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Friday 29 July 2016

My chat with Multi Award-Winning Author Lisa Harris

By Ian Acheson

It’s my absolute pleasure to share with the ACW community my (virtual) chat with Lisa Harris. Lisa is a friend to a number of us and especially to those who participate in the ICFW community. Lisa is a multi-award winning romantic suspense author and as you’ll see in her bio she has over thirty novels and novella collections in print. Wow! What an achievement, Lisa.

I’ve read a couple of Lisa’s more recent novels and loved them. Her latest, Missing, the second in the Nikki Boyd Files, has recently released and I posed a few questions to Lisa which she was kind enough in her busy schedule to respond to.

Without further ado please give a hearty Down Under welcome to Lisa.

ACW: Perhaps tell us a little about yourself in a few sentences.

Lisa: I’m a wife, mom, follower of Christ, and a writer living in southern Africa. I love travel, photography and especially hanging out with my family (when they’re not scattered over the world!)

ACW: What led you to write Christian fiction?

Lisa: I love to read, but I don’t like all the bad language and steamy scenes. So when I decided to start writing, it made sense for me to write what I love reading.  

ACW: Outline your journey so far.

Lisa: I definitely look at this writing career as a journey. It’s been full of ups and downs, highs and lows, and yes, a lot of rejections. I’m so thankful to have had the chance to start writing for Barbour more than a decade ago. The editors and authors I was blessed to work with taught me so much as a newbie to the business. Since then I’ve found what I love writing most—romantic suspense. I’m currently writing my third suspense series, (first with Zondervan, and now for Revell), plus Love Inspired Suspense is letting me write books set all over the world—I’m writing one set in Italy right now—which I’m loving. So while I continue writing and learning, I’ll do my best to enjoy the journey.

ACW: You have two series running in parallel. Tell us a little about both.

Lisa: The Nikki Boyd Files are set in Tennessee and focus around the life of Nikki Boyd. She works on a missing task force, and her cases are alway person because her own sister went missing just over a decade ago. The series is fast-paced, edge of your seat, with a bit of romance thrown in there (because you can’t have a book without a good romance!)

The other series I’m writing is my Danger Abroad series (I’m not sure if that will be the official series name, but I like the title). These are shorter books published with Love Inspired Suspense and so far will be set in the Sahara, Italy, Amsterdam, and Brazil. The first one will come out early next year.

ACW: Missing, Number 2 in the Nikki Boyd Files, has just released. Tell us what you’d like the reader to take away from it.

Lisa: I’ve had so much fun with this series, I think mainly because I’ve been able to delve deep into Nikki’s life and her character over a span of several books. In this book, Nikki has to deal with not only a missing person, but also a counterfeit drug ring as she faces off with a killer who will stop at nothing to silence anyone who threatens his business.  

ACW: Your missionary work. I'd love for you to share a little about it.

Lisa: About twelve in a half years ago we moved to South Africa with three little kids and a strong calling from God. We now live in Mozambique where we are involved in church planting and discipleship training in an unreached people group. We also run a small non-profit—The ECHO Project—that helps with some of the physical needs of the people around us. It’s been another journey full of ups and downs, but we’re exactly where we believe God wants us to be.

Thanks so much for letting me drop by the blog!!!

Giveaway

I so enjoyed Vendetta, the first instalment of the Nikki Boyd Files that I’d love to share a copy of it with one member of our community. In addition, we’ll throw in a copy of the just released, Missing. Simply comment on the post below leaving an email address that I can notify you if you’ve been successfully selected.

I’d encourage you to follow Lisa’s journey where you can see both her writing adventures and the powerful impact her family is having in Mozambique.


Where you can find Lisa online:


Lisa’s Bio

LISA HARRIS is a Christy Award finalist for Blood Ransom (2010) and Vendetta (2016), Christy Award winner for Dangerous Passage, and the winner of the Best Inspirational Suspense Novel for Blood Covenant (2011) and Vendetta (2016) from Romantic Times. She has over thirty novels and novella collections in print. She and her family have spent over twelve years working as missionaries in Africa. When she's not working she loves hanging out with her family, cooking different ethnic dishes, photography, and heading into the African bush on safari. For more information about her books and life in Africa visit her website at www.lisaharriswrites.com

Disclaimer:
By commenting on today's post you can enter the drawing to win a copy of
Vendetta and Missing. The drawing will take place on Thursday 4 August 2016 and the winner announced on that date in a comment on this post. Please leave an email address [ ] at [ ]dot [ ] where you can be reached.

"Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of
entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility
on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining
local/federal/international laws."

19 comments:

  1. delighted to hear of another missionary and especially that she does the same work I do.

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    1. Thanks, Christine for popping on to comment. You must have a good understanding of the challenges of combining writing with missionary work.

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  2. Congratulations Lisa, and thanks for the insight into your ongoing journey. I am so inspired by your story and very excited at the possibility of perhaps winning this giveaway!!!! The Nikki Boyd Files sound very thrilling. Best wishes, Jay. (stevenjayhicks@gmail.com)

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    1. Hi JJ. Lisa's story is inspiring isn't it! And so are Lisa's novels. Thanks for providing your email address as an entry into the draw.

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  3. Good to find out more about you, Lisa (and thanks for the interview, Ian).

    Vendetta and Missing were both excellent, and I'm now trying not to ruin my manicure while I wait for the next book. :)

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    Replies
    1. Iola, I loved your review of Missing. Has made me extra keen to read it.

      Thanks for popping by and commenting. Have you read any of Lisa's other novels?

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    2. Iola, I absolutely loved your 'trying not to ruin my manicure' line! :-)

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    3. Ian, I've read several of Lisa's novels (although not the Love Inspired Suspense, because they can be hard to get in NZ).

      Lisa, thank you!

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  4. Appreciate so much the chance to stop by the blog! Thanks for the invite, Ian. And thanks to you all for stopping by and leaving comments. Always love meeting old friends and new ones! And one of these days I'm going to visit your part of the world in person! Happy reading.

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    Replies
    1. Especially with your Love Inspired Suspense series; there's got to be one set down under. You have many friends who'd happily host you, Lisa.

      Thanks for coming onto the ACW blog and sharing a little of your life with us.

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    2. I know that my husband would jump at the chance. He's even more of a travel bug than I am. :-) We've actually talked about it several times and if LIS would go for the idea I'd definitely need to research!

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  5. Great interview! It's neat to hear the different projects you're working on, Lisa. And your missionary work sounds inspiring! Thanks for the giveaway. jerusha(at)SDGwords(dot)com

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    Replies
    1. Hi Jerusha, thank you for popping over and reading our interview. Lisa's writing & missionary works are certainly inspirational. Thanks for entering the draw, too.

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    2. Congratulations, Jerusha, you've won yourself a copy of both Vendetta and Missing. I'll be pin touch via email.

      I'm sure you'll enjoy meeting Nikki Boyd!

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  6. Fantastic interview with Lisa! I am impressed that she brings Glory to the Lord with her mission work and writing.

    psalm103and138 at gmail dot com

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    Replies
    1. Hi Caryl, thanks for popping over. Lisa's a busy lady me thinks writing so many novels and being active in her missionary work.

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  7. Enjoying reading the comments. A huge thanks to all of you who stopped by!!

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  8. Lisa and Ian, great interview! I love Lisa's books :)

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  9. Thanks, Narelle. Yep Lisa has a remarkable talent for crafting engaging stories.

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