Author, Lisa Wingate talks about her inspirations for writing.

When not disguised as an author, I am the mother of two sons. I wanted girls. I got boys. I never dreamed that boys could be so wonderful. But that is another story.

I can't remember a time when I didn't write. I started writing books before I started school, and I never quit writing. I had a very special first-grade teacher in Peasley School in Northboro , Massachusetts , who recognized a little ability and a lot of desire in a shy transfer student. Mrs. Krackhardt wrote on my report card that she expected to see my name in the pages of a magazine one day, and I suddenly felt incredibly special. She started reading my stories to the class, and I was hooked. I quickly discovered the joy of having an audience, and set out on many, many writing projects.

Even though I always dreamed of becoming a writer, I didn't begin pursuing the goal in earnest until after college, marriage, a career as a journalist and technical writer, and then the birth of my oldest son (ordered girl, got boy, fell in love with boy). My grandmother came to stay with me when the baby was small, and together we decided to plant flowerbeds in front of my house. One day, when the baby was fussy, we had to go inside rather than finishing the flowerbed. Grandma bundled the baby and sat down in the chair with him, and soon he was quietly drifting off to sleep. As the afternoon sun streamed in the window, Grandma leaned back, closed her eyes, and began telling me the story of her life, and her flowerbeds, and the lessons she learned there. That story, Time for Tending Roses, eventually became the inspiration for my first mainstream novel, Tending Roses, which was published by New American Library (Penguin Putnam) in June, 2001.

These days--several years, several books, two family relocations, one boy (ordered girl, got boy, boy is wonderful again), and thousands of words after my grandmother told me the story of her rose garden, Tending Roses is one of several books inspired by life and written during stolen mommy moments between little league, homework, dirty laundry, farm animals, football games, family meals, and book-related talks and events of all kinds with readers, moms, grandmothers, sisters, and friends all around the globe. Who knew all of that would come from one quiet afternoon with Grandma and an unfinished flowerbed?

Of all of the books, Tending Roses remains my sentimental favorite, because of the real-life connection with my grandmother, but I have loved and treasured the moments spent in the “world” of each book. Each story begins with an inspiration from life, and after that, the writing is a journey of discovery. I never know where the story will go, or how it will end, or who the characters will become, until the last words are written, though as a writer and as a person, my heart always goes to happy endings. So many of today's sound bites are sensational, and awful, and when you take in all of those things, it is easy to lose faith in the world and in the goodness of people. I want to create books that are entertaining, but also good for the soul-- that don't leave readers feeling sad or disappointed, or wishing they hadn't read the book at all. I think we are all called to add something good to the world, to inspire and uplift, to add our colors to the canvas. I have met so many people who have wonderful ways of doing that. I admire them. I want to be like them. I love to write about them.

Official Author Biography

Lisa Wingate lives in central Texas where she is a popular inspirational speaker, magazine columnist, and national bestselling author of several books.  Her novel, Tending Roses, received dozens of five-star reviews, sold out nine printings for New York publisher, Penguin Putnam, and went on to become a national bestselling book.  Tending Roses was a selection of the Readers Club of America, and is currently in its tenth printing. 

The Tending Roses series continued with Good Hope Road, The Language of Sycamores, Drenched In Light, and A Thousand Voices.  In 2003, Lisa’s Texas Hill Country series began with Texas Cooking, and continued with Lone Star Café, which was awarded a gold medal by RT BOOKCLUB magazine and was hailed by Publisher’s Weekly as “A charmingly nostalgic treat.”  The series concluded with Over the Moon at the Big Lizard  Diner.

Lisa is now working on a new set of small-town Texas novels for Bethany House Publishers.  The series debuts with Talk of The Town, in February, 2008.  A new series is also underway for Penguin Group NAL, beginning with A Month of Summer (July 2008).  Lisa’s works have been featured by the National Reader’s Club of America, AOL Book Picks, Doubleday Book Club, The Literary Guild, American Profiles, and have been chosen for the LORIES best Published Fiction Award.

When not busy dreaming up stories, Lisa spends time speaking to numerous groups about writing, family relationships, generational connections, community ties, writing, and rural nostalgia.  Via internet, she shares with readers as far away as India, where her book, Tending Roses, has been used to promote women’s literacy, and as close to home as Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the county library system used Tending Roses to help volunteer mentors teach adults to read. 

Recently, the group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa along with Bill Ford, Camille Cosby, and six others, as recipients of the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life.