lisamantchev.com/ and
lisamantchev.livejournal.com
Michael: Do you have a current bibliography?
Lisa Mantchev: On the Website
Michael: Are you still active with the IMPs? If so, what role do you play? Just critting? Mentoring? SysOping? etc.
Lisa Mantchev: I'm still popping in to enter the BOC (Best Openings Contest) and to touch base.
Michael: When did you join the IMPs?
Lisa Mantchev: Right about 2000
Michael: Do you have a Mike Resnick-and-the-IMPs anecdote to share?
Lisa Mantchev: At my very first WorldCon (ConJose) I ended up bellydancing at the "Babes for Bwana" party with BJ Galler-Smith and Ron Collins.
Michael: When did you publish your first story? What was the title?
Lisa Mantchev: My first professional sale was "1-800-WICKED1" which I sold to an anthology Mike edited for SFWA called "New Voices in Science Fiction". (The rest of the information is on the website)
Michael: Do you recall that IMPs is short for "Informal Association of Writers Impatiently Waiting To Be Published"? But there was an older name. Do you recall what it was? Take your best guess.
Lisa Mantchev: *L* I only ever knew the "Impatient to Be Published" bit...
Michael: Of all the IMPtales you critted, which one do you remember most vividly? Who wrote it?
Lisa Mantchev: Geez... they all seem like a blur now, especially since it's been a while since I critted in there.
Michael: Of all the IMPCritters who shredded your beloved words, who had the most impact on your subsequent writing?
Lisa Mantchev: Derek Paterson took a knife and fork to me first--I still tease him that he made me cry. Which he DID. And BJ Galler-Smith and Josh Langston took me in hand and stomped out most of my bad habits.
