Lisa Ray, Green Writer

I’m currently writing a book called “A Mountain Path” that I hope to be finished with by the end of this year. This is Book One, of the Ozark Mountains Series.

It’s about a little boy who moves with his family from a big city in the east to the beautiful but dangerous Ozark Mountains in the mid 1800’s. The change is very hard for him and he runs away from school one day and becomes lost in the mountains.

After a terrible night alone in the forest, a little girl finds him and takes him home to her Granny. The grandmother is the mountain’s healer and she is teaching the girl before the knowledge is lost with her death. So the book is filled with mountain lore, music, and medicinal herbs.

The story skips to when the children are grown and meet once again in a similar situation. But this time the man has been injured by the mountain men that does not want strangers. The young woman Sara finds the man Jake and heals him, but he does not even remember who he is.

Writing has become my passion in the years since my children grew up and left home. I found myself empty inside and discovered what “empty nest” meant. I begin to search what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. Herbs were always at the top of my list, so I begin to write about herbs and herbal remedies. I created a blog and began to write weekly herb and gardening articles for three local newspapers. It didn’t pay much, but I enjoyed it and learned how to write great articles. I write for different blogs on herbs and natural health and would welcome more blogs to write for, so contact me.

I am an ever-learning herbalist in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, so I write about what I see all around me. I am also a botanical watercolorist and I enjoy painting the beautiful plants that grow on the mountain sides.

I have been studying herbalism since I was a little girl. My Granny would walk through the yard and garden and point out flowers and plants to me. She would say, “This plant is good for sore throat.” She was teaching me and I didn’t even know it because I enjoyed it so much. Wonderful memories fill me up when I think of her and Papa.

My love for herbs lead me to opening an online herb shop called Sage Hill Botanicals. The shop offers dried herbs, powdered herbs, spices, salts, herbal remedies, and much more. The shop link is above for anyone wishing to learn more about herbs. I also teach anyone who wishes to learn about herbs and how to use them to keep their families well. The link to my website is above as well.

In the last year, I’ve added watercolor painting to my crafts. I always wanted to draw but was not very good at it, but discovered that water coloring came easy for me, and I loved it. I’ve tried to paint other things, such as landscapes, but I always return to my first love, plants. The artwork on this page is my herbal botanicals for you to enjoy as you visit my site. I have added my watercolor originals and prints to my shop, so please view them and let me know what you think of them.