“I started with such an amazing memoir class taught by Charlotte Gullick that I registered at Austin Community College to take a semester-long memoir class with her!”
—Lisa Gustavson
A member of the Writers’ League since 2021, Gustavson lives in the Austin, TX area.
Scribe: Welcome, writer! Tell us — what do you write?
Lisa Gustavson: Memoir.
Scribe: If you could choose one author to blurb your book, who would it be, and what would you want it to say?
LG: I’d love for David Sedaris to blurb my book! Maybe something like this:
Some kids have to face the shame of their own mistakes. But for Lisa Gustavson, the real burden was inheriting the shame of her parents—a burden she never asked for, but one that stuck to her like glitter after a particularly disastrous craft project.
Growing up with two parents who were as eccentric as they were unpredictable, Lisa knew one thing for sure: there was something very strange about how Mom and Dad met. No one ever talked about it. No one wanted to talk about it. But every odd little detail—Dad’s obsession with Scandinavian mythology and his clandestine poetry writing, Mom’s creative spells and her impulsive bursts of spontaneity that led to new cars, new marriages, and new homes—made it clear: the mystery of their past was the one thing no one would ever explain.
Her parents were remarkable—in their own way. Dad spent most of his time pacing the floor, as if the answers to life’s questions could be found somewhere between the kitchen and the living room. Meanwhile, Mom believed that “regular” was nothing more than a grade of gas, not a way of living. Yet despite the oddities, quirks, and inexplicable life choices, Lisa loved them. What she couldn’t understand was why they seemed so determined to hide their past—or why, in every strange glance, every awkward silence, every whispered conversation, she felt the weight of a shame that wasn’t hers.
As Lisa navigates a childhood filled with bizarre rituals, offbeat adventures, and a seemingly endless string of near-disasters, she becomes determined to uncover the truth about where her parents met—and how exactly they ended up together. Was it fate? A cosmic joke? The result of some institutional error?
In this darkly funny, poignant memoir, Lisa pulls back the curtain on a childhood that was equal parts chaotic and lovable. As she pieces together the fragments of her parents’ mysterious past, she begins to realize that sometimes the people closest to you aren’t who you think they are.
Packed with whimsy, love, drama, and a healthy dose of “What the heck just happened?”, this book is the literary version of Splash Mountain. It starts out quirky, peaceful, and funny, until you reach the midpoint and realize the only way out is a hair-raising, heart-stopping fall off a cliff—that will leave you wondering if: sometimes, the only way out is to tell the story no one ever wanted you to share.
Scribe: You have one book you’re allowed to push onto all of your friends, and they’re forced to read it to remain your friend — which one would you choose?
LG: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert – because after reading it all my friends would feel more inspired, creative, hopeful, positive and in love with life! (And who doesn’t want to be surrounded by people who feel like that!?!)
Scribe: Tell us your WLT story.
LG: Lark & Owl Bookstore in Georgetown Recommended WLT (One of the founders had been a member) and I believe I started with such an amazing memoir class taught by Charlotte Gullick that I registered at Austin Community College to take a semester-long memoir class with her!
Scribe: Where do you see your writing taking you (or you taking it) in the future?
LG: ;) LOL -Like all of us, The New York Times Bestseller List, of course! LOL ;).
Scribe: Here at the WLT, we love sharing book recommendations. What’s one book that has come out within the past few years that you couldn’t put down? (Bonus points if the book is Texas related!)
LG: The Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by MacArthur Fellow & Pulitzer Prize winner Katherine Boo. –Wow. So emotionally moving.
Scribe: Is there anything else about you that you would like to share with the world? An opportunity for blatant self-promotion!
LG: Looking for a writing retreat in France?
Do you know about SOJOURNER TOURS?
Or want to immerse yourself in French culture to have your own experience like: “Eat, Drink, Pray, Love”, “Under the Tuscan Sun”, or “A Year in Provence”?
Check SOJO out! http://www.sojournertours.com
My boutique tour company offers week-long Women’s Wellness Retreats in France and World-Wisdom Inspired Day Retreats at Southwestern University just north of Austin.
Scribe: Let us know where folks can find you online!
LG: Website: https://sojournertours.wordpress.com