Author: Lisa Kusel

Lisa was born in New Jersey two miles from where Thomas Alva Edison first recorded sound; in fact she and her adolescent peers would often be found lounging beneath the art deco tower that was built in his honor, making-out or puffing on stolen cigarettes. Just as Lisa was getting comfortable wearing bold-colored maxi skirts, her parents moved her and her two brothers to California, where she quickly adapted to making out and smoking cigarettes on the beach instead.

She went to college and studied biology and theater arts. She went to graduate school and studied environmental anthropology. After years of writing copy for non-profits, selling surplus cosmetics in Russia, and living off rich married men, she accepted an editorial position at that little-known Open Office competitor, Microsoft. There she created MATTER, the company’s first online magazine read by the 34 people who were patient enough to wait the twelve minutes it took the GIFs to download through their 56K modems.

She got married. Left Microsoft. Went to Africa. Moved back to California. Wrote a book of interconnected short stories about a girl looking for true love–OTHER FISH IN THE SEA. Found an agent who sold it for shitloads of money. Had a baby. Wrote another novel about a ménage a trois gone bad–HAT TRICK. Wrote another one after that about WWII–not yet published. Then she moved to Bali to save her wounded marriage, and wrote a memoir about her time there. It’s called RASH, and it’s a funny poignant tale about a woman who mistakenly believes that running away to paradise is the only way to find true happiness.