Biography
Avid Gardener. Book Lover. World Traveler.
Lisa Carter is the Publishers Weekly bestselling and award-winning author of more than thirty books. She describes her romantic suspense novels as “Sweet Tea with a Slice of Murder.” The Stronghold won a 2017 Daphne du Maurier. Under a Turquoise Sky won the 2015 Carol Award.
She also writes the bestselling Truelove Matchmaker contemporary romance series, set in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. The Christmas Bargain won the 2021 Carol Award for Short Novel. When she's not working in her garden, Lisa enjoys traveling and researching her next fictional adventure. She loves spending time with family and teaching writing workshops. A native North Carolinian, she has strong opinions on barbecue and ACC basketball. lisacarterauthor.com
Photos
Interview Questions
1. What inspired you to write Carolina Reckoning?
Years ago, I worked as a staff docent at an antebellum house. Being an avid fan of mysteries and romantic suspense, I began to wonder what if a murder were to occur in this uniquely Southern setting. Scratch beneath the surface of the polite Southern drawl and hospitable sweet tea, there is a layer of the gothic—Southern Gothic—in our history. Family stories of lost causes, tragic love, and quirky Aunt so and so's, we've all got them.
2. What is the theme of the book?
Alison wrestles with issues of forgiveness and faith in a world where everyone she's ever loved has abandoned or betrayed her. She longs to find someone, anyone, she can rely upon. But in the midst of pain and disillusionment, she discovers a Father God and Savior who is always faithful and true. Who is enough for every need.
3. Aloha Rose centers on a topic that touches so many lives. Why this story?
I had a dear college friend who, although with wonderful adoptive parents, spoke of her curiosity concerning her birth family. We were in each other's weddings; got busy raising families; moved away; but twenty years later reunited. And she shared with me a bittersweet tale of love come full circle when she found her birth father in the exotic Hawaiian Islands. We laughed and cried together. Knowing I was a writer, she told me it was a great story if she did say so herself and gave me permission to fictionalize it.
4. How does "journey" become a theme in Aloha Rose?
I think like a lot of us, Laney and Kai are on a journey, a quest. Seeking a place to belong, a connection. The Hawaiians call it, a huaka'i. A journey that requires truth, heart and extraordinary courage. The kind of courage Laney and my friend displayed in traveling the world to find a family. The kind of courage required of those who seek God. The courage intrinsic to all to desire a place to belong and someone to love.
5. Quilts make appearances in both of your books. How does inspiration from quilting translate into your writing?
I think quilting—I only learned to sew after my children were born—taught me patience, persistence and gave scope as Anne of Green Gables would say, to my imagination. It takes an incredible amount of discipline to see a project through to the end—as does writing. There's parts to quilting I like better than others. I love creating quilt designs just as I love crafting characters and story worlds. I love selecting the fabrics and piecing the quilt top. I love researching my stories and watching the lives of my characters unfold from my imagination to the page.
6. As a musician, what parallels do you see between writing and music?
Each story has a flow of sound, like music. A unique beat, rhythm, tone. Part of this is the writer's individual voice, recognizable throughout their entire body of work if you listen/look carefully. Some singers have a crystal clear quality of tonality like Julie Andrews. I think of it as a bubbling, high arching fountain. Others, a deep, full sound like Etta James with a rich, Mississippi River quality.
The story itself also impacts the rhythm or beat of the music. Some novels will start out fast, hard-hitting, leaving you breathless on the edge of your seat as you turn each page. Other books begin at a slower pace with a tease, a promise, a building crescendo of tension or romance.
Music inspires me as I develop characters and plot. I usually identify a song that sums up for me the entire feeling of a character's story arc or as an overriding theme for the book. I listened over and over to the mellow sounds of Brother Iz Kamakawiwo'ole's "Over the Rainbow" during Aloha Rose.
7. What is your favorite quote?
Roy Chapman Andrews—the real life inspiration for Indiana Jones Always there has been an adventure just around the corner—and the world is still full of corners."