Fabulous Friday Feature-Lisa Carter

Today I welcome 

author Lisa Carter,

kind and passionate, 
with a desire to help others 

Enter to win Lisa's 2013 release,

Aloha Rose

Scroll to the end of the post to see how to enter.

Captured by a friend's need, Lisa crafted a story that touches the heart. I met Lisa at the ACFW conference. She was so warm and sweet. When I heard she'd have a new release, I immediately asked her to join us here on Let's Talk. Boy, was I happy when she said yes. I asked Lisa to tell us how God led her on her writing journey. Here is what she said:

God is Enough For Every Need

I come from a family of storytellers. My mom used to entertain my brother and me on long road trips by inventing “epic” adventures. My earliest memories involved telling myself a story to go to sleep at night. I thought everyone did this until I hit elementary school and realized my classmates might perceive this as odd.

I did and do the same thing, Lisa! Kindred spirits. 

Neighborhood kids often came over to my house and asked what we could ‘pretend like’ today—kind of a Phineas and Ferb thing. I created lots of fictional adventures involving whatever I happened to be watching on TV at the time. There was the Star Trek (the original) phase; Daniel Boone period; Little House on the Prairie, etc . . . And now I’ve just dated myself. Sometimes our pretend adventures involved both prairie schooners and aliens. I may have invented steampunk at age ten without anyone realizing it. 

I continued to write for fun and devour books during my adolescence. Later, in between teaching assignments, I worked a variety of jobs, all of which proved to be treasure troves for potential stories. I lived sort of an Ernest Hemingway/Jack London existence—without the alcoholism—previous to marriage and motherhood. For two years, I worked as a staff docent at an antebellum historic park, which later became the impetus for Carolina Reckoning. From this, I learned all life experiences are fodder for a novel.

Once I settled down, I learned to capture the “down time” to hone my writing skills in writing. I utilized my children’s naptime each day to stoke the creative fires of my fictional stories. Although I’d always wanted to be a published author, I never really imagined this would happen to me. I wrote mainly to amuse myself.

But in 2009, God compelled me to get serious about my secret dream of writing and showed me these stories were to be used for His glory. I wrote my debut novel, Carolina Reckoning.

I attended a writer’s conference where God led a multi-published author to take a mentoring interest in me. I attended several more conferences where God, always faithful, led me one step further to publication. I wrote three new manuscripts, listened, and studied the craft of writing and the publishing industry.

This is the story behind how I received my first contract:

Long ago, a college friend shared her struggles regarding her adoption with me. Her unanswered questions—despite a loving, adoptive home—about who she was, where she came from, why she’d been given up for adoption, and what all this meant developed into a void which she yearned to fill. Years later, she related how she'd located her birth father in Hawaii and how a wonderful, new chapter in her life had opened.

Two days after a reunion with my college friend, my agent and Abingdon Press asked for a book proposal for the Quilts of Love series. Reflecting on my friend’s story, the seed of Aloha Rose was born. Hawaiian quilts are very different from other traditional quilts. And just like my friend’s emotional journey, Laney Carrigan in Aloha Rose and the Lokelani quilt came full circle, too.

Released in August, 2013, Carolina Reckoning became my first published novel. Aloha Rose, released in November, 2013, became my second. I have enjoyed a whirlwind of fun, hard work, and ministry ever since.

Building relationships has been the key to my publication journey—

•My relationship with God foremost.

•Pursuing relationship with others in the publishing industry.

•And, pursuing needed relationships to gain contracts.

My ultimate desire is to proclaim the truth of God’s Word, His redeeming love as seen in the life of Jesus Christ, and to help readers know for themselves this great, awesome God of all comfort and wisdom. He is enough for every need.

I hope Aloha Rose will make readers laugh. It may make you cry. But most of all, I pray Aloha Rose will warm your heart with God’s love for you.

As a frequent speaker and vocalist at women’s ministry events, Lisa Carter shares her journey of faith regarding the sufficiency of the cross and God’s grace in her life. She is a member of ACFW, RWA, and Sisters in Crime. Beneath a Navajo Moon releases March 2014. She and her husband have two daughters and make their home in North Carolina. When she isn't writing, Lisa enjoys traveling to romantic locales, quilting, and researching her next exotic adventure.

Aloha Rose:

When Laney Carrigan sets out to find her birth family, her only clue is the Hawaiian quilt in which she was found wrapped in as an infant. Centering her search on the Big Island and battling fears of rejection, Laney begins a painstaking journey toward her true heritage. Kai Barnes, however, is determined to protect the people he’s come to regard as family. He thinks Laney is nothing more than a gold digger and blocks every move she makes toward finding her Hawaiian family. As their conflict escalates, it puts at risk the one thing that Kai and Laney both want most—a family.

Carolina Reckoning:

Alison isn’t surprised by what she finds in her husband’s coat pocket, until she becomes the chief suspect in his murder. Homicide Detective Mike Barefoot, a Cherokee native from the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC, immediately puts the 30-something housewife and mother at the top of his suspect list. But against his better judgment, he finds himself drawn to Alison and her children. Alison must launch her own investigation to bring the murderer to justice before she and her children become the killer’s next victims.

Learn more at www.lisacarterauthor.com. 

For behind-the-scenes photos, visit the Aloha Rose board on Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/quiltsoflove/aloha-rose-by-lisa-carter.

To enter the contest for an autographed copy of 

Lisa's book: "Aloha Rose":

leave a comment (and email addy)

AND become a follower of this site, if you aren't already.

Sorry  US  only

Winner announced on my facebook page.

Thank you, Lisa, for Joining us This Weekend!

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Every moment can be an opportunity for story fodder. I recently told my daughter about a unique visitor we once had. She instantly became intrigued. Does a moment spark a story in your mind? A vacation setting, a special friend, an exciting moment, etc. What intrigued you about it?