Punk Fiction Author Lisa Czarina Michaud

I'll start this off by saying this is uncomfortable. My natural response is to be smaller...quieter...but that sort of defeats the point of an 'About Me', so here's me going all in.

Despite the Russian-French names, I am actually neither. Nor am I a salad dressing. I'm a born and raised New Yorker with Italian and Mexican origins and proudly come from a family of food and music. When I wasn't slicing bread at my maternal family's Italian Market in the Village, I was spending my paycheck at record shops and every so often would stumble across my paternal family's quirky album from the '60s released on ESP-Disk Records.

At 13, I discovered the music that continues to define me. At 14, I got kicked out of CBGB for being underage. At 15, I cut off all my hair for my first (and not last) Locks of Love donation. At 16 and 17, I interned for the Beastie Boys' Grand Royal label. At 18, I moved to Olympia WA where I earned three, quite possibly four evaluations from The Evergreen State College before stumbling into adulthood in Los Angeles where I supported myself with extra work and waiting tables, before moving back to New York to work for Marc Jacobs.

In 2009, I followed in the footsteps of my jazz singer grandmother Stella Levitt (née Aguilar) and moved to Paris with no plan and no money. There, I began writing about life in France and publishing work in various publications while nannying, proofreading papers and tutoring English at Starbucks or in parks. I butcher the French language with my New York accent on a daily basis and have full conversations with my cat.

It's been a ride and I'm here to write about it.

I currently live outside of Paris with husband, son and aforementioned cat, Le Tigre.

Slanted and Disenchanted is my first novel. Somewhere in Hollywood comes out in 2025! Stay tuned.

Thanks for visiting!