The Love and Hate of Memoir

The Love and Hate of Memoir

    You love them. You hate them . . .   You yearn to record their greatness. You seethe to burn them good. The heady month of hearts and [...]

Feb 7, 2013     Comments Off
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Writing Sensuous Details

Writing Sensuous Details

It’s winter in Santa Fe now, and the colors are chalk brown and muted green huddled amidst the white of mounded snow. In my fireplace I burn Pinion pine, and [...]

Jan 15, 2013     Comments Off
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I am in the presence of great art

I am in the presence of great art

I said those words today as I walked into the painting gallery of Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum, one of the greatest collections of art in Europe, and then I wept, privately, [...]

Oct 11, 2012     Comments Off
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October 3: German Day of Unity

October 3: German Day of Unity

 I have never been so happy as I was yesterday to see a decidedly Western shopping street replete with all the standard flagship stores. It’s just not the sort of [...]

Oct 3, 2012     Comments Off
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Living in the former East Berlin

Living in the former East Berlin

I have been traveling for days, one day on the train, a late night in the new place, a full day exploring, and then back to the train. It’s been [...]

Oct 1, 2012     Comments Off
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Sunny Brussels, Belgium

Sunny Brussels, Belgium

  I’ve begun again sojourning through Europe searching for the final pieces to complete my new book. It feels different now than it did on my first journey to discover [...]

Sep 10, 2012     Comments Off
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About Lisa

Lisa wrote the popular handbook—Shimmering Images: A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memoir—and the acclaimed memoir Hawk Flies Above: Journey to the Heart of the Sandhills, both published by St. Martin’s Press. Lisa blogs for The Huffington Post about story and the way it shapes daily life.

At The Santa Fe Writing Institute you can engage one-on-one with Lisa editing and preparing manuscripts for publication and studying in online classes with Lisa as your teacher.

Lisa earned degrees from Reed College and the University of Iowa. She comes from a long line of Nebraskans including Congressman J. N. Norton, District Judge William H. Norton, and Evelyn Norton Lincoln, President John F. Kennedy's personal secretary.

Lisa splits her time between Santa Fe, Venice, Italy, and a 75-year-old cabin in the Sandhills of the American West.

 

Contact Lisa.

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Editing Services

Phone Consultation

For writers seeking feedback and direction with their writing project and who want to talk with Lisa about how she can help them achieve their goals, the Santa Fe Writing Institute offers a one-hour phone consultation with Lisa at the rate of $100/hour. This fee is paid, through PayPal, prior to the consultation.
Manuscript Evaluation Clinic

SPECIAL FOR WRITERS NEW TO THE SANTA FE WRITING INSTITUTE

The first week of each month Lisa reads and evaluates 25 pages (that’s 6,250 words) of fiction or narrative nonfiction at a special rate of $195.

You get swift feedback from a pro on your project.

You get a written critique and a 30-minute follow-up phone consultation.

These services regularly bill at $300. Lisa's substantive edit includes analysis of your writing style, narrating voice, characterizations, structure, marketability, and concrete strategies for improvement of problem areas.

General Editing Info

Lisa edits all kinds of manuscripts.

Her specialties include Memoir, Autobiography, Travel Writing, Creative Nonfiction, Biography, History, and Self-Help.

Lisa works with writers from the very beginning of the idea, through structuring, writing, editing, and rewriting. She also edits completed manusripts offering substantive editing and/or line editing.

Follow the link for Book Editor at the top of the website for a full description of Lisa's book editing services, including fees.