LYDIA STRONG
I was nineteen years old when I first met Lydia Strong. I was sitting in a car, under the elevated section of the “1” line in the Bronx, waiting – for what I can’t remember. In my mind, I kept seeing a woman running past a church in the high desert of New Mexico. So, I pulled a napkin and a pen from the glove compartment and started writing what would eventually become Angel Fire It took me ten years to write that novel, the years between age nineteen and twenty-nine were, for me, years of hard work and tumultuous change – during which I let my dreams of becoming a writer languish. Lydia was faithful; she waited. Eventually, I got serious and started writing every day.
I followed Lydia from New Mexico to New York City, Albania, Miami and back. We trekked through abandoned subway tunnels under Manhattan, to a compound in the backwoods of Florida, to a mysterious church in the Bronx, and to a fictional town called Haunted. It was a total thrill ride, and I wrote like my fingers were on fire. I am delighted that these early books, which I published under my maiden name, Lisa Miscione, have found a new life on the shelves.
