Cate: Woot! Lisa
Lawmaster Hess is here to spread some holiday cheer! Lisa, please tell us a
little bit about yourself.
Lisa: Hi, Cate!
Thanks for having me. I’m a transplanted Jersey Girl who has been writing for
more than 20 years. I’ve written columns for local publications, as well as
numerous articles for national and online publications. I’m also the author of
three books. Acting
Assertively and Diverse
Divorce that grew out of lessons and small groups with my students and
my first novel, Casting the
First Stone, was released last January.
Cate: Yay for Jersey Girls! lol What do you
love most about Christmas?
Lisa: It’s a
toss-up between the music and the decorations, especially the lights. I’m not
wild about the all-Christmas-all-the-time radio play in November, but come
December, that’s what I’m listening to...and singing along with, if I’m alone
in the car (and sometimes even when I’m not).
Cate: It is infectious! Do you have
a favorite memory of a Christmas past?
Lisa: It’s more
like flashes of memories from a variety of Christmases. The Christmas we
celebrated at the house where I spent my teenage years, when my daughter was
just a month old. The year my daughter and my niece and nephew were small and
continuously ran the loop through my parents’ kitchen, into the dining room,
then the living room, then back again. The year it snowed so much we couldn’t
make the trip to NJ and my daughter cried when we had to turn around and come
home, then fell asleep on the living room floor in front of her new dollhouse.
Dinners at my aunt’s house. Baking cookies. The Christmas open houses we used
to host before we were parents.
Cate: Nice. If Santa
could grant one wish, what would you ask for?
Lisa: Continued
good health for those I love.
Cate: Excellent wish. What was
the best gift you’ve ever received? What made it so special?
Lisa: The best
gifts I’ve received haven’t come at Christmas, and they’ve been in the form of
people and opportunities.
Cate: Any
favorite Christmas recipes you’d care to share?
Lisa: I am sooo
not a cook...but I have a chocolate chip cookie recipe I got from my friend
Ginny that’s become my dad’s favorite.Unfortunately, it’s not mine to share.
Cate: Such a tease, lol. Tell us
about your latest release, and where readers can find it online.
Lisa: My latest
release is nearly a year old -- I can hardly believe it! It’s called Casting the First Stone and
it revolves around a custody dispute that arises when the man who wanted
nothing to do with his child or her mother comes back to pursue full custody
just before his daughter turns 13. The story is told in alternating
point-of-view, moving back and forth between Charli’s mother, Marita and her
stepmother, Angel.
Cate: Care to
share a blurb or excerpt?
Lisa: Of course
(and thank you)!
Angel Alessio and Marita Mercer are linked by only one thing -- the man
one loves and the other despises. When Angel’s husband decides to pursue
custody of the child he fathered with Marita, both women are forced to consider
what they will -- and won’t -- do to protect the lives they have built and the
families they have created.
Cate: What
inspired you to write about the theme?
Lisa: As a school
counselor, I worked with lots of kids whose parents were divorced or never
married and I learned that most of the time, finding the “best” answer for the
kids is complicated. Marita actually grew out of a character I created for a
novel for a middle grade novel (a manuscript that’s still tucked away). I
tweaked her so she’d be a protagonist on her own instead of a secondary
character. Angel was the perfect counterpoint.
Cate: So heartbreaking to deal with sad stories in real life. Anything
else you’d like to share?
Lisa:
Hmmm...books make great Christmas presents?
If you’d like to read more about me or my books, drop by my blog, The
Porch Swing Chronicles (www.L2hess.blogspot.com)
or visit me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lisa-Lawmaster-Hess-Writer/173899286016304?ref=hl).
If you’d like to be added to my author newsletter email list, send me an email
(jerseywriter @yahoo.com) with “Author Newsletter Mailing List” in the subject
line.
Cate: Lisa has her Santa hat on! She is
giving away a copy of Casting
the First Stone.
Lisa: Yes, I am! To
enter, email me at jerseywriter@yahoo.com with “12 Days Giveaway”
in the subject line.
Cate: Thanks so
much for being part of the 12 Days of Christmas! Hope you have a jolly holly
holiday!
Lisa: You, too,
Cate! Thanks for having me!
