Lisa, tell us a little about yourself.
How did you begin your writing career?
As I struggled with the question of whether I should return to the corporate world and how quickly, she would rock the baby and tell me stories of her childhood and her early married life.
I came to know her as I never had before and wrote down those stories in a little notebook after she went to bed at night. Her life lesson tales later became the genesis for my first novel, Tending Roses. It’s been on the shelves for 12 years and still sells well and gains me more new readers than any of my other books.
How does the rest of your family feel?
My family is very supportive of and excited about my writing these days. I often say I have the most educated assistant in the business. She’s a retired educator, a PHD. She is my first reader, helps with so much communication and details, usually travels with me to events and on tours. Many author friends have asked to borrow her, but I don’t lend her out. All the family and in-laws are encouragers and most read my books.
Actually, some have shown up as characters in various books, but that another whole story. It’s fun being at a Wingate reunion, though, and hearing the aunts say,“Donetta is really me, isn’t she?”
I have to tell you though, that is now. I didn’t come from a family that encouraged writing as a career. They insisted I get an education and take on a day job. I guess they didn’t want me living in their basement all my life.
What are you working on now?
Lastly, give us a look into Wildwood Creek.
The story is a combination of folk legend, historical fact, and wild flight of fancy. I like to think of it as part historical, part contemporary, part romance, part adventure, and part drama. The idea began spinning itself in my head after a chance encounter with a roadside monument. I’d tell you about the monument, but… well… that would spoil the story. Suffice to say that it commemorates a sad and much-debated chapter of Civil War history in Texas. Many people outside Texas aren’t even aware that the state was part of the Confederacy, or that the issue was hotly debated among Texans as the conflict heated up to the east.
I have always been a lover of history, and having grown up in the era of sweeping western movies, I’m especially fond of the history of the American frontier. I’m a sucker for roadside monuments, Small-town museums, the foundations of old homesteads, historical markers, and old graveyards. Standing over the time-worn headstones of child graves, sometimes several in the same family, I’ve often felt the connection to the human side of history, to the mothers of those children, whose grief at times must have been overwhelming. It’s impossible not to wonder, from the safer vantage point of a modern life, if I could have endured what those pioneer women endured. If I were in the shoes of my ancestors, would I have the metal to survive?
That sense of wondering, and that love for history, are part of Wildwood Creek. A 150 year-old mystery lies hidden beneath Moses Lake in the story, and though the locals have long shared tall tales and legends of Wildwood, a town in which the citizenry suddenly vanished near the beginning of the war, no one knows what really happened. But as Allie accepts a position among the cast of a docudrama set to reenact the last days of Wildwood, a summer drought (yes, we had one of those in real life as I was writing the book) is closing in and the secrets of Wildwood are about to rise to the surface.
That’s a lot of words to tell you about what actually happened and set my imaginary world to spinning this story. Go here and see what I saw.
Where can readers find you?
www.lisawingate.com
www.southernbelleviewdaily.com
Lisa Wingate is a journalist, inspirational speaker, reviewer for the New York Journal of Books, and the author of over twenty novels. Her novels combine elements of history, romance, mystery, and women’s fiction with nuggets of Southern culture, from the sublime to the humorous. She is a seven-time American Christian Fiction Writers Carol award nominee, a Christy Award nominee, an Oklahoma Book Award finalist, a Christianity Today Book Award nominee, an Inspy Award nominee, and a two-time Carol Award winner. Her works have been selected for Booklist’s Top Ten List in 2012 and in 2013. 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.
Cindy M. Jones ~ Stories for Readers, Tips for Writers
Love the interview. Thank you for letting us get to know Lisa better. This book looks wonderful.
Blessings
Katrina
eppersonkatrina(at)Yahoo(dot)com
Cindy…Lisa is my fav, too….feel in love with her books and as I got to know her through email, facebook and promoting her books, fell in love with her and her mom…and of course the girls on the porch over at SouthernBelleview. my fav of the view was when all the authors wrote a complete story, I think Lisa may have started it without the others knowing what it was going to be about, the next author wrote a chapter, again a mystery to the others til it came out, it was so fun to read that story and hopefully is still on the site and can still be read. and Wildwood was a page turner, had me jumping me places. too fun….vrush729@aol.com love ya Virginia
Hi Cindy! I can't tell you how much I appreciate what you wrote. Thank you for having me at your cyber home and for being a long-time reader. This made me teary-eyed: “I want to reach out and help others.
Isn't that what a book should do?” That's what I want books to do for me when I read 😉
Hugs!
Lisa
Thanks so much for the interview! I'm looking forward to Lisa's latest.
Thanks for the wonderful interview. Writing 21 books is quite an accomplishment! I would love to read this book.
marypopmom (at) yahoo (dot) com
Merry
Sounds like a great book.
I'm also an empty-nester. First two years of college, my son hardly came home. Then he went to Spain for a semester. That was hard. But he's back in the states now and has a girlfriend. We see him at least once a week now. Not sure if it was Spain or the girlfriend, but I treasure the times they come by.
Happy birthday Cindy. I'd love to have my name in the drawing. So glad I stopped by today.
joyfuljel(at)gmaildotcom
i've been enjoying the lisa's “daily, texas” series, and can't wait for this one, the cover art is beautiful!
amy.bellaire@yahoo.ca
What a wonderful interview with Lisa. She sounds like an amazing person and I look forward to reading one of her novels. Thank you!
Campbellamyd at gmail dot com
Cindy, very cool introduction to Lisa Wingate! I love present-day mysteries with links to the past, and now I'm excited to check out Wildwood Creek.
Thank you Katrina, it was so interesting to see where her writing began for me. Glad you stopped by.
Virginia, I so appreciate you and your comment. It takes loyal readers to make any writer, and you definitely are a loyal supporter of your authors! Thank you for stopping by and all you do for writers!
Lisa,
What a joy it was to put together this post! It brought back sweet memories of my own grandmother that I held as one of the most valuable persons in my life. Thank you for allowing me the privilege of helping you promote this book.
Thank you for stopping by, and I can tell you from personal experience, it's a good one!
Thank you Merry for stopping by, and 21 books is quite an accomplishment! I haven't read them all but slowly working my way there.
I'm so glad you stopped by too Jackie, and thank you for the birthday wish, it is much appreciated!
Hi Amy,
Lisa always has cover art that seems to take me back to my childhood. Thank you for stopping by!
Lisa is an amazing person and so are her novels! Thank you for stopping by Amy.
Thank you Chris for leaving a comment. These are some of my favorites too and Wildwood Creek hasn't disappointed!