About Lisa
How to pronounce my name:
Here is a helpful hint:
My last name rhymes with the word "closure."
To hear me talk about my name, go to www.teachingbooks.net and type in my name.
long time ago...
I grew up in the small town of Fairfield, Iowa, and we had a great library. I loved to pedal my bike across town to the library, stopping at the Handy Pantry to spend a quarter on candy.
I played a lot of sports, but I always loved reading, too. I read Little Women five times in fifth grade, and that is a very thick book! It’s still my all-time favorite.
My mom always read books to me when I was little, and my dad reads constantly, too. But it was my Grandma Crockett who showed me I could be an author. She used to write stories about my sister, Sindy, and me. We were always the heroes! She would draw pictures to go with them and bind them with bright red yarn. When I read those stories, I was amazed. From that moment on, I wanted to be a children’s author.
A
A perfect day with my favorite bear.
First day of kindergarten.
These are the stories my grandma wrote and sent to my sister and me.
I match my little sister, Sindy.
Christmas day with Mom and Dad.
I absolutely loved going to our library in Fairfield, Iowa.
A
while ago. . .
I graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in elementary education. Then I married my wonderful husband, Marty. I taught fifth grade at Colonial Hills Elementary in Worthington, Ohio. I'm proud to say that I was never beaten in a footrace by any of my students!
Colonial Hills Elementary was an absolutely wonderful place to teach fifth grade!
N
ow I live in Wisconsin. While I was a stay-at-home mom with our daughter, Lydia, I started pursuing my dream of writing children's books. I took classes, joined a group of wonderful writers who became dear friends, and wrote, wrote, wrote. It took seven years of work until I had my first book published. But the writing was joyful, the work was fun, and I think it was all in God's perfect timing.
Writing is still fun. My favorite thing to do is hike a trail with our beloved dog and daydream about stories. Sometimes, I'll even pack a lunch and sit by a stream or under a tree to write. Our dog explores, swims in the stream and checks in on me every five minutes. In fact, he is always right by my side when I unpack that lunch!
Our daughter is all grown up now, married, and lives in Ohio. We had some grand adventures along the way. I still think back on the days of her childhood-or even my own childhood-for story ideas.
I have had a very blessed writing career. I thank God for it all.
A picture of my family when our daughter was in kindergarten.
I went up in a hot air balloon even though I'm afraid of heights. It was so peaceful!
The three of us learned how to scuba dive!
This was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life. When we were in Hawaii, a humpback whale came alongside our boat. He literally played hide-and-seek with us for an hour. He would dive under the boat and pop up on one side. Then he'd dive under and pop up on the other side. We would run to the side of the boat and wait for him, cheering and laughing. But whales have a sense of humor. Sometimes, he'd swim under the boat and then reverse direction! We'd be waiting on one side of the boat and he would pop up on the other. Truly, I think whales can laugh. Such joy! I thank God for this gift.
love...
-God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit!
-Christmas!
-books, books, books, lots of books.
-hiking a trail with my beloved dog.
-writing outside beside a stream.
-humpback whales that play hide-and-seek and think they're funny when they swim in reverse to try and trick you.
-kayaking.
-scuba diving. It's so peaceful, and I am joyfully surprised by some new fish or sea creature every time I dive.
-to travel and have adventures.
-ice cream. And it's too hard to pick a favorite flavor. I just adore ice cream!
-the smell of a leather softball glove on a hot, summer day.
-a new box of crayons.
-chocolate, chocolate cake, chocolate cookies, chocolate pie, chocolate candy bars and chocolate ice cream. If they
made chocolate meatloaf, I'd eat that, too!
-libraries. It's so fun to just walk up and down the aisles of books, picking ones that interest me.
-playing games of any kind.
-all four seasons. My favorite is fall.
-pizza with a thin crust, pepperoni and extra cheese.
-warm, cushy socks.
-the smell of peppermint. I have a peppermint candle that makes me so happy.
-stamping and making cards. Basically, I just love to color!
-to cuddle up on rainy or snowy days with a book, a cup of coffee or cocoa, and a notepad for story ideas.
-going on vacations and flying in an airplane.
-reading cookbooks and finding new recipes.
-thinking about and then searching for the perfect present for people that I love.
-playing dolls with my daughter when she was little.
-looking at Lake Michigan. It’s so big, it reminds me of the ocean.
-being a children’s book author. It’s a great blessing.
don’t like. . .
-to whistle because I can’t do it.
-packing a suitcase because I can never decide what to take.
-baiting a fish hook.
-touching Styrofoam. It gives me the willies.
-hard math problems.
-when I can't find things or lose things.
-taking down the Christmas tree. It makes me sad.
-mowing the lawn.