Lisa's biography:
Lisa Anne Furtado was born May 4th, 1974 in Victoria, BC. She is an author and has worked for 7 years as an English teacher in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (Republic of China) where she's living.
Her Early Life
In elementary school Lisa began her love with helping those less fortunate. In her spare time Lisa volunteered. At a very early age she had a strong desire to help all people. Lisa volunteered with senior citizens, people with disabilities, daycares, and tutored English to new immigrants coming into Canada at her high school. She also volunteered at an Emergency shelter in Victoria, BC for women and children affected by domestic violence. In grade 6 and 7 Lisa received the Kiwanis Citizenship award two years in a row. At 10 years old Lisa wanted to be a famous astronaut, an Olympic gymnast or a figure skater.
Why did Lisa start writing? Who inspired it?
Lisa started writing when she was 12 years old when her Godmother gave her a lock & key diary. She continues to write in a diary and many of her ideas for, “Her Apparitions & Other Human Longings” came from her confessions. Shortly after graduating high school in Victoria, BC she moved to Toronto in hopes to “make it big”, but she struggled financially and survived on social security payments and took less than desirable jobs to make her rent. After leaving a two year abusive relationship at 22years she decided to start a collection of non fiction stories to help other women in the same situation. During those years she started to document all of her negative and positive experiences. During those dark years she wrote in her diary which helped her cope with some heavy emotional challenges.
Her writing is inspired by the famous spiritual writer Paulo Coelho. Now she writes to express and share her faith in the God within stories of spiritual meaning and cultural context. “Her Apparitions & Other Human Longings” is a story based on a true story about a teenaged girl coping with schizophrenia and drug abuse while backpacking through Asia. The central theme is about the struggles of life, freedom, lack of control, the power of faith and hope in starting over.