My history: I was born in 1961, the tail-end of the generation known as the Baby Boomers. Growing up, my family moved around—a lot. I attended a total of nine schools-in six cities-in four states before my first year of college in 1980.
Following a gap year, I moved to Oklahoma to attend college, graduating from the University of Oklahoma in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education. Not able to land a job in my chosen profession in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex; I began a 25-year career as a flight attendant with Delta Airlines, retiring in 2009.
Even before fully retiring; I started a new career working for an environmental corporation in Tarrant County Texas, founded by my husband, shortly after we married in 1987. It has been a welcome change of pace and affords me the flexibility necessary to write and pursue other interests and hobbies.
“By day,” I am an environmental compliance manager, writing as well as editing technical reports. The creation of job-specific Excel spreadsheets and GAEA Winlog Soil Borings, something I approach with gusto, has earned me the coveted title of nerd among my office peers.
"By night," (and weekends) I can be found working on a book idea (completed recently) or writing short stories inspired by numerous moves when I was a child—from north to south and east to west—with my oddball family. A number of these stories (24) were published, beginning in April 2018 in the form of monthly columns for two local area newspapers. Currently, on a freelance basis, I am contributing a variety of fiction and nonfiction pieces to a popular news blog, “Beneath the Surface News,” created by Sara Vanden Berge in March 2020.
My writing: My interest in the written word began at a young age. I guess I have always had a love affair with books and began to read many of the classics (Little Women, Mark Twain, Oliver Twist, The Call of the Wild, Don Quixote, Treasure Island, The Iliad, The Odyssey, and Gulliver's Travels to name a few) as early as third grade (1969) when my Daddy would drop me at my hometown public library in Graham, North Carolina almost every Saturday. I would occupy myself for hours reading, curled on the floor with a stack of books by my side. I always considered books to be my educational babysitter.
My love of reading inspired me to try my hand at writing, beginning in fifth grade when I won a school-wide essay contest at Graham Elementary School with my submission titled, Why I Love My School. Continuing in high school, I won a class-wide songwriting contest, creating an original Christmas Carol, Christmas Time is Here Again. Following the creation of a musical score (also created by my classmates), the song was performed at our annual Christmas Chorale Performance.
Moving forward to keep things fresh; I love to challenge myself by entering online nonfiction and flash fiction contests or taking inspiration from writing prompt or image prompt challenges.
Most recently; I have completed my first book, Dear Melinda, How I Met Your Brother, a humorous memoir describing my first year as a new-hire flight attendant with Delta Airlines. It is currently in the initial editing phase pending publication (fingers crossed).
Some of my more recent contest entries include:
My home life: I have two children; my daughter born in 1987 is an award-winning journalist for a North Texas newspaper as well as a weekend volleyball enthusiast and avid planner of weekend-with-friends activities; and my son born in 1989 is working in an executive position for a Fortune 500 company in Boston, Massachusetts. He loves to travel, having already created a bucket list of places to see, and is an outdoor-sport enthusiast, participating in a variety of weekend activities and adventures.
I can often be found at home, in the North Texas county in which I have resided since 1995, writing, swimming, gardening, reading, painting, binge-watching one of many binge-worthy television series, or walking through a nearby park with my three rescue dogs.
Thank you for visiting my website. I hope you are able to find some of my musings of interest and may they bring a smile to your lips.
Lisa H. Owens
Mother • Dog Rescuer • Author
Following a gap year, I moved to Oklahoma to attend college, graduating from the University of Oklahoma in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education. Not able to land a job in my chosen profession in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex; I began a 25-year career as a flight attendant with Delta Airlines, retiring in 2009.
Even before fully retiring; I started a new career working for an environmental corporation in Tarrant County Texas, founded by my husband, shortly after we married in 1987. It has been a welcome change of pace and affords me the flexibility necessary to write and pursue other interests and hobbies.
“By day,” I am an environmental compliance manager, writing as well as editing technical reports. The creation of job-specific Excel spreadsheets and GAEA Winlog Soil Borings, something I approach with gusto, has earned me the coveted title of nerd among my office peers.
"By night," (and weekends) I can be found working on a book idea (completed recently) or writing short stories inspired by numerous moves when I was a child—from north to south and east to west—with my oddball family. A number of these stories (24) were published, beginning in April 2018 in the form of monthly columns for two local area newspapers. Currently, on a freelance basis, I am contributing a variety of fiction and nonfiction pieces to a popular news blog, “Beneath the Surface News,” created by Sara Vanden Berge in March 2020.
My writing: My interest in the written word began at a young age. I guess I have always had a love affair with books and began to read many of the classics (Little Women, Mark Twain, Oliver Twist, The Call of the Wild, Don Quixote, Treasure Island, The Iliad, The Odyssey, and Gulliver's Travels to name a few) as early as third grade (1969) when my Daddy would drop me at my hometown public library in Graham, North Carolina almost every Saturday. I would occupy myself for hours reading, curled on the floor with a stack of books by my side. I always considered books to be my educational babysitter.
My love of reading inspired me to try my hand at writing, beginning in fifth grade when I won a school-wide essay contest at Graham Elementary School with my submission titled, Why I Love My School. Continuing in high school, I won a class-wide songwriting contest, creating an original Christmas Carol, Christmas Time is Here Again. Following the creation of a musical score (also created by my classmates), the song was performed at our annual Christmas Chorale Performance.
Moving forward to keep things fresh; I love to challenge myself by entering online nonfiction and flash fiction contests or taking inspiration from writing prompt or image prompt challenges.
Most recently; I have completed my first book, Dear Melinda, How I Met Your Brother, a humorous memoir describing my first year as a new-hire flight attendant with Delta Airlines. It is currently in the initial editing phase pending publication (fingers crossed).
Some of my more recent contest entries include:
- A timely piece, What You Can Do in 8 Minutes and 46 Seconds was awarded 2nd place in the WOW! (Women on Writing) Q4-2020 Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest.
- A short fiction piece, Big-Red-Truck and a Purple Leash won the first round of an online June-2020 Image Prompt Contest, dealing with the often avoided subject of domestic violence...with a twist...as viewed through the eyes of the family dog.
- A Lover's Kiss was selected as a finalist in the WOW! (Women on Writing) Spring-2020 Flash Fiction Contest.
- A micro-essay, Invisible Wounds was selected as a finalist in the WOW! (Women on Writing) Q4-2019 Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest.
- A tongue-in-cheek poem, This Poem’s Not Funny, constructed for an online monthly poetry prompt (May 2020 Poetry Contest-Humor), was selected as a runner up.
- Lastly, a poem written in April inspired by the beauty of nature in light of worries associated with the pandemic, Consider the Lilies, was published in a renowned international blog titled International Lockdown Journal. It was humbling to see my piece alongside stories of the pandemic experiences of others, submissions from the four corners of the earth—all sheltering in place.
My home life: I have two children; my daughter born in 1987 is an award-winning journalist for a North Texas newspaper as well as a weekend volleyball enthusiast and avid planner of weekend-with-friends activities; and my son born in 1989 is working in an executive position for a Fortune 500 company in Boston, Massachusetts. He loves to travel, having already created a bucket list of places to see, and is an outdoor-sport enthusiast, participating in a variety of weekend activities and adventures.
I can often be found at home, in the North Texas county in which I have resided since 1995, writing, swimming, gardening, reading, painting, binge-watching one of many binge-worthy television series, or walking through a nearby park with my three rescue dogs.
Thank you for visiting my website. I hope you are able to find some of my musings of interest and may they bring a smile to your lips.
Lisa H. Owens
Mother • Dog Rescuer • Author
Daughter Autumn Playing Volleyball in Texas [2020]
Autumn - "A Little Nighttime Guitar" [2020]
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Son Al Snowboarding in New Hampshire [2019]
Al - Kyoto Japan "Learning the Art of the Samurai" [2019]
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