When local author Lisa Rabey is not busy working at either Leland Township Library or Suttons Bay-Bingham District Library, she can most likely be found working on her next writing project, whether it be her next anthology story, any of her books currently in the works, or her newsletter.
Since Rabey was a child, she always loved reading and writing, and growing up, she managed to find career paths that allowed her to work and be surrounded by the books that inspired her to be who she is today.
“I consider myself to have three jobs because I’m a librarian, I have my own business, and then I’m a writer,” Rabey said. “I started reading at threeyears-old and started writing at four… I was always writing something. I didn’t write fiction for a very long time, I kept a journal though. My claim to fame is I’ve kept a journal online, it’s still there, since 1998, so I finally moved over to Substack in 2017 or 2018...”
Rabey is originally from Toronto, Ontario, however, she grew up in Port Huron, Michigan. Eventually, she moved to Grand Rapids in 1985, and spent the majority of her life settling there, considering the city home. Her husband had been visiting the Leelanau area for the past 30-35 years though, so when the time came to make a decision to move up north, the couple knew what they wanted to do.
Rabey said they bought their property in Cedar in 2012 and made the trip up north as often as they could because their remote jobs allowed them to work from home. In 2014, Rabey and her husband moved to Louisville, Kentucky to help care for her mother-in-law who was ill with cancer, and while they considered selling the property in Cedar, they ultimately decided to keep it despite the 10 hour-long drive between states.
“I was pretty adamant not to sell it because I can’t imagine not living in Michigan — Michigan is home,” she said. “About a year or so ago, the timing just worked out, so we just decided to move up here permanently. This is going to be our first full winter up here.”
When Rabey relocated earlier this year, she brought with her a wealth of knowledge and experience that would help her with finding jobs that she enjoyed doing. Rabey received her bachelor of arts in English and art history from Aquinas College, a master of arts in humanities from Central Michigan University, and a master of library and information science from Wayne State University. In college, she worked as a bookseller as well as a reference librarian, all highlighting her passion for books.
Not only does she serve as a substitute librarian at Leland these days, she’s also a circulation assistant at Suttons Bay-Bingham library, and the founder/ principal internet consultant for her business “Nerd Girl Industries” (NGI). The business specializes and works with creatives, non-profits, and small businesses in creating, curating, and managing an online presence. Her business also works with clients in northern Michigan on technology such as setting up printers, updating computers, and teaching people how to use their smartphones.
“When I first started Nerd Girl Industries, I wanted to be helpful, and that’s kind of part of the librarian in me is you always want to be helpful and provide information,” she explained. “It came about because I was working with a lot of companies that were having difficulty doing their social media, creating content, and being active on social media.”
One of Rabey’s most recent published stories is included in a new anthology presented by the Great Lakes Fiction Writers group called “Love on the Lakefront: Romantic Tales from the Great Lakes.” People can find 12 fictional stories of love and longing within its pages, including Rabey’s, which was partially inspired from places in Leelanau that people may notice when they read it. Her story follows a heroine who happens to meet a potential love interest in an unlikely way, sparking a romance between two people that Rabey wrote out in a day.
“There’s not a lot of representation for women in romance over the age of 40, so I made sure that she was over 40. And she’s very cynical about love… If you’re from the area and you read it, then you’ll recognize some things,” she explained. “I always had ideas in my head about the stories I kind of wanted to read and the stories I kind of wanted to write, and it was difficult because a lot of stuff I was interested in, I couldn’t find it, so I decided to write it myself.”
In addition to the anthology story just published, Rabey is working on writing two other romance books set in Michigan as well as a historical romance story for another anthology. This month, she gave a reading of her story from “Love on the Lakefront” at Bellaire Public Library, and has a reading planned in the first week of December at Glen Lake Library.
“I write romance because the world sucks and that’s the thing that romance guarantees you is a happy ever after,” she said.
“Love on the Lakefront: Romantic Tales from the Great Lakes” is currently sold at the Cottage Book Shop in Glen Arbor, Leelanau Books in Leland, and Brilliant Books in Traverse City. All four libraries in Leelanau County also have the book available for check out.
