AUTHOR: Lisa Michelle Umina
Award-Winning Author
Lisa Michelle Umina is an award-winning author, publisher, speaker, and podcast host. As the founder and CEO of Halo Publishing International, she has helped bring over 3,000 titles to life since 2002. Lisa is the author of several acclaimed books, including “Milo and the Green Wagon” and the anthology “Shattered Silence: Stories of Loss and Healing”. With more than two decades of experience in the publishing industry, she is a passionate mentor to authors around the world, offering expert guidance on writing, marketing, and self-publishing. Lisa also hosts the Award-Winning Authors podcast, where she spotlights powerful voices and shares insights from across the literary landscape.
Her work and collaborations with industry leaders such as Ingram Book Group, the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), and Publishers Weekly have solidified Lisa’s reputation as a respected leader in the publishing industry, continually elevating the standards and reach of independent publishing on a global scale.
PUBLISHED BOOKS
Milo Finds His Best Friend
This book is a must for parents to introduce God to their children and more importantly show children that they can openly communicate to God and start a relationship with Him.
Milo and the Green Wagon
Milo and the Green Wagon is an endearing tale based on a true story drawn from the writer's childhood. Similar to an experience Lisa shared as a youngster with her brother David, Milo and his friends find an old, discarded green wagon and decide to fix it up and use it to collect food and clothing for those who need them.
The Journey is the Gift:
The Moment that Changed My Story
Living implies coping with changes, those famous curves that life throws at us. Not everyone hits those curves the same way, but every single author in this book refused to dodge them. Meaningful experiences that change the trajectory of our lives are a part of everyone's journey. Changes we never see coming alter the way we see ourselves and undeniably reshape our way of being in this world. Whether it was a near-fatal accident, an addiction, a loss of one's voice, or unexpected motherhood, the authors of The Journey is the Gift: The Moment that Changed My Story not only survived life-changing challenges, but embody vibrant transformations as miraculous as the stories they tell. This book is not only an anthology but proof that our will to keep living and to thrive beyond just coping is itself the miracle.
Lecciones de Vida:
El momento que cambió mi historia
El mundo está lleno de momentos que marcaron las vidas de incontables personas, y son esos instantes los que indican el pasado y abren las puertas al futuro, al cambio. Tales relatos son algunas de las más enternecedoras memorias de la humanidad, y aquí presentamos quince de las más significativas que hemos encontrado. Todos merecen contar su historia.
¿Y tú?, ¿cómo es tu historia?, ¿qué te sucedió?, ¿cuál fue el momento que cambió tu vida?
Shattered Silence:
Stories of Loss and Healing
"Shattered Silence: Stories of Loss and Healing" is a poignant collection that explores the profound journey through grief and the transformative power of healing. Through a series of compelling narratives, this book offers a glimpse into the shattered silence that follows loss, and the courageous individuals who navigate the challenging path toward healing.
The Courage to
Begin Again:
Stories of Resilience, Courage, and Reinvention
The Courage to Begin Again is more than an anthology—it’s a testament to the resilience of women who left everything behind to start anew in Mexico. Through ten deeply personal narratives, these writers share the raw realities of reinvention, navigating language barriers, cultural shifts, and unforeseen challenges with courage and determination.From confronting loneliness and homesickness to rediscovering identity and purpose, each story offers a unique glimpse into the transformative power of embracing the unknown. This book is not just about moving to a new country—it’s about the strength it takes to rebuild a life, proving that resilience knows no borders.
Because Love Remains:
Stories of Life and Timeless Connections
Love is practical, philosophical, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, limitless. Love is contradictory. Love is love. This tautology is universal, so true in its simplicity, and so complex in its truth. And so we return to the age-old, unanswered question: What is love?
Each author in this anthology understands love differently and lives it intensely. These real stories are about real love, the kind you don’t see in movies: that shared dance, that big move to another country, that chance encounter, that midlife romance, that heartbreak, that love so unexpected it redefines your identity, that extraordinary, bittersweet, complicated love.
Ultimately, love is in the details. It is not merely an abstract ideal to be admired, but an action to be practiced, nurtured, and lived through both joys and struggles. These stories remind us that love is not always about grand declarations; love is a gesture, love is every day.
So, once more: let’s hear it for love.