Liz Fenton & Lisa
Bestselling Author Duo
Mystery/Suspense Novelists
Travels from: San Diego, California

“Fenton and Steinke’s talent for domestic drama comes through…For readers who enjoy suspense writers like Nicci French.” ― Booklist

Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke have been best friends for thirty-five years and survived high school and college together. They’ve co-authored seven novels: Your Perfect Life, The Status of All Things, The Year We Turned Forty, the Amazon Charts bestseller, The Good Widow, Girls’ Night Out, The Two Lila Bennetts and How to Save a Life. Their eighth novel, Forever Hold Your Peace, will be published on July 11, 2023.

In addition to writing books, they created and host a popular podcast, We Fight So You Don’t Have To, where they talk about their ups—and especially their downs. Including sharing the brutal truth about the rejection they’ve faced in the publishing industry. They also appear monthly on a San Diego news station to share their favorite book club picks.

They both reside in San Diego, California with their families and several rescue dogs.

Liz Fenton & Lisa's Featured Titles

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When Nice Characters Do Bad Things: How to Keep Your Protagonist Empathetic

Given at Writer’s Digest

-Editor’s Notes: What the Experts Think
-How To Raise The Stakes
-Instead of Adding Exciting Stuff, Add Meaning!
-Paint in Shades of Gray
-Add Conflicting Desires/Goals
-Adding Meaning and Layers and Continue to Up the Ante
-Be Intensely Personal and Intensely Specific
-But Also Be Universal
-Embrace Uncertainty
-Be Immediate and Visceral
-Likability
-Other Pitfalls to Avoid

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The Fourth Quarter

How To Get Your Ending Right

The Peanut Gallery: What Readers Have to Say
-We have polled a large group of readers for quotes such as: “It bothers me when a story is moving along and in the last two pages, the author tries to tie it all together and rushes it.”

Editor’s Notes
-What editors have to say about endings

The Four Things That Matter
-Give Yourself A Reality Check
-Watch Your Pace
-Stay True to the Story
-Stay Clear of the Shiny Red Bow

A Few More Things To Think About
-Genre
-Epilogues
-Editors

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Writing With a Partner

Co-authoring: How to Collaborate effectively

So You Want to Write a Book With Someone
Who With?
What’s Your Game Plan?

How Do We Do it?
How Do Other Author Teams Do It?

The Four Things That Matter
Problem Solving
Finding Your Balance
Giving and Receiving Feedback
Patience

A Few More Things To Think About
Park Your Ego At the Door
Remember You Are Business Partners Now
Have FUN and Enjoy the Ride!

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Rejection: How to cope with it, learn from it and turn it into success. The Five Lessons We've Learned from Rejection

In 2020, we hit an all-time low and faced soul-crushing rejection in our writing careers. We parted ways with our agent and our publisher in the same month. And our latest book, How to Save a Life, was met with rave reviews that unfortunately didn’t translate into sales numbers. We found a new agent and she was shopping a new manuscript we had written, but no one seemed interested in buying it. We wondered if our careers were over.

With nowhere else to turn, we dusted off our podcast mics and told our story. To our shock, the podcast episodes we recorded about our rejection went viral. We heard from tons of authors of all success levels who’d been through similar experiences. They were thanking us for our honesty and for pulling back the curtain on the publishing industry. They wanted to tell their stories too. This led to another series on our podcast called, The Struggle Bus, where we interviewed authors about their ups and downs in publishing.

We landed another publishing deal for our novel, Forever Hold Your Peace, we believe, in part, to the podcast. We are now back in the game, but rejection is still very much a part of the book business, and we still face it regularly in both big and small ways. The difference is, because of what we’ve been through, we’re better equipped to deal with it and use it to our advantage.

We will share our experiences with rejection and the tools we’ve learned to cope with it. Whether you’re in the publishing industry or not, this talk will resonate. We will discuss the five lessons we’ve learned from rejection.

  1. You are not alone.
  2. It’s Okay to Admit You’ve Failed,
  3. Rejection Doesn’t Mean Your Career is Over.
  4. Believe in Yourself
  5. Remember What You Love About Writing
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Liz & Lisa’s In the News Link

Liz & Lisa’s YouTube Channel

Book Club Discussion Questions

Liz & Lisa’s Blog

Subscribe to Liz & Lisa’s Newsletter

Liz & Lisa’s Podcast

Liz & Lisa’s Events

Honors, Awards & Recognition

Amazon Bestselling Authors
A Publishers Weekly Best Summer Books 2017 Selection, Mystery/Thriller
The Good Widow
: Made Amazon’s Top 20 Most Sold Charts in August 2017
The Good Widow sold over 250,000 copies
Girls’ Night Out sold over 100,000 copies

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.

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