30-Year Besties Who Write Books Together | Lisa Steinke & Liz Fenton

Best friends for over 30 years, Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke have published seven books together—and their eighth, Forever Hold Your Peace, arrives this summer. Lisa Steinke flies solo for this live conversation (Liz was stranded with a flat tire, listening from her car) and reveals the wild ride behind their co‑authoring career: five years to get published, a roller coaster of rejection, parting ways with Amazon, and landing at Alcove Press with distribution by Penguin Random House. She explains why they don't outline, how they learned to write together without killing each other, and why "leaning into the suck" is the only way to grow. From Simon & Schuster to Lake Union to independent publishing, this is the real‑talk, no‑filter story of a friendship that survived—and thrived—in the creative trenches.


0:00 - Intro
1:34 - Liz has a flat tire, Lisa flies solo
2:55 - Real talk in real time
3:48 - Embracing social media as authors
7:03 - 30+ years of friendship
8:38 - Learning to write books together
9:53 - Five-year journey to publication
11:18 - Rejection podcast series
13:58 - Leaning into the suck
18:24 - Publishing across Simon & Schuster, Amazon, Alcove
22:52 - No regrets philosophy
25:50 - Writing process without an outline
30:55 - Traveling and friendship balance
33:02 - Mike Fenton: the unofficial third member
41:56 - Holiday traditions
43:06 - Where to find Liz & Lisa
44:18 - Outro

• https://www.instagram.com/dara.levan/
• Website: daralevan.com3
https://www.lizandlisa.com/


QUOTES:

"Change can be good, and a lot of us are resistant to change for obvious reasons. But it's been really good for us."
– Lisa Steinke

"I think it's important to go to the right people for feedback—someone who will challenge me, but not put their own fear on me."
– Dara Levan