Welcome to my web world! Lis’Anne (nickname given to me by my sister) is the alter-ego of Melissa Woolard (from the recipe blog Culinary Craftiness). I’m not at all like most authors – I didn’t start writing in my youth and have a tote full of my early works. However, I’ve been a lifelong reader beginning with Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries. At the tender age of 13, I began reading historical romance and my life was forever changed.
The greats of the day such as Kathleen Woodiwiss, Rosemary Rogers, Victoria Holt, Jude Devereaux and so many more swept me away to far away lands and times. In centuries past, when women were mere chattel, these amazing writers created heroines who triumphed over the men who held them down. These stories made me realize just how strong and courageous my maternal ancestors had to be to survive and thrive – even through the early part of the 20th century.
In the Spring of 2005, I picked up a novel at my favorite used book store and settled in to read of a female ship’s captain. In the very first chapter, the author had made the captain so weak and incapable that her ship was overtaken and her sister brutally gang raped to death. I was so enraged, I slammed the book into the empty kitchen trash can. I still hear it hitting the bottom with a decisive thud. Thus began my writing “career.” I knew I could write a better story than that.
While my heroines have it pretty rough and go through some tragic crap, I will never do that to them. We have enough of that evil in real life. My heroes are seriously imperfect and do some really stupid stuff, but I will never make them brutalize a woman. And you’ll not find any graphic sex in my stories. I once wrote those scenes in because that’s what sold, but I don’t care about sales anymore. I believe some things should be sacred and far more meaningful and important than how it’s viewed by some today. Intimate encounters between consenting adults is none of my business.
While my style of storytelling doesn’t appeal to everyone, I love what I write and “they” say write what you love. I hope I find a few readers out there who fall in love with the way I tell my tales. 🙂
Happy reading!
Lis
Lis'Anne Harris 