Books have always been a part of Lisa Wright's life. They have long been both her vocation and avocation. She has been a part of Oblong Books and Music in Millerton, NY, for nearly twenty years. But recommending and selling books is only one facet of her literary interests. Lisa Wright spends most of her off-duty time writing and hand-binding books.

I have always loved childrens' books in general and fairy tales in particular. That was my focus when I started writing seriously a dozen years ago. My fairy tales are closer in nature to the Brothers Grimm than Disney, exploring the choices, disappointments, and joys we all face as we grow older. It took me awhile to realize my fairy tales are not kids books.

I began hand-binding partly out of curiosity and partly because trying to find a publisher for works that don't quite fit the mold was torturous and far too time consuming. I wanted to create books that I would want to own. The stories themselves seemed to demand a small, personal size and a simple elegance. At first, the formatting, printing and binding was nearly as torturous as trying to find a publisher, but it got easier with each book. In the fall of 2002 I completed my sixth fairytale, In the Forest of the Wild Boar. And, as amazing as it is to me, that brings the total number of books I have bound to nearly four-hundred.

Lisa grew up in the northeast as one of six children in a family that moved frequently. She spent seven years in California where she met her husband. Returning to the east coast, she worked as a potter and weaver before giving herself up to books. She studied with the Institute of Childrens Literature. Lisa is currently working on a sequel to her fantasy novel for children, A World Apart (available from xlibris.com) as well as continuing on with her fairy tales. She lives in Litchfield County Connecticut with her husband, Jeff Neves, who is a chef and jazz guitarist and their two very large cats, Clementine and Attila.

Time marches on. Four books later I am still doing all those things that need doing to keep an independent bookstore running; still writing and hand binding fairy tales. The cats have changed. Clementine and Attila have gone off to that great catnip field in the sky. Fourteen years isn't too bad for a couple of big fat furballs. Pipsqueak, 'Zilla, and Noeni are now growing and romping with abandon all over the house—and us. (Remind me again why we have cats)

I am moving into the modern age, though. I will shortly start podcasting Wrightales at podiobooks.com and I am finally making the stories available in a single volume collection published through xlibris.com. It will be available as a hardcover or paperback by the end of the summer (2007.)