Lisa profile picture

Lisa

Fun is more something to be made than something to be had

About Me

Although I have spent about a third of my life living in non-English speaking countries, English is the only language I speak with any fluency. I am often embarrassed by this, but not embarrassed enough to do anything about it yet. **** I never set out to have a career, but have ended up with a job I love. I should have added “most of the time” to the end of that last sentence. **** I’ve traveled to many places, seen many things, stopped buying tee shirts, and started buying sculptures and collecting friends instead. Tee shirts are easier to pack. **** I have two passports, and they’re both blue. One of them is Australian. **** I adore ice cream but prefer it uncontaminated by nuts. Hot fudge, however, improves most flavors. **** I have bought every item of furniture I own in Pasadena second-hand off Craigslist because new furniture has always seemed like a scary degree of commitment to a single “place.” Since I have now lived here three years it might be time I worked on this issue.

My Interests

Writing, reading, travelling, laughing, cooking, wine, adventure. Finding fun in...bubble baths, grocery shopping, bookstores, staff meetings, stamps in my passport, high drama, getting upgraded, getting downgraded, getting lost and getting found. Finding beauty in... a waterfall of purple flowers, sleeping in, the taste brie & apricots, the rustle of dry palms in the breeze, candlelight, the smell of woodsmoke, the warm kiss of sunshine, the mere thought of ice cream.

I'd like to meet:

The fun and the passionate who also realize that there's more to life than just fun and passion, and live accordingly.

Music:

My music tastes have never fully recovered from growing up in Zimbabwe with access to only my parents CD collection. Hence Simon and Garfunkel, ABBA, the Beach Boys and Linda Ronstadt must go on the list. But there's also Matchbox Twenty, Carbon Leaf, Jars of Clay, Coldplay, Gibonni, U2, City of Angels, The Mission...

Movies:

Amazing Grace, Strictly Ballroom, Crash, Lord of War, The Mission, American History X, Shawshank Redemption, Motorcycle Diaries, The Princess Bride

Television:

Not much - no cable. But 24, Alias, House, Buffy, and Lost have all been favourites.

Books:

Recently... The Bible, Shantaram, Peace Like a River, Love Walked In, The Best American Essays 2006, The Best American Travel Writing 2006, The Life of Pi, Blue like Jazz, March, The Time Travellers Wife, Girl Meets God, Gilead, The Dead Don’t Dance, Love in the Driest Season, The Power of One, Where Soldier’s Fear to Tread, The Lovely Bones, The Best American Essays 2006, The Best American Spiritual Writing 2006...

Heroes:

Why is this question so hard to answer? I blame tall poppy syndrome, Aussies are indoctrinated young against having heroes.

My Blog

Along the way

What do you do on the day your first novel is released?That was what I was pondering this morning. After all, this is the story that has shadowed me for more than a decade. The project I've slaved ove...
Posted by Lisa on Wed, 10 Oct 2007 09:19:00 PST

My Hands Came Away Red

My first novel, My Hands Came Away Red, is released today!It's odd and exciting - but in an abstract sort of way. If I had my act in gear I would have planned a launch party, but I didn't. So instead ...
Posted by Lisa on Sat, 01 Sep 2007 01:05:00 PST

Alternate Lives

If you had seen the three of us yesterday morning sipping lattes around a small round table adorned with blue and yellow print, eyeing the pastries while the trams rattled past, you might have thought...
Posted by Lisa on Sat, 28 Jul 2007 03:28:00 PST

Publishers Weekly review of My Hands Came Away Red

My Hands Came Away Red Lisa McKay. Moody, $12.99 paper (384p) ISBN 978-0-8024-8982-1In this fast-paced, thought-provoking debut novel, McKay, a psychologist who works with humanitarian relief, explore...
Posted by Lisa on Wed, 11 Jul 2007 08:23:00 PST

Just a moment

My watch says it's almost 10pm, but my internal clock is still right where I left it in California this morning. Hours on a plane have left a familiar legacy - an ethereal hum purrs beneath my skin an...
Posted by Lisa on Mon, 11 Jun 2007 10:50:00 PST

Two years...

When I moved to LA my standard line was that I expected to be here about two years. In all honesty this two-year mantra came about more because I was unable to visualize anything concrete beyond that...
Posted by Lisa on Wed, 16 May 2007 09:35:00 PST

Spinsters Abroad

This morning the alarm on my mobile phone went off half an hour before my alarm clock was supposed to, which was odd because I didn't remember setting it the night before. I usually only set my phone ...
Posted by Lisa on Tue, 17 Apr 2007 03:47:00 PST

Iraq violence takes toll on aid groups

Re: Iraq violence takes toll on aid groups, March 4, 2007 The perils to aid workers so vividly illustrated in this article are not restricted to Iraq. During the 1990's intentional violence became th...
Posted by Lisa on Fri, 06 Apr 2007 09:41:00 PST

Bridget Jones Moves to Croatia

This is for all of you who are curious as to how I ended up in Pasadena, doing what I do. This essay/letter was written near the beggining of this journey, almost six years ago now in Croatia... Those...
Posted by Lisa on Fri, 16 Mar 2007 12:50:00 PST

The present perfect?

Are you fulfilled? That question came at me last week down a long distance telephone line and out of left field. It came from a friend I greatly respect. Someone who, at the age of 30, is the executiv...
Posted by Lisa on Fri, 23 Feb 2007 09:39:00 PST