Lisa Moore Ramee wrote her first book in second grade. It took some time before she got around to writing her second one. A Good Kind of Trouble, her debut novel, published in Spring 2019. Something to Say came out in July, 2020, Mapmaker hit shelves in 2022 and The Everybody Experiment will be out in 2024.
Outside Lisa’s childhood bedroom was a hallway lined with bookcases. It was like having a magical portal to thousands of other worlds right outside her door. She read everything. Fantasy, contemporary, adventure, mystery, classics, romance. Kids books, adult books—some that her mother took out of Lisa’s room and hid because they were too mature.
And when Lisa wasn’t reading, she was in her room pretending. Picturing herself in the stories she read. Instead of writing fan fiction, she practiced fan drama. Creating complicated further adventures of her favorite characters, with herself planted right in the midst of it. Things went a little sideways when in fifth grade, after reading Harriet the Spy, she started carrying around a notebook, and scribbling thoughts about her classmates. You can guess what happened. The notebook was found, friendships were broken. Lisa learned a valuable lesson: keep the notebook at home.
Skip ahead many years later and while getting her MA in English Literature, Lisa discovered her words didn’t need to stay hidden any longer. And could even be a source of joy.
She started writing short pieces and even got a few published online and then tried her hand at a novel. The first one was an adult horror story, due to her long love of Stephen King novels, but she couldn’t quite capture the darkness King is such a master of. She sputtered around with other tales and finally settled on a book about a young girl struggling to figure out how race impacted her life. As a Black girl going to predominantly white schools, Lisa had similar questions growing up, and although A Good Kind of Trouble isn’t auto-biographical, it does capture some of the confusion and questions Lisa had about friendship and romance and race at that time.
Originally hailing from Los Angeles, CA, Lisa now lives in Northern California with her husband, two kids, big cat, and more yard than she can control.
Writing a report? Here’s some FAQs!
Birthday: November 29th
Left-handed
Baby of the family—two older sisters and one older brother
Favorite color is orange but really all fall colors are great
No favorite book or song, just depends on the day/mood.
Did not want to be a writer originally—although did write first book in second grade. Wanted to be an actress. But then got on stage and had crippling stage fright.
Favorite meal as a kid: fried chicken, chicken-flavored rice-a-roni, and salad with Italian salad dressing.
Favorite meal as adult: tie between meal above and home-made spaghetti.
Yes, hair is naturally curly.
Full-time job working in higher education in addition to writing full-time.
Married, with two fantastic kids who love to read.
Cats, but I do love dogs too!
Coffee always over tea.
It may be better for you, but not a big fan of dark chocolate, milk chocolate? ADORE it. White chocolate is not chocolate at all.
press kit
Short Bio
Lisa Moore Ramée still calls Los Angeles home even though she now lives in the Bay Area of Northern California. She counts coffee as one of her best friends and is a devout believer in dreams coming true. Her debut novel, A Good Kind of Trouble, is a Walter Dean Meyers Honor book, an Indie bestseller and made many “best of” lists for 2019. She is also the author of Something to Say, which received 3 starred reviews, and MapMaker. Visit her website at lisamooreramee.com
Long Bio
Lisa Moore Ramée was born and raised in Los Angeles and now lives in Northern California, with her husband, daughter, obnoxious cat, rambunctious dog and more yard than she can control. She earned a BA in Speech Communications from San Francisco State (go Gators!) and a MA in English Literature (focusing on Creative Writing) from Cal State East Bay. She worked for several years in publishing at the Walt Disney Company, first in Disney Comics, and then with Licensed Publishing. While there, she co-penned The Little Mermaid, Jr. Graphic Novel and the writing bug took up permanent residence. She is a devotee of Top Chef and Project Runway and would like to work either (or both) in a plot one day in order to be invited onto the shows as a guest judge. A Good Kind of Trouble, her first novel, received critical acclaim, garnered three starred reviews (PW, Kirkus and SLJ) and became a bestseller. It appeared on numerous “best of” lists for 2019. Something to Say received three starred reviews (Kirkus, SLJ and BookPage), was an Indie Next Pick and a Kirkus best of 2020 book. MapMaker was her debut fantasy middle-grade novel and she returns to contemporary fiction in 2024 with The Everybody Experiment.
Video of Lisa talking about the inspiration behind A Good Kind of Trouble
Middle Ground Book Fest (MGBF) 2021, Talking about Abandoned Manuscripts with Erin Entrada Kelly, Laurel Snyder, Ron Smith and Anika Fajardo: https://youtu.be/_YIt8SEwZFk
Discussion guide for A Good Kind of Trouble (Guide prepared by Shanetia P. Clark, Associate Professor of Literacy, Salisbury University)
An early interview and one of my favorites. I’ve long admired Cynsations so it was so cool to be featured.
Photo credit Rod Searcey