I'm Glad You Came By!

READING GROUPS     APPEARANCES

New! If you'd like to sign up for my newsletter centering on areas of justice, mercy and compassion (Micah 6:8!) email me at lesamson@hotmail.com and put "micah newletter" in the subject line.

Welcome to the website of writer Lisa Samson. Thanks for taking the time to visit.

A little while ago, my publisher asked me a question. He told me not to sit and think about it. "Give me your first response."

"All right." To be honest, I was a little nervous. I'm one of those people who won't answer in church unless I know it's the right one. Usually "Jesus" works a good fifty percent of the time!

"Why do you write?"

"So that people will know they're not alone."

The words popped out before my brain really had time to figure out the answer, as if they'd been sitting underneath the tip of my tongue for years.

When readers grace me with their letters and emails, many of them will say, "You say the things I think but don't want to admit out loud." Or, "I've been asking the same questions for years now."

You see, I don't write because I have all the answers. I write to ask questions, and I know they are the same questions a lot of you are asking. (I'm not that unique!) So I think of my books as a conversation between me and you as we experience the lives of my characters and go through the waters of conflict and the fires of trial with them. If we can both walk away with the need to love God, our families, our friends, our community and our world a little more, I rejoice.

God's peace be with you.

lisa

ps: To sign up for my occasional author newsletter, email me at lesamson@hotmail.com and put "newsletter" in the subject line!

Find me on Facebook!

If you'd like to order any of my books by Thomas Nelson from your favorite publisher, click here.

January 21, 2009

The Passion of Mary-Margaret

My latest novel releases in March!
MaryMargaret.rgb

Library Journal liked it!

Samson, Lisa. The Passion of Mary-Margaret. Thomas Nelson. Mar. 2009. c.320p. ISBN 978-1-59554-211-3. pap. $14.99. CF

Mary-Margaret Fischer grew up on a small island in the Chesapeake Bay, believing she was conceived from rape. Her mother, a Catholic schoolteacher, died giving birth to her. Mary-Margaret wants to enter the convent, but a small voice tells her that her destiny is not to take her final vows, but instead to marry the less-than-proper Jude Keller, the lighthouse keeper's son. Christy Award winner Samson (Embrace Me; Tiger Lillie) spins a convincing tale about the plans we make for our lives and how God often has other ideas. Well written and enjoyable, this title will appeal to readers who appreciate intelligent fiction with a spiritual element. Recommended for CF and women's fiction collections.

A starred review from Publisher's Weekly Magazine too. Very nice!


*The Passion of Mary-Margaret* Lisa Samson. Thomas Nelson, $14.99 paper
(320p) ISBN 978-1-59554-211-3

Samson (/Quaker Summer/) mixes quirky with mysticism, seasons it with social justice, and the result is a page-turner with characters so fresh, funny and indelible the reader wants another 50 pages or so, please. Samson envisions a Jesus even an atheist would enjoy talking to, a Jesus whom the titular Mary-Margaret Fischer, a religious sister, talks to and gets direction from, as mystics quite naturally do. An even more compelling figure than Jesus, or at least someone with more lines and hence more characterization, is Mary-Margaret's childhood friend, Jude Keller, a ne'er-do-well with a soul needing saving encased in a body so good-looking it's hard for a body to resist. The required Christian progression to redemption is a natural in this story that slips between past and present—somewhat confusingly at first—and ranges from Maryland to Africa. The plot holds a few surprises that make some of the final, far-flung episodes more narratively and theologically
satisfying. Quirk works; this is a deeply engaging book deserving of a broad audience. /(Mar.)

December 16, 2008

Embrace Me

UPDATE!  Embrace Me has won the honor of being one of Library Journal's best books of 2008!

Lisa Samson is an artisan of hope.  Here is a book filled with beauty,  and also with truth... in a world that is starved for both. --Shane Claiborne  author, activist, and recovering sinner (thesimpleway.org).

Available now at Amazon, and on the New Fiction table at your local Barnes and Noble Booksellers.

Embraceme

Review in from Library Journal:

Samson, Lisa. Embrace Me. Thomas Nelson. Mar. 2008. c.320p. ISBN 978-1-59554-210-6. pap. $14.99. CF

Unlikely best friends Valentine and Lella, one scarred horribly and the other a multiple amputee, make ends meet by working in the Roland Wayfaring Marvels and Oddities show, always conscious that they are different from "regular people." Samson's compelling tale of their quest to make sense of their own little world and their need for love and acceptance will stay with the reader long after finishing the novel. This is truly grown-up inspirational fiction with unusual, complex characters; the publisher compares it to Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants. Highly recommended for all collections. Christy Award winner Samson (Songbird) lives in Kentucky.

September 09, 2008

Romancing Hollywood Nobody now on the stands

Scotty and Charley find romance in the mountains. Kilts and bagpipes are part of the bargain. But where does that leave Seth? And will that interfere with Scotty's attempts to locate Babette? Order an autographed copy here.

Hn3

April 26, 2008

Hollywood Nobody wins the Christy Award

Christy_image Hollywood Nobody won the Christy Award for excellence in Christian fiction in the Young Adult category. Just in time for the new release of Romancing Hollywood Nobody, book three in the series! Order here.Hn3

March 19, 2008

Quaker Summer wins Christianity Today Book Award

I'm delighted to announce that Quaker Summer won Christianity Today's Book Award 2008 for fiction.  An unexpected honor indeed and one for which I'm most thankful!

March 03, 2008

Bella

BellaUpdate: Bella is out! Along with a release of the DVD.

I'm pleased to officially announce that I'm in the process of writing the novelization of the award-winning movie Bella. I was contacted by Thomas Nelson earlier this past autumn and plans were finalized in December. Working from the screenplay by Leo Severino and Alejandro Monteverde and painstakingly watching the film itself has been a unique process for me, but one I am enjoying. Bella is life-affirming, filled with faith, hope and love.

Preorder here! Releases in May.

December 12, 2007

Finding Hollywood Nobody

Finding_hollywood_nobody_3 Finding Hollywood Nobody -- book two in the Hollywood Nobody series, is available for preorder on Amazon. Releases February 15th.

Link: Amazon.com: Finding Hollywood Nobody: Books: Lisa Samson.

For fifteen-year-old Scotty Dawn, life is starting to resemble a movie. After learning that her movie-industry mom is actually her grandmother, Scotty receives more shocking news: Her father was killed by the mob. With his murderer still at large, Scotty hides out on a film set in Texas. There she encounters old rivals, new friends, and a young girl caught in a desperate situation. But in the middle of her fears and intense loneliness, Scotty discovers the life-changing power of prayer.

November 07, 2007

Quaker Summer makes PW's Best Books of the Year for 2007

Quakersummer I'm in a bit of shock, folks. This is amazing. God's clearly still in the miracle business!

Link: PW's Best Books of the Year - 11/5/2007 - Publishers Weekly.

It's the end of the year—almost. A time for reflection, before the resolutions of 2008 send us all scrambling once again. So what did we read this year that kept us up at night, broke our hearts, opened our minds, made us fall in love? Three thousand books are published daily in the U.S., and PW reviewed more than 6,000 of them in 2007, in print and online. From that astounding number, we've culled a best books list covering our favorites in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, comics, religion, lifestyle and children's—150 in all.

October 10, 2007

Great Review of Hollywood Nobody!

Other reviews:

Tina at Tree Swing Reading.

Deena at A Peek At My Bookshelf.

Shauna at Shaunarumbling.

Link: TitleTrakk.com: Books: Book Reviews: Hollywood Nobody by Lisa Samson.

Hollywood Nobody by Lisa Samson

Reviewed by Darcie Gudger

Where were books like this fifteen years ago when I was a teen? Sweet Valley High and saccharine Christian YA made my stomach lurch and my mind long for characters I could relate to. Good thing I had an imaginary friend…

Teens of today, don’t despair! Authors Melody Carlson, Jenny B. Jones and now Lisa Samson are cranking out the books I only dreamed of reading.

August 30, 2007

Hollywood Nobody

Hollywoodnobodycover_2

Hollywood Nobody, my first YA book and the first book in the Hollywood Nobody series from NavPress has recently released.  Join Francis Scott Fitzgerald Dawn, "Scotty," as she travels around from movie set to movie set with her food stylist mother. Something's always happening around the old Travco RV they call home.

Back Cover Copy:

Most teens would envy Scotty's life, traveling to film sets, rubbing elbows with the hottest stars. But playing sidekick to her flighty "movie food-stylist" mother, Charley, makes the 15-year-old long for a "normal" life---and ask tough questions. Who is her father? Why is Charley receiving mysterious phone calls? A funny, street-smart coming-of-age story!