Friday’s Author-Lisa Wingate

Lisa Wingate

Lisa Wingate’s books hold positions on many bestseller lists, both in the United States and internationally. She skillfully weaves lyrical writing and unforgettable Southern settings with elements of women’s fiction, history, and mystery to create stories that Publisher’s Weekly calls “Masterful” and ForeWord Magazine refers to as “Filled with lyrical prose, hope, and healing.” Lisa is a journalist, an inspirational speaker, a reviewer for the New York Journal of Books, and the author of over twenty novels and countless magazine pieces.

She is the author of 20 mainstream fiction novels, including the national bestseller “Tending Roses,” now in its 19th printing from Penguin Putnam. She is a seven-time ACFW Carol Award nominee, a Christy Award nominee, an Oklahoma Book Award finalist, and a two-time Carol Award winner. Her novel “Blue Moon Bay”was a Booklist Top Ten of 2012 picks. Recently, the group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa along with Bill Ford, Camille Cosby, and six others, as recipients of the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life.

Lisa is one of a select group of authors to find success in both the Christian and mainstream markets, writing for Bethany House, Penguin and Tyndale House. Her bestselling books have become a hallmark of inspirational Southern fiction. Her works have been featured by the National Reader’s Club of America, AOL Book Picks, Doubleday Book Club, the Literary Guild, American Profiles, Woman’s World magazine, Woman’s Day magazine and others.

Lisa said she didn’t remember a time when she didn’t write. “I started writing books before I started school, and I never quit writing. I had a very special first-grade teacher in Massachusetts , who recognized a little ability and a lot of desire in a shy transfer student. Mrs. Krackhardt wrote on my report card that she expected to see my name in the pages of a magazine one day, and I suddenly felt incredibly special. She started reading my stories to the class, and I was hooked. I quickly discovered the joy of having an audience, and set out on many, many writing projects.Even though I always dreamed of becoming a writer, I didn’t begin pursuing the goal in earnest until after college, marriage, a career as a journalist and technical writer, and then the birth of my oldest son.”
Her newest book, releasing this month, The Story Keeper is about a successful New York editor, Jen Gibbs, who is at the top of her game with her new position at Vida House Publishing — until a mysterious manuscript from an old slush pile appears on her desk. Turning the pages, Jen finds herself drawn into the life of Sarra, a mixed-race Melungeon girl trapped by dangerous men in the turn of the century Appalachia. A risky hunch may lead to The Story Keeper‘s hidden origins and its unknown author, but when the trail turns toward the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a place Jen thought she’d left behind forever, the price of a blockbuster next book deal may be higher than she’s willing to pay.

Lisa lives on a ranch in Texas, where she spoils the livestock, and raises boys. One may wonder how she wrote 20 books in 12 years with kids at home. “People often ask me if I need quiet in order to write. With boys in the house, if I’d waited for quiet, the writing would never have happened. I learned to lose myself in a story amid the noise of life and I loved it that way. Now that the boys are grown and the house is quiet, I’m redefining the writing routine again.”

Lisa also writes for Southern Writers Magazine. She and Julie Cantrell write an article each issue called The Writer’s Jar. Conversations about writing with different artist.

See their article in July/August issue www.southernwritersmagazine.com