Meet and Greet: Lisa Harris

Book Giveaway Drawing!
Read the details later in this post.

Lisa Harris is an award-winning author who has over 20 novels and novella collections in print. She and her husband, Scott, along with their three children, live near the Indian Ocean in Mozambique as missionaries. As a homeschooling mom, life can get hectic, but she sees her writing as an extension of her ministry, which also includes running a non-profit organization. The ECHO Project works in southern Africa promoting Education, Compassion, Health, and Opportunity and is a way for her to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves…the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice” (Proverbs 31:8). 

When she’s not working Lisa loves hanging out with her family, cooking different ethnic dishes, and heading into the African bush on safari. 

Dear Reader,

I’m thrilled for the opportunity to stop by and visit Book Readers Central! I’m an author and homeschooling mom, living in Mozambique, Africa with my husband and three children where we minister as church planters and discipleship makers. I currently write romantic suspense and love the challenge of creating paging-turning adventures.

Last month, Zondervan released book two in my Mission Hope series, Blood Covenant. While the first book dealt with the very real issue of today’s human trafficking problems, the second is another fast-paced suspense set in a refugee camp.

In this story, Paige Ryan and Nick Gilbert are trapped in an overpopulated African refugee camp where an outbreak of measles erupts and renegade soldiers block their only way out. Desperate for vaccines, they must put their own lives in the hands of God as they fight for the safety of the refugees under their protection.

If you enjoy historicals with a strong thread of adventure and romance, I have a second book, An Ocean Away that is being released this month from Summerside Press. Half of the story is set in Northern Rhodesia (Africa) while the other half is set in New York City in the early 1920s. This was definitely one of the most fascinating, but also research-intense books I have ever written. With two settings and a 1920’s time frame, I wanted to bring that period--from sides of the world--to life and show the stark contrast between the two continents.

Another thing I love about writing is the chance to learn from the characters I create. In Blood Covenant, my main character, Paige comes to the realization that she has to admit her weaknesses and fears and rely only on God’s strength. There are numerous examples in the Bible of men and women who God called to serve Him in an extraordinary way through His power. Gideon was victorious with only three hundred men, a handful of trumpets, jars, and torches. Esther saved her people from the threat of death, David was a shepherd boy who became king of a nation, and I could go on and on. 

As I wrote the story, I was reminded again and again how God calls us in the middle of our ordinary, run-of-the-mill, take-out-the-trash- and drive-the-kids-to-school routine. He’s the one who gives us the strength to live daily for Him. 

Because let’s be honest, life has its constant ups and downs just like the writing life has its ups and downs. For those of you who are writers, you already know that writing is hard work. I’ve learned and studied and continued to write for over a decade, always aware that there is more to learn. It takes perseverance to keep writing after receiving a rejection from an editor or a bad review which isn’t always easy.

On the positive side, I love getting to know these characters and what makes them tick, because as a writer, when I spend months creating characters they come to life in my mind. I also love it when they don’t act the way I expected them to. Often, I find that when this happens, the story ends up coming together stronger because of it.

For more information about my books and life in Africa please stop by my website, Lisa Harris Writes or My Blog In the Heart of Africa. We’ve also just started a non-profit to help address the physical needs of people we work with. You can find out more about that project at The Echo Project.

Thanks again for letting me drop by!

Be blessed,

Lisa Harris

Blood Covenant Book Trailer from Lisa Harris on Vimeo.

©2011 Janalyn Voigt, author of novel books

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Book Giveaway Drawing: Lisa Harris will give away a free copy of the winner's choice of either Blood Covenant or An Ocean Away. To enter, leave a comment to this post. If you are a follower of Book Readers Central and tell me so in a separate comment, I'll give you an extra chance to win. 

Please include a valid email address in an anti-spam format (example: youremailhandle[at]gmail[dot]com]) or your entry will become invalid. Entries will be accepted until this Thursday at midnight (Pacific Time/US).

I'll announce the winner on Book Readers Central on Friday. The winner must respond within two weeks of notification. Detailed rules of giveaways on Book Reader's Central are located in the footer of this blog.