Back on the Map

Lisa Ann Scott always wanted to be a writer and decided to give it a shot when she was laid off from her job as a TV news anchor in 2008.

Her newest novel, “Back on the Map,” is about an 11-year-old orphan, Penny, who will do anything to keep her and her twin brother, Parker, together. They’ve been bounced from home to home and are running out of relatives to take them in. Penny believes that if she can get their town, New Hope in North Carolina, back on the map, they’ll finally stay in one place.

Scott first got her idea of the character Penny a couple years ago, before she began writing the story.

“For me, I walk around and the character sort of unfolds from me,” Scott said. “It just kinda spun into this story.”

The character feels real to Scott, who said she feels like she is going to meet Penny one day.

Scott lives in Batavia, but is originally from Marilla. Scott spends her time writing and voice acting, and has loved writing since her first creative writing assignment in second grade.

The first novel she wrote was “School of Charm,” which was published in 2014. Scott said she has lots of books in the works, with more ideas than time.

After Scott finished the novel, it took about half a year for revisions and about a year after that before it was published.

“I think it’s a better book thanks to my editor’s input,” Scott said.

From her book, Scott said she hopes people will see that everyone is deserving of love.

“It takes [Penny] a long time before she realizes that she can reach out and ask for help and ask for love,” Scott said.

This book would be good for parents and children to read together, Scott said.

“If you want your kids to read, you need to read in front of them,” Scott said.

There is nothing more satisfying than reading a book, Scott said.

“I hope that people who have maybe gotten away from [reading] take time and just pick up a book and remember how relaxing it is,” Scott said.  “Even though there’s access to all these amazing TV shows these days, a book is still a totally different experience.”

Scott will be doing a book signing and a wooden family tree workshop class at 6:30 p.m. on July 13 at Jade Pottery. Preregistration is required and can be done here. Any questions can be directed to 585-813-1836.