Lisa Orban was born in Galesburg, Illinois, and immediately began collecting the kind of life experiences that would later make excellent memoir material. After a childhood marked by frequent moves, family shenanigans, and an unexpected detour through foster care, she bolted to Arizona at eighteen, gathered more stories, and eventually found her way back to Quincy, where she’s been ever since. Along the way, she raised five kids, earned a degree in psychology, survived several marriages, bought a house, and built the life she always wanted: part circus ringmaster, part author, part soft‑hearted rescuer of stray humans. In 2015 she published her first memoir, It’ll Feel Better When It Quits Hurting, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She founded Indies United Publishing House in 2018, a cooperative press dedicated to ethical, community‑driven publishing. These days she writes, mentors authors, runs a madhouse of creative anarchy, and does exactly what she wants—happily.