Special Guest Interview with Lissa Johnston, Author of Just Say Yes: Book One, The Centé Conspiracy Trilogy

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

An unsuspecting teen is drawn into a resistance movement determined to expose a powerful but secretive group that is controlling the public through the food supply.

I'm pleased to welcome author Lissa Johnston to The Writing Desk:

Tell us about your latest book

My latest book is entitled Just Say Yes. It is the first book in a YA action adventure trilogy. The title is inspired by Nancy Reagan's Just Say No anti-drug program back in the day. It's the story of a young man, Brody Morgan, whose family is in the food industry in an alternate reality where fresh food is now illegal due to a massive food contamination outbreak that killed thousands when Brody was young. Brody leads an uneventful and somewhat lonely life. He has been pressed into service from an early age, shilling for his father's corporation in commercials and public appearances. But when he is drawn into an underground group determined to overthrow the powers that be and make fresh food legal again, his life is turned upside down.

What is your preferred writing routine?

I am so thankful that we are retired and I have very few other constraints on my time. That's sort of a good news/bad news situation. As many retirees will probably tell you, the days start to blend together. I don't really have anything like days off or weekends. I write, or do some sort of writing business related activity every day. If I'm not writing, I'm editing, or marketing. I start the day clearing the decks, and once I feel I have eliminated distractions, I write.

What advice do you have for new writers?

Thanks to the Internet, we have an abundance of resources available to us to train ourselves in the craft, to network with other writers, and to publish our work. There need not be any obstacles or gatekeepers once you have honed your skills. The only thing stopping us from achieving our writing goals is lack of will.

What have you found to be the best way to raise awareness of your books?

I wish I had a good answer to that. Presently I am focusing on organic growth and building personal relationships.

Tell us something unexpected you discovered during your research

The inspiration for the underlying theme of this trilogy is Morgan Spurlock's documentary Super Size Me. That led me to several other books about the insidious nature of the processed food industry. It is shocking what people will do to satisfy the stockholders and plump up that bottom line. I wrote a blog post about my journey for this project if you want to get more into the nitty gritty.

What are you planning to write next?

I'm a multi-genre writer. My next project is an adult historical fiction about a young woman from 17th century France who accidentally stows away on a ship bound for the New World.

Lissa Johnston

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About the Author

Lissa Johnston has a Master’s in history from The University of Texas at Arlington. After publishing several non-fiction books, she now enjoys applying her research skills to fiction projects. She is the author of the middle grade historical adventure The Dala Horse. Her current project is a YA action adventure series, The Centé Conspiracy trilogy.  The Johnston family lived all over the USA during her husband's long career with FedEx. Their two kids are grown, so Lissa and her husband now live on the Colorado River in Central Texas with their quarantine rescue cat Fauci. She doesn’t miss cold weather one bit. Find out more from Lissa's website https://www.lissajohnston.com/ and find her on Twitter @Lissa_Johnston