Suspense Novelist Shares Her Love of Story
Lisa Harris is more than a writer of suspense; she likes to add a little romance to her action-packed plots. Her newest novel "Pursued" released April 4 and is third in The Nikki Boyd Files series published by Revell, a division of Grand Rapids-based Baker Publishing Group."All the Nikki Boyd plots take place within 48 hours, because the first 48 hours are the most important in solving a crime," said Harris. "There is more suspense than romance in these books because how much romance can you have in 48 hours?"
Tennessee Missing Persons Task Force agent Nikki Boyd's flight into Nashville turns tragic when the place crashes and the woman sitting next to her disappears. Nikki spends the next 48 hours solving the mystery of her disappearance and avoiding criminals trying to stop her.
Harris, who lives with her family in Mozambique as missionaries with African Outreach Ministries, started out writing novellas and then writing romance novels. She's published almost 30 books, the last seven with Revell.
"I like mystery and suspense, so I'd try to sneak in as much of it as I could. I'm not sure the romance readers liked that; it was a little out of the box," said Harris, who was in Grand Rapids recently to visit the Revell offices.
"But as I write, sometimes things come up. For instance, in 'Pursued' the hostage situation wasn't part of the original plan," she said.
She takes about six months to write a book, with at least four more books contracted with Revell. She writes almost every day, thankful for the Internet to help her with research. While she can't do book signings to meet her many fans in the U.S., she can meet them via Facebook, and do phone, radio and email interviews.
"I miss going to conferences and miss my critique group, but the Internet makes making connections fairly easy," she said.
Harris loves to cook, spend time with family and go on safari. She loves photographing the birds and animals of her beloved Africa.
To learn more about her books and life in Africa, visit www.lisaharriswrites.com.
Harris' books are available locally at Baker Book House and Kregel Parable Christian Store.
