Lisa Merkle comes from a large family who fostered her love of reading. She is a graduate of Mount Carmel Academy in New Orleans and received a BS in exercise physiology from the University of New Orleans. After marrying her husband, Merkle moved to Texas, where she worked as a fitness specialist for a corporate wellness center. Through reading with her children, Merkle rediscovered her childhood ambition to write books and her love for children’s literature.
Wanting her children to enjoy the same cultural experiences she grew up with, Merkle and her family returned to New Orleans in 2009. She considers many of her cherished childhood memories to be unique to New Orleans, including “Breakfast with Santa” at Masion Blanche department store, streetcar birthday parties, trips to Café Du Monde, and eating Popeyes fried chicken with king cakes on Mardi Gras Day.
Participating in a preschool co-op gave Merkle the opportunity to connect with young children, and she frequently based her lesson plans and activities around the books she read to the class. Besides writing, she loves cooking, running, teaching, painting, reading, and traveling. She lives with her husband and three children in Slidell, Louisiana. |