About
Photo by Mary Bartnikowski
Elizabeth (Liz) Engstrom grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois (a Chicago suburb where she lived with her father) and Kaysville, Utah (north of Salt Lake City, where she lived with her mother). After graduating from high school in Illinois, she ventured west in a serious search for acceptable weather, eventually settling in Honolulu. She attended college and worked as an advertising copywriter.
After eight years on Oahu, she moved to Maui, found a business partner and opened an advertising agency. One husband, two children and five years later, she sold the agency to her partner and had enough seed money to try her hand at full time fiction writing, her lifelong dream. With the help of her mentor, science fiction great Theodore Sturgeon, When Darkness Loves Us was published.
Engstrom moved to Oregon in 1986, where she lives with her husband Al Cratty, the legendary muskie fisherman. She holds a BA in English Literature with a concentration in Creative Writing, a Master's degree in Applied Theology, and a Certificate of Pastoral Care and Ministry, all from Marylhurst University.
An introvert at heart, she still emerges into public occasionally to teach a class in novel or short story writing, or to speak at a writer's convention or conference.
You can find Liz on Goodreads.
Here is her blog.
Want to read something really wonderful? Liz has been a student of The URANTIA Book since 1978. "Divine truth is best known by its spiritual flavor." Check it out.
Here are some books on writing that she highly recommends:
The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, 3rd Edition by Christopher Vogler
Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life by Terry Brooks
On Writing by Stephen King
Write Away: One Novelist's Approach to Fiction and the Writing Life by Elizabeth George
The Novel Writer's Toolkit: A Guide to Writing Novels and Getting Published by Bob Mayer
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
After eight years on Oahu, she moved to Maui, found a business partner and opened an advertising agency. One husband, two children and five years later, she sold the agency to her partner and had enough seed money to try her hand at full time fiction writing, her lifelong dream. With the help of her mentor, science fiction great Theodore Sturgeon, When Darkness Loves Us was published.
Engstrom moved to Oregon in 1986, where she lives with her husband Al Cratty, the legendary muskie fisherman. She holds a BA in English Literature with a concentration in Creative Writing, a Master's degree in Applied Theology, and a Certificate of Pastoral Care and Ministry, all from Marylhurst University.
An introvert at heart, she still emerges into public occasionally to teach a class in novel or short story writing, or to speak at a writer's convention or conference.
You can find Liz on Goodreads.
Here is her blog.
Want to read something really wonderful? Liz has been a student of The URANTIA Book since 1978. "Divine truth is best known by its spiritual flavor." Check it out.
Here are some books on writing that she highly recommends:
The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, 3rd Edition by Christopher Vogler
Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life by Terry Brooks
On Writing by Stephen King
Write Away: One Novelist's Approach to Fiction and the Writing Life by Elizabeth George
The Novel Writer's Toolkit: A Guide to Writing Novels and Getting Published by Bob Mayer
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott