We recently connected with Lisa Wilkes and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lisa, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the decision of whether to donate a percentage of sales to an organization or cause – we’d love to hear the backstory of how you thought through this.

When my novel Mid-Flight was published, I donated all royalties from the first month of sales to Rags to Riches Animal Rescue, Inc., an amazing nonprofit right here in Tampa. I’ve been fostering animals for Rags to Riches since I moved to Tampa in 2022, and I am so proud of this nonprofit’s incredible achievements. The organization, run by Tampa native and brilliant visionary Dominique Amerosa, works tirelessly to save homeless pets from dire situations. All of my novels include rescue animals, which wasn’t intentional; it turns out I cannot write a book without this theme. My love for animals runs deep, and my books reflect that lifelong passion. I was honored to donate 100% of my author royalties to an organization advocating for animals, and Rags to Riches was an easy choice.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m Lisa Wilkes, an author, flight attendant, licensed social worker (LMSW), and animal rescuer. I have a wild imagination and a wild heart to match! I’m an extreme empath, so I never turn down an opportunity to help people or animals. I’m equally obsessed with the written word; literature is my favorite form of self-expression. I believe life is a tapestry of love, loss, and learning. Writing allows me to celebrate the love, process the loss, and share my learnings… while taking more than a few creative liberties, of course! My first full-length adult novel, Flight Path, was published by The Wild Rose Press in 2020. That same year, one of my short stories, a heartwarming tale featuring a bisexual flight attendant, was published in a charitable anthology. My second book, Mid-Flight, was released March 31, 2023. Books aren’t my only literary pursuit; I write web content for nonprofits, design educational materials for social work students, and work as a proofreader for a small publishing house here in Florida. Overall, I aim to leave this world a little better than I found it. My preferred means of attaining that audacious goal is through the written word. A large portion of my book royalties are donated to nonprofit organizations, and all my literary works promote inclusion, acceptance, and radical, transformative kindness.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Sure, I’d be happy to discuss some of the twists and turns in my writing career. There have been a few noteworthy pivots along the way. Technically, I wrote my first book when I was eight years old. It was a heartwarming tale of a lost, lonely kitty who found her perfect forever family by accident! The book was sixty-eight pages long. It was handwritten in a spiral notebook with a vibrant neon cover. I knew, way back then, I wanted to be a published author someday. Eleven years later, as a sophomore at the University of Florida, I completed my first full-length adult novel. By the time I turned thirty, I’d penned ten full-length books.

However, the industry was disturbingly vicious and cutthroat. As a daydreaming child, I’d never imagined it would be so difficult to get published. Throughout my twenties, I routinely submitted query letters to publishers and agents all over the country. Yet I hadn’t been able to snag a publishing deal. Everyone, even a die-hard optimist like me, has a breaking point. I reached mine in 2014, at thirty years of age. Disheartened and dejected, I decided maybe I wasn’t cut out for author life. I rapidly shifted my focus toward other endeavors. I’d been a flight attendant for five years at that point, so I created a travel-themed blog. I started writing web content for nonprofits I had worked with while living in Denver, San Francisco, and Chicago. I joined an elite airline team providing peer support and mental health resources to aviation professionals. Although I had always been a huge animal-lover, I ramped up my efforts to rescue homeless pets to a whole new level: over a four-year timespan, I fostered more than fifty dogs and cats. In 2018, I began pursuing a Master’s in Social Work. All this time, I intentionally ignored my lifelong dream of being a novelist. I tucked that far-flung aspiration deep into the recesses of my mind and vowed to never acknowledge it.

Sometime around midnight one random evening in November of 2018, a crazy thought occurred to me: maybe the rejections from all those publishers and agents didn’t matter. Maybe I could continue writing books because I enjoyed doing so, regardless of whether literary professionals were willing to take a chance on my books. Perhaps I could find alternative ways of sharing my novels with the world. Sure, traditional publication had always seemed sexy and appealing, but who said I couldn’t post my books, one chapter at a time, on my travel blog? Along those lines, why couldn’t I pursue self-publication?

At that moment in time, I had a million plates spinning in the air. I was studying for my graduate school classes, working full-time at the airline, writing web content for nonprofits and small businesses, rescuing countless animals in need, serving on a peer-support team that provided invaluable resources to fellow aviation employees… I was a powerhouse. An unstoppable force to be reckoned with. I had been balancing these time-intensive, humanitarian pursuits seamlessly and gracefully. So why in the world had I allowed literary professionals to crush my lifelong dream? I was no quitter. I wasn’t intimidated by difficult tasks so, that evening, I resolved to continue writing novels.

Two months later, I finished a book about a free-spirited flight attendant caught in a whirlwind. cross-country romance. I submitted query letters to publishers and gave myself a deadline of six months; if I hadn’t received a contract by the end of that period, I would self-publish or find another non-traditional route to disseminating my novels. A few months later, I received two contracts from two separate publishing houses. I selected the one that seemed to be the best fit for my novel. Exactly one year later, I held my first published book, Flight Path, in my hands. And the rest is history.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I had been open to non-traditional publishing routes. In my mind, snagging a publisher or literary agent was the only option. In hindsight, I realize there are a lot of incredible writers who choose an alternative path. In addition, there are many perks to non-traditional means of publication, including the retention of complete creative control.

Contact Info:

• Website: Https://www.lisamichellewilkes.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Travelisa1984/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lisa.castignetti
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-wilkes-1b140957/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Travelisa1984
• Other: Instagram rescue page: https://www.instagram.com/furever_luvd_fosters_n_flights/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@travelisa1984?_t=8aQXlT0SzlL&_r=1

Image Credits
Axar Patel Photography took my headshot.