Lisa Wingate lives on a ranch in Texas, where she spoils the livestock, raises boys, and teaches Sunday school to high school seniors. She was inspired to become a writer by a first grade teacher who said she expected to see Lisa’s name in a magazine one day.
Lisa also entertained childhood dreams of being an Olympic gymnast and winning the National Finals Rodeo, but was stalled by the inability to do a back flip on the balance beam and parents who wouldn’t finance a rodeo career. She was lucky enough to marry into a big family of cowboys and southern storytellers who would inspire any lover of tall tales and fun characters. She is a full time writer, bestselling author of sixteen novels, and writes inspirational fiction for both a general market publisher and a Christian publisher. Of all the things she loves about her job, she loves connecting with people, both real and imaginary, the most.
2 comments
Elaine Drennon Little says:
February 11, 2013 at 12:17 pm (UTC -5 )
I often tell people that I’m “much better on paper than in person.” Though my closest friends don’t agree, I’ve often found that the easiest way to put my best foot forward is by first sharing a thought or feeling through a personal note. This way I’m assured to hit my target and explain things in a way that’s easy to understand. I don’t have to fight against others to be heard. I make myself clear without being pushing. Most importantly, I get the chance for as many “do overs” as needed to make my message exactly as I intended it.
Some of my closest friendships began with sharing a book. Whether these relationships began with childhood and Laura Ingalls Wilder, junior high’s love affair with Janice Holt Giles, Grace Metalious, and of course, Margaret Mitchell, my forty year worship of To Kill a Mockingbird, or the MFA program which brought friends to supply a reading list for the rest of my life, all of my book-swapping friends are soul mates of some kind.
In the past decade, I’ve begun a collection of thank you letters to a hundred or more southern authors, praising their art forms as well as their influences on myself and so many others. Though these authors are not personal “friends,” they are literary angels who have guided me to numerous friendships with both real people and fictional characters. They are both my mentors and my muses. THEY make it all happen.
This year I will publish my first novel. I am frightened, excited, insane–and my biggest dream is to inspire others in the ways that my “angels” have inspired me.
Thank you for the opportunity to share this idea. I have enjoyed many Lisa Wingate books, and I look forward to a plethora of new relationships connected to her work!
Delores Liesner says:
April 10, 2013 at 9:04 am (UTC -5 )
Lisa sounds like a versatile and talented lady. I sure can relate to the people angle and sharing life’s realities through imaginary people. I either usually have a book or a pen in my hand.