Sisters Blend Magic, Music, and Mythology

Fox Point - Lisa and Lori Minneti are identical twin sisters who have done everything together.
They have been friends their entire lives, hanging out in the same social circle.
Now they have written a book together.

They will promote their book, "Hazel Moon," at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1, with a visit to North Shore Library.

In writing "Hazel Moon", they reminisced about their 20s, when their lives were defined by new wave music acts like Echo and the Bunnymen. They got into the band because of Lori's late husband, Kent Parco, who was in Take Me, a Racine new wave band that opened for Duran Duran and Cheap Trick. Their love of new wave music surpassed appreciation, more closely resembling devotion.

"We didn't want to be anywhere else than seeing Take Me," Lori said. "The music was everything."

In "Hazel Moon," the Minneti twins blend their love for new wave music with Lisa's interest in mysticism. The sisters plan to write a trilogy of books in the same style, influenced by alternative music and the 13 cycles of the Celtic moon. They are in the process of writing a book pairing the Hawthorn Moon and grunge music from the 1990s.

The main characters in "Hazel Moon" are November and Angela, outsiders who spend their day at the mall and are planning to head to an Echo and the Bunnymen show that night. The characters were based on their experience, although they said they don't identify with one character over another.

"There's things about them that are like us, but as we were writing them they took on a life of their own," Lisa said.

"There's magic that happens in the writing process where things which just evolve and all of a sudden it works," Lori added.

Lisa, of Fox Point, is an interior designer, and Lori is an actress, singer and host of "Builders Showcase" on Fox 6. Lisa said she first got the idea to write a novel when she saw a brochure at a library. They say they never really grew up, which is how they created a book that appeals to teens and young adults, as well as older readers who appreciate mysticism and 1980s nostalgia.