In addition to the Q.C. Davis Mysteries, a traditional detective series that includes The Worried Man, The Charming Man, The Fractured Man, The Troubled Man, The Hidden Man, and the novella No Good Plays, Lisa M. Lilly also is the author of the four-book Awakening supernatural thriller series.

Like her character Quille C. Davis, Lilly lives and works in Chicago, Illinois. Under L.M. Lilly, she is the founder of WritingAsASecondCareer.com. She also hosts the podcast Buffy and the Art of Story.

Lilly also writes horror, including When Darkness Falls, a gothic horror novel set in Chicago’s South Loop, and the short-story collection The Tower Formerly Known as Sears and Two Other Tales of Urban Horror, the title story of which was made into the short film Willis Tower. Her stories and poems have appeared in numerous publications.


Her non-fiction books, written as L.M. Lilly, include Super Super Simple Story Structure: A Quick Guide to Plotting and Writing Your Novel; The One-Year Novelist: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Your Novel in One Year; and Creating Compelling Characters From the Inside Out.


A resident of Chicago, Lilly is an attorney and a member of the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists. She joined AAIM after an intoxicated driver caused the deaths of her parents in 2007. Her book of essays, Standing in Traffic, is available on AAIM’s website.

For information on new releases and to get free bonus fiction, including a Q.C. Davis Mystery novella, join her email list at LisaLilly.com/QuilleStories.