About Me

Me in 1998 with Joe & other hostel pals
If you recognise anyone else in this photo, please contact me

This blog has been a great writing outlet for me, while keeping loved ones in the loop on our adventures in New Zealand. And, it's a true story!

An American, I grew up in a family of newspaper publishers in the Midwest, lived for ten years in the Northeast while completing my education, and recently moved to New Zealand.

Previously an addictions treatment counselor, I'm happy to be a full-time mother of one. I grew up in the theatre but my secret passion has always been for the written word. While in between shows, I wrote. Novels, short stories, journaling, essays. I had to write. However, it took me well into adulthood to realise that to write full-time would be a dream come true, as I had always been told I was 'supposed to' do the actor-thing.

I love all forms of expression: I was a backup singer touring with a local Vermont singer-songwriter with gigs around the state and in NYC; I did some light modeling, a television commercial and co-starred in an independent film many years ago. All those opportunities were fulfilling, but nothing as much as getting the stories out of my head and onto paper.

I have a completed women's fiction manuscript I'm querying to agents, hoping to publish someday, while working on two others.

Moving to New Zealand (and starting this blog) has awakened the writing passion again, and I'm determined to make a living from it. I'm a member of Romance Writers of America and Romance Writers of New Zealand, a 2x winner of National Novel Writing Month, was published in Divine In The Daily, won a short-story contest, and I can't stop writing. 

I'm happy to entertain readers with this personal blog about living in New Zealand AND searching for a long-lost friend.

Let me know if you know Joe Wellington (update: FOUND Feb 2016).

Thanks for reading.

Yours,

Lissa Waller Carlino

Please go to lissacarlino.com for more!
Twitter: @EWallerCarlino