193: Lisa Rosenberg - Author of Embers On the Wind

Give a listen to our interview with Lisa Williamson Rosenberg (Embers on the Wind, Little A, August 2022). Lisa’s life has been a study in duality. She’s a self-described Black Jew, a ballerina turned shrink, and a recovered anorexic and bulimic responsible for feeding her family. Her novel began with the local legend of a ghost from the abolitionist period said to haunt her in-law’s familial summer home and grew to include linked stories from three different time periods, as she explores the myriad lived experience of modern Black women. We discuss how she carved out time to write during carpool jaunts, how her agent stuck with her through various “almosts” until selling her debut to an Amazon imprint, and the perks that resulted from being a “First Reads” choice on that platform.  Lisa is an author and psychotherapist specializing in developmental trauma and racial identity. She is also a former ballet dancer with the Pacific Northwest and Pennsylvania Ballet companies. A Pushcart Prize nominee, Lisa’s short fiction has appeared in Literary Mama and The Piltdown Review; essays in Lithub, Longreads, Narrative.ly, The Common, Grok Nation, Oldster, and Mamalode. Lisa’s debut novel, EMBERS ON THE WIND, about an Underground Railroad safehouse turned 21st Century Airbnb, was released on August 1, 2022 by Little A Books. A born-and-raised New Yorker, Lisa now lives in Montclair, New Jersey with her husband and dog. Lisa is the mother of two college kids. To learn more about Lisa, click here.