INTERVIEW WITH LISA HARRIS

Marji here. I was delighted to get an advanced copy of Vendetta by Lisa Harris. It was the first I'd ever read from her. Wow! Check out my entire review here.

Reading the book left me terribly curious about the author and the more I learned the more I wanted to know, especially about her work in Mozambique!

Lisa Harris is a Christy Award winner, the winner of the Best Inspirational Suspense Novel for 2011 from Romantic Times, and the author of nearly thirty books, including Dangerous Passage, Fatal Exchange, and Hidden Agenda. She and her family have spent twelve years living as missionaries in southern Africa. They currently live in Mozambique, where Lisa leads a women’s ministry and runs a nonprofit organization that works alongside their church-planting ministry. Learn more at www.lisaharriswrites.com.

And then we got to do a little email chit-chat!

Vendetta is outstanding! I recently shared my thoughts about it on the Suspense Sisters review page. But it made me curious. After writing so many books – I’m counting 29 from your website, Lisa Harris Writes – how do you keep things fresh?

Yeah! I’m so thrilled that you enjoyed Vendetta. As for keeping it fresh. . .I guess it’s just as important for me to enjoy what I’m writing as for my readers to enjoy what they’re reading. Because when I really love what I’m writing, I think—hope— that will translate into something fresh and fun for my readers.

I’m also curious about how you organize your stories. Vendetta had great twists. Did you plan them way ahead, or did they surprise you?

I do a bit of both. I plan a lot of what I want to happen in the story since it’s pretty complex, but there are always twists along the way I don’t expect. It makes it fun and keeps me interested in the story too. In fact, my husband always laughs at me when something I write makes me cry or surprises me.

And along the same lines, have you ever cut things from your stories – where you expected your plot to go or subplots? Did any of them become new stories?

No. In fact, I usually end up short on words rather than having it too long, and usually I ‘know’ what scenes need to be there so I don’t end up cutting much.

Switching gears, I’m delighted with what I’ve read about your work in Mozambique, particularly with the ECHO project. Did you go to Mozambique to work with that program or was that project a bonus?

Our time in Mozambique has been challenging, but also a huge blessing to our family, and The ECHO Project was definitely a bonus. After we’d lived in Mozambique for a couple years, we realized we were dealing with so many physical needs that we needed to start a non-profit so we could help more people. That was the beginning of The ECHO Project. I’ve often had to remind myself that I still can’t fix everyone’s situation, or help everyone who has a need, but for that one person who’s life is changed, that is enough.

How did the ministry come about?

Everything is based on the needs we see on a daily basis. We provide food packets to families caring for orphans, medical treatment, housing, school needs, and some micro loans. My current dream is to build a compound where we can bring in people who need hospice care or children/women who need a home. This is a huge need for this. We will have some of the local Christians trained to help them as they run the small compound. I’m also hoping to begin a sewing project to help the single mothers, especially out in the villages, earn money for their families.

What type of work do you do with it daily/weekly?

My role has changed and shifted over the years depending on how many kids I have at home. :-) And that role varies with things like delivering food baskets, to driving people to the hospital for treatment, to visiting people in the hospital, handing out vitamins, medicine, and baby formula.

How can people in the states get involved with your work in Mozambique?

You can learn more about what God is doing through this project at http://theechoprojectblog.blogspot.com or our church planting ministry at www.africanoutreachministries.org

Thank you so much for having me on the Suspense Sisters!

And here's the skinny on her newest book that comes out October 1, Vendetta!

Christy Award Winner Invites Readers on a Spine-Chilling Case where the Hunter Becomes the Hunted

With this explosive first book in the new Nikki Boyd Files, Lisa Harris takes readers on a fast-paced pursuit of justice that will have them holding their breath until the heart-stopping finish.

No one needs to push Nikki Boyd to excel on the Tennessee Missing Person Task Force. The case of her own missing sister, still unsolved after ten years, is the driving force in her work. When a Polaroid photo of a missing girl shows up at a crime scene, Nikki quickly recognizes similarities to the past. The closer she gets to the abductor, the more she feels that this case is getting personal and that she is not the hunter at all—but actually the one being hunted.

We were planning to give away a copy of Lisa's book, Hidden Agenda, but Lisa is offering up a copy of Vendetta! Woohoo! Please leave a comment below with your email address to be entered in our drawing! (U.S. only, please.)