Meet Lisa French
Lisa is a mom of three and also has three grandchildren. She was born and raised in the small town of Malverne, NY. She has loved to draw and write poems throughout her life. Her mom passed away from Chronic Progressive MS which Lisa too suffers from. Her mom is the inspiration for her children's books and some proceeds go to the MS Foundation.
What inspired you to write children’s books and when did you write your first book?
In 2017 my mother and significant other inspired me. They read my manuscript and told me to draw what came to mind. I hired someone at first. I did a friend a favor and hired their son but he ran off with the money so I had no choice but to do it myself. LOL I love to write and draw. I was the creative one in the family. I used my friend Mike's boat as the main idea and used our experiences we had fishing to draw each scene. The eel page was when I went fishing with my dad in a row boat and we caught an eel. The crab page is a depiction of when we caught crabs while visiting my Nana in Breezy Point, which is the view from her front deck. Each page tells a story of my life.
What came first, the titles or the ideas for the stories?
The ideas from my experiences came first.
What inspired the stories for your books?
The fishing experiences that I shared with my own children, children in my care, and my grandchildren inspired the stories. They asked me to write a book.
Can you give us a brief synopsis of each of your books?
1. A Fishing I Will Go!
This story is a fun way to learn about fish and the different ways of fishing.
2. A Deep Sea Fishing I Will Go!
This story is a fun way to learn about fishing and all about the different fish out at sea.
3. The Hens That Were Bullied
This story tells about subtle ways to deal with Bullies:
Learn how to help one another
To be friendly to one another
To work together to make this world a better place
How long did it take you to complete your first book from idea to publication?
About a year.
Did you choose to be traditionally published or did you decide to self-publish?
My books are traditionally published.
How did you go about finding the right publisher?
I did a lot of searching on the internet and finally found a publishing company I was happy with. They guided me through the entire experience. Everything was done through email and phone calls. It was a pleasure working with them.
You’re not only the author but you’re the illustrator as well. Do you enjoy doing both? How difficult is it to illustrate a children’s book?
I absolutely enjoyed doing both! My whole life I loved to write poems and stories. Drawing has been a passion of mine since I was a child. It was easy to write and draw things pertaining to my life for all three books. I used Adobe Draw. I taught myself how to use it and thoroughly enjoyed using this program. I drew everything in pencil and colored all through this program.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors who would love to write a children’s book?
I say do it!! There are many books out there but having the satisfaction of pleasing my family and friends and many who have purchased my books makes me so happy! Publishing something I wrote, was always something I have wanted to do.
Do you have any books on the horizon? If so, can you give us a little tidbit about the story?
I don't have any books yet in the works, but I did invent a fun, educational family board game that is on the brink of hitting the public. I invented this game when my children where little. I made it out of oaktag and index cards. There were no new games on the shelves, so I made it for my children for Christmas.
To learn more about Lisa or to purchase her books visit:
It's great that you wrote & illustrated your own books! Not many can do both. Creating a game is no easy feat. I look forward to it when it is complete. I love family games!