Patti Lacy

In 2005, Patti traded in her grade books for a writer's pen to tell the long-buried story of her best friend. "An Irishwoman's Tale," "What the Bayou Saw," and "The Rhythm of Secrets" explore the secrets women keep and why they keep them. Patti's fourth book, "Reclaiming Lily," from Bethany House, transports readers to a Chinese orphanage, where two cultures and two women collide. Claiming influences as diverse as Francine Rivers and Jodi Piccoult, Patti weaves stories of grace that have in their fiber real-life incidents.

In 2014, Patti partnered with Sara Richardson and Angie Reedy to capture the poignant memoir of a sharecropper's daughter, "Jessie's Pearls." Patti and Angie next stuck close to their hometown of Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, where a local ministry, Jesus House, came to life on the pages of a second memoir, "Tattooed by Jesus." Real-life stories won't let go of their hold on Angie and Patti, who just released "Stories From the Jesus House," vignettes of life as messy and real."

Patti and Angie work to transform YOUR stories into works that will change lives, whether the goal is for traditional publication or as a keepsake for friends and family. Patti and her husband Alan, a college professor, have two grown children and a dog named Dude.