Meet Lisa Borne Graves

 

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lisa Borne Graves a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lisa, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

I gained resilience through many things, mostly hard experiences and family. Foremost, I had a confident and strong mother who helped me as a child, since I was different, and set a great example of overcoming hardships. In today’s terms, I would be diagnosed with hyperlexia (advanced literacy) reading by the age of 2, selective mutism (anxiety preventing speech), and ADHD. These conditions led to severe bullying. I hated life in middle school—until I found running. It was a talent I never knew I’d possessed. In high school running and writing continued, as well as realizing people liked my stories after sharing them. Soon friends and coworkers acted out my writing. My confidence allowed me to ignore negativity because I only needed to love myself to overcome difficulties.

Fast forward, the largest part of my resilience grew from my son. I had pregnancy complications where my son and I almost died. We later learned he was disabled with three conditions, so I became the fighter my mother had been for me. Watching my son struggle and overcome every hardship he faced with a positive demeanor showed me another way to face our hardships. I started using two mental mantras to get through things. “If I’m down, the only way is up” and “If he can do [this], I can do [that].” I am a published author today because he inspired me to try again.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Foremost I’m a mother who advocates for her “warrior” child because he has made me who I am today. My passion is writing which makes me enjoy my career. My largest passion is books–writing and editing them. I love creating and improving others’ work collaboratively.

I am now the author of nine fantasy romance novels that are appropriate for teens and adults: a standalone book and two series–The Celestial Spheres and the Immortal Transcripts.

In 2025/2026 I’ll have 3 more novels coming out. If in the Grand Strand area of South Carolina, I annually attend Little River’s World Famous Blue Crab Festival and their Shrimp Fest as well as other smaller events. Look for my spring 2025 book launch at Our Next Chapter Bookstore in Conway, SC.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Perseverance. I watched my son, try, try, and try until he can master it. This taught me to give ourselves grace. Had I not attempted to seek representation to be published—again—I would not have gotten book deals. You have to keep going at it to fulfill your dreams but more importantly learn from what knocks you down, really self-examine and analyze what you could change to get there.

Study–a lot. For writing that means studying the craft, examining to see what works in successful books. I got an education, three degrees. That is not always needed for writing but never hurts. Read, read, read. The best way to learn is through examples.

Self-confidence. Loving yourself and believing in yourself goes far. We tend to buy from or believe in self-confident people. It gets you places, in doors, connections, peers in the field, and success. I learned this from my parents and instilled it in my son. He sticks up for himself and despite being different, bullying–if it occurs–doesn’t faze him. I know he will go places because he is resilient well before I’d found my strength.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

Currently, I take on too much and stress myself out. I have a hard time saying no. I’m being sought out by word of mouth to edit or critique others’ writing either for payment or swapping services. I’m learning to reserve “me” and “family” time. This means I put a potential client in a far-off time slot to give myself grace and time to enjoy working with them.

I also have learned to prioritize my life to resolve issues about not having enough time for everything: family, work, writing, exercise, socializing, then editing. In the end, you have to take care of yourself foremost.

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