|
 Luisa
Scala Buehler grew up in the town of Berkeley, IL, a suburb of Chicago. Her
parents made the decision to sell their home on the west side of the city. The
small bungalow on Victoria Street was perfect for her family: two parents, older
brother, and an uncle.
Her first
exposure to a public library was the small "volunteer" library located in the
basement of a grocery store on
Taft Avenue.
It was there that she discovered Nancy Drew. Luisa realized that this would be
her career; not girl detective, but girl mystery writer. About that time, her
family subscribed to the Sunday paper and Luisa found another fascinating role
model in the comic pages, Brenda Starr, reporter!
Luisa
attended Proviso
West
High School
in Hillside, IL where she immediately joined the newspaper staff. Her advisor
suggested that she try another release for her writing when she continually
failed to meet deadlines for the tabloid. Her articles were stirring but they
never made it to press on time.
Luisa
shifted to the yearbook staff, rationalizing that she would have an entire year
to submit her copy.
Her
desire to major in English was no surprise to anyone who knew her. She attended
Rosary College in River Forest, IL and completed her B.A. degree in English in
three years. She was anxious to start working at her new job at the Chicago
Sun Times-Daily News. Her intention was to write for the paper, but her
reality was typing up ads as an ad-taker in the classified department of the
paper.
Life
doesn't always take a straight line towards a goal. Luisa transferred to inside
sales on the Stamps and Coins Desk selling ads for that department and then to
outside sales selling classified ads to employment agencies located in the
Loop.
A small
start-up magazine called Environs recruited her. The magazine covered
the near west suburbs. The offer was to sell ads, write articles, and even
model, when necessary, for some of the ads.
The line
to a writing career blurred again when the magazine closed shop and Luisa found
a job as a production assistant in a steel company in Broadview, IL. She was
promoted to inside sales after her supervisor recognized her innate ease in
dealing with people. She was laid off from that company during the steel
industry downturn in the seventies.
Searching
the classifieds for a new job, Luisa spotted the name of a friend from high
school in one of the help wanted ads. She called, interviewed, and hired on at
Wide Scope Staffing Services, Inc.
Her
writing skills were discovered when she fell back on her training from the
Sun Times and started writing all the company help wanted ads. She offered
to write some marketing pieces, promotional material, resumes, and letters to
customers.
Luisa
joined the volunteer Docent program at Brookfield Zoo in 1987 to pursue her
interest in animals. An earlier idea, to write children's books seemed to fit
with her duties at the zoo. She answered questions from zoo-goers concerning
animal habitat, behaviors, type of food and the number one non-animal question,
where is the closest restroom?
Through
the years that followed Luisa wrote many business pieces, but also short
stories, poems, garden journals, and ultimately The Rosary Bride: A
Cloistered Death. After submitting her writing for five years without
gaining publishing success, Luisa put the novel away and took up the position of
Webelos Leader with her son Christopher's Cub Scout pack. She continued to
write, starting her second mystery. She continued in scouting as her son
bridged over to Boy Scouts by becoming a trained leader for Troop 562 in
Woodridge, IL.
In 2002,
two events played a major role in Luisa's life. She successfully bid for,
bought the company she had worked for since 1977, and she signed a publishing
contract for The Rosary Bride.
With two
major hats to wear, Luisa sincerely tells people to, "Be careful what you pray
for."
With the
second book, The Lion Tamer: A Caged Death out in August 2004, she has
assured fans of Grace Marsden that there is more to come. The third in the
series, The Station Master: A Scheduled Death, was on bookshelves in
November 2005. Presently, Luisa is finishing up her fourth book, The
Scoutmaster: A Prepared Death, which is scheduled for fall, 2006 release.
She lives
in Lisle, IL with her husband Gerry, their son Chris (Kit), and family cat,
Martin Marmalade. In her spare time, Luisa loves to garden. |
