Two families – one of them a secret. A mother scrambles to respond when a stranger’s actions threaten her children’s safety.
Julie Walker thought she knew her life: three teenagers, a husband, and her job at the Ottawa library. But a stranger’s shocking claim about her late father sets off a chain of escalating incidents. Her family is now in real danger from someone with resources she cannot match. Drawn into a web of menace and betrayal, Julie must summon the strength to protect them—and decide who she can trust. THAT OTHER FAMILY is a tense domestic thriller about loyalty, secrets, and the lengths one mother will go to keep her children safe.
Lis Angus is a Canadian suspense writer living in a small town south of Ottawa. Originally from Alberta, she has also lived in Germany and Toronto. Before turning to fiction, she worked with children and families in crisis, and later as a business writer, conference organizer, and policy advisor. Her debut novel, Not Your Child, was a finalist for the 2021 Daphne du Maurier Award and was published in 2022. That Other Family is her second novel. Lis is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, Crime Writers of Canada, and Capital Crime Writers.
Avis: Welcome to another author interview on Your Next Favorite Author! Today’s guest, Lis Angus, is the author of Not My Child, a psychological thriller that takes readers on a great ride. She is joining us today to talk about her new crime thriller, The Other Family.
It’s so great to have you on again Lis! Your new thriller takes the suspense and horror of the natural world and tips it sideways! You create another thriller that will keep readers turning pages!
Let’s find out more, shall we? Our first question today is:
If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?
Lis: I’m not sure I would do anything differently in those years. I started writing stories as a child, which seemed to me a natural extension of reading, which I did voraciously. I read everything I could get my hands on, plowing through my school’s library as well as the books we had at home. I think this gave me a good intuitive foundation in grammar and spelling, which I’ve benefitted from all my life. The summer I was nine, I spent many happy hours “writing a book” with my cousin in her family’s hayloft. As a teenager I subscribed to Writers Digest and submitted several short stories to magazines that published short stories, like Saturday Evening Post and Redbook. Though none of these stories were accepted for publication — I was targeting too high —I think these were all great activities for a young person who wanted to be a writer.
As an adult, becoming a novelist didn’t seem like a viable path. Instead, I studied psychology, spent some time working with families and children in crisis, then worked as a business consultant and policy advisor for a number of years. I don’t regret those years at all —they were interesting and fulfilling and gave me a grounding and insights that inform my writing today — but they were a detour from the writer’s life I’d envisaged as a teenager. Even though my work involved a lot of writing, it was academic or business writing, not fiction.
I did take some fiction writing courses through Gotham Writing Workshop —I still have writer friends I made at that time —but I didn’t persevere. It wasn’t until a dozen or so years later, after I retired, that I plunged into writing a novel. If I have any regrets, it’s that I left it that late. I could have spent the intervening years honing my craft, learning about the publishing industry, laying the foundation of a writing career. Instead, I’ve had to do a lot of catch-up learning. With a second book now published and a third underway, I think my teenage self would be happy, but I think my career as a novelist would have benefited if I had launched it earlier.
Avis: It’s never too late to begin writing and publishing, is it, and now you are a published author! It does take years to hone the craft of novel writing, or any kind of writing, but it sounds like you were writing all along, even if you did take a professional hiatus! All those professions inform your exciting thrillers today!
Now for our next question:
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
Lis: My first novel took me four years, from conception in 2017 to signing with a publisher in 2021. While waiting for that book to appear, I started work on my second book. Though I avoided some of the pitfalls and detours I’d encountered in writing the first book, the second one presented different challenges. For one thing, I underestimated the amount of time and effort involved in learning how to market that first one. And knowing more about what a good novel should look like, I had raised the bar on my own writing standards. So, for whatever reason, it took another four years before I signed the contract for That Other Family in July 2025. Will my third novel take another four years? I hope not, but time will tell.
Avis: I, too, thought my second novel would be faster to produce, and it still took time to develop the setting, the subtexts, and the point of view of my protagonist! I like to think that it is time well spent, because I would be writing any way!
What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
Lis: That’s one of the best things about building a writing career —developing connections with other writers. Some established writers, both in my local writing community and in groups like Sisters in Crime, have been generous with advice and encouragement. I’ve also benefitted from collaboration with other novice writers who travelled the journey to publication along with me. And I’m in a group of several writers who were debut authors in the same year; we’ve helped each other figure out how to navigate many bumps and challenges in the industry, and have supported and encouraged each other in many ways, including reading and reviewing each other’s books. You’re one of that group, Avis, and I so appreciate all the help you’ve provided.
Avis: Thank you, Lis! I agree that the Debut22 group has been an amazing support of fellow authors, and such a resource! I’ve learned so much from you all, and the support keeps me writing and plugging along with the promotional aspects of the industry! There is nothing like someone who is also publishing and navigating the promotion of their work to share ideas with!
Our next question is always one where the responses surprise me:
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
Lis: So far, both my books have been standalones. Neither of them would lend itself to a series, in my opinion —not with the same protagonist at least. It’s possible that I could take one or more of the other characters, with their own backstories, and build a novel around them. But in fact, the next book I’ve started working on is still another standalone. The main character in this one has appeared elsewhere, however, in a short story I wrote this year, called “Under the Circumstances,” which was published in an anthology this fall.
Avis: Yes! I have read thriller series, but the protagonist is usually solving the crime, not an active participant! I like your protagonists who are unsuspecting individuals who find themselves in unique and often terrifying situations that they learn to navigate and overcome! I love seeing how you develop their strengths and resolve to survive and protect the ones they love. Really well done!
Thanks so much, Lis, for joining us on another edition of YNFA, the first in 2026! I wish you well with your new release, and I know readers are going to love it! For more information on Lis Angus and her work, you can find her at the follow social media sites and her own web site.
And thanks to our readers for following this blog! If you are new to YNFA, please consider following! Our discussions of new releases and debut novels is always interesting, and who knows, you might find your next favorite author here. 😊
Social links:
Facebook – lisangusauthor
Instagram – @lisangus459
Threads @lisangus459
Bluesky – @lisangus.bsky.social
Universal buy Link: https://books2read.com/thatotherfamily
Lis’s web site: https://lisangus.com/
Review: That Other Family
Lis Angus’s new release, That Other Family, delivers a terrifying crime/thriller that will keep readers turning pages into the night. Angus introduces Canadian, Julie Walker, a librarian at the Ottawa Public Library, whose life is turned upside down by a woman with a secret to expose.
Julie, a married mother of three, agrees to meet with Francis Boyle, an American who is looking for information. Julie’s father died when she was a child, but all her memories of him are of a man who loved her and her brother, and especially her mother. When Francis explains that her mother was married to Julie’s father, Julie scoffs. The claim is outrageous.
Julie begins her own research into Francis’ claims. She doesn’t want to believe it, but Francis seems so convinced. Julie locates one of her father’s best friends Ron Barber, a pleasant older gentleman living in downtown Ottawa. Their visit goes well until she asks about the other family. Ron cuts the meeting short, and Julie is left with misgivings. It is time to question her mother and confide in her husband before things go terribly wrong.
Angus masterfully introduces Julie’s mother’s compliance in the illicit marriage and polygamy, a ruthless mob family who doesn’t believe in divorce, and a brother who may believe he must avenger his mother’s honor.
That Other Family delivers a punch with a smart but inexperienced woman who goes toe to toe with a mob family. Julie questions everything including the very nature of her father’s death so long ago. With plot twists and slow reveals, Angus writes her characters into danger and delivers a thriller that will satisfy avid thriller fans.
Avis M. Adams
Avis M. Adams 