Paris-based author Priscilla Lalisse-Jespersen has been writing since her mother put her in white patent leather shoes. She was the secretary at Sunday school when she was nine and loved taking the minutes and proudly reading them off at the end of service. However, her real encouragement didn't come until she was 15 and in the 10th grade in High School. Her then teacher, Mrs. Pam Payne, placed a torn out magazine advertisement on the board featuring a sleek sports car with a gorgeous hunk inside it, and asked the class to write about it. Priscilla’s imagination went wild, and that guy ended up heading to a slick date with another gorgeous being and the teacher loved it. Maybe Mrs. Payne was a romantic? Needless to say, it was just enough to inspire Priscilla to go into a career of writing and an international story teller was born.
Fast forward to adult life. Priscilla got her Bachelors and Masters Degrees both in English, from Austin Peay State University and taught English as a Second Language in South Korea for a year. In the late 90’s she moved to New York City and worked as an editor for computer magazines JOOP and C++ before relocating to Paris in 1999. Once in France she taught both Corporate and General English for five years all the while still working on various editing and writing projects. This experience of working with French businessmen (and women) would later prove essential for her adaptation to French lifestyle and culture.
Priscilla has contributed to such online publications as Paris Woman Journal, Bonjour Paris and Café de la Soul, where her very personal articles often chronicle the French experience through American eyes. In 2007 she launched her own magazine, Prissy Mag, which gives readers a unique view into every day life in Paris, as told by Anglophones who live it.
Her first novel Stockdale, which takes you into the life of small-town heroine Cassie Taylor, was published in 2005 and is currently being reprinted for 2011, as well as translated into French. Priscilla's second book, Next of Kin, was released in January 2011.
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New Southern Heroine Finds Love Beyond The Color Line. First-time Author Priscilla Lalisse Releases STOCKDALE. In the Southern town of Stockdale, Alabama, where almost every remnant of segregation has been erased, the barrier that matters most, freedom to love regardless of color, still remains.
Priscilla Lalisse Receives Heflin Alabama's Key to the City. During a stop on the STOCKDALE book tour, Priscilla Lalisse received the Key to the City of Heflin from Mayor Anna Berry. Lalisse, a Heflin native, was honored for her literary contributions and for presenting positive images of young adults in her book, STOCKDALE.
“Priscilla is a local treasure,” says Anna Berry, Mayor of Helflin. Having the pleasure of seeing her grow into such an accomplished young woman is such a gift to all of us who have known her since childhood. Her presence here in Heflin today, along with her successful writing career in Paris, is a testament to all young people that dreams can come true with hard work and education.”
Going back to APSU. Priscilla Lalisse returned to her alma mater, Austin Peay State University, to discuss interracial dating in the New South and read excerpts from STOCKDALE. Check out her interviews with APSU, APSU Alumni Magazine, Spring/Summer 2006 edition [pdf], and the APSU Alumni Magazine, Fall 2006 edition [pdf].
Interview on Global Talk Radio! Listen to the author discuss STOCKDALE live on the Global Talk Radio program, "A Story to Tell." January 30, 2006.
The Cleburne News Feature Click here to read the story.
Interview with RainTiger Click here to read the interview [pdf]
Interview with Entrée to Black Paris. Click here to read it.
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Prissy Mag's Website: http://www.prissymag.com
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In the small southern town of Stockdale, Alabama, where blacks live on one side of the tracks and whites on the other, Cassie Taylor wants nothing more than to get out.
Taught early that she's not free to love whomever she pleases in Stockdale due to the color of her skin, Cassie embarks on a journey that takes her into and out of the arms of bad-boy Blake, and then across the world to South Korea, to the good guy she's certain will save her.
But is Blake really out of her life for good?
In this tale of self-discovery, adventure, forbidden love and courage, find out what happens in a place where being black or white can mean absolutely nothing or everything.
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New Southern Heroine Finds Love Beyond The Color Line. First-time Author Priscilla Lalisse Releases Stockdale. In the Southern town of Stockdale, Alabama, where almost every remnant of segregation has been erased, the barrier that matters most, freedom to love regardless of color, still remains.
Priscilla Lalisse Receives Heflin Alabama's Key to the City. During a stop on the Stockdale book tour, Priscilla Lalisse received the Key to the City of Heflin from Mayor Anna Berry. Lalisse, a Heflin native, was honored for her literary contributions and for presenting positive images of young adults in her book, STOCKDALE.
“Priscilla is a local treasure,” says Anna Berry, Mayor of Helflin. Having the pleasure of seeing her grow into such an accomplished young woman is such a gift to all of us who have known her since childhood. Her presence here in Heflin today, along with her successful writing career in Paris, is a testament to all young people that dreams can come true with hard work and education.”
Going back to APSU. Priscilla Lalisse returned to her alma mater, Austin Peay State University, to discuss interracial dating in the New South and read excerpts from STOCKDALE. Check out her interviews with APSU, APSU Alumni Magazine, Spring/Summer 2006 edition [pdf], and the APSU Alumni Magazine, Fall 2006 edition [pdf].
Interview on Global Talk Radio! Listen to the author discuss STOCKDALE live on the Global Talk Radio program, "A Story to Tell." January 30, 2006.
Interview with RainTiger Click here to read the interview [pdf]
Interview with Entrée to Black Paris. Click here to read it.
Reviews
"This is the story of a girl labeled as "black," who sees the world in Technicolor and fights for self-definition in a microcosm that revolves around flesh tones." -- K. Danielle Edwards, author of Stacy Jones
"Priscilla Lalisse is a new voice from the South. Stockdale is a novel of hope in its representation of a town in transition and in its presentation of a character, Cassie Taylor, who has risen above the racism of her society." -- Dr. Lewis Tatham, Professor Emeritus and Former Chair, Department of Language and Literature, Austin Peay State University
"I enjoyed how the author put the topic of inter-racial relationships into the context of the post-civil rights era south. Priscilla Lalisse does an excellent job creating a realistic small town setting for the book, and her depictions of college life, and even life in Korea were detailed enough for me to visualize and feel like I was there." -- Reviewed by Stacey Seay of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers
Next of Kin
Every expatriate holds a special dread of an unexpected middle-of-the-night phone call. It usually means that a dear loved one is gone and because of the distance from home, there's nothing the expat can do about it. At least, not right away. American Priscilla Lalisse-Jespersen learned that lesson the hard way.
Lalisse-Jespersen, author of the novel Stockdale, is back, this time with the account of suddenly losing her father while she was thousands of miles away, living in Paris. Brimming with love and loss, Next of Kin takes the reader on an emotion-fraught journey, one that ends with acceptance, hope, and ultimately, celebration.
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Book Video Trailer
Press
Author Priscilla Lalisse-Jespersen debuts memoir- The Anniston Star (pdf)
Priscilla answers 20 Questions for Vingt Paris! (pdf)
"Next of Kin"-My Interview with author Priscilla Lalisse-Jespersen- No I'm Not a Francophile, but I Live in Paris. (pdf)
Priscilla featured on Black Women in Europe. (pdf)
Expats Radio talks to Priscilla about Next of Kin.
Reviews
"In the end 'Next of Kin' is a brave public exercise in coming to terms with loss and grief, and the frustration of important things not said. As such it has the power to strike a deep chord in all of us, because where is the person who has never regretted not saying certain things and who has had to come to terms with it, and accept it, alone? " Sab Will, Paris Set Me Free.
"Next of Kin" is an accurate portrayal of so many family dynamics where a family member shows their true colors and acts less than family-like. The book tugged at my heart strings and caused me to put a face to the characters..." R.C.
"...The writing was spare and the story was poignant. The story was very emotional--I was in tears more than once--and piqued my interest. A good and moving read, from someone with an interesting story to share. Definitely recommended! And thank you for the book!" Laura, goodreads.com
"Poignant." Ellen Williams Lebelle