MOSES LAKE — The name Alisa Weis might ring a bell for Columbia Basin residents. The former freelancer for the Columbia Basin Herald has always had a passion for writing, so much so that she developed that passion over the years and poured her talents into her recently released first novel.

Weis’ interest in writing dates back to when she was a little kid, writing things such as Thanksgiving plays for her family to act out and perform. In high school she realized a career in writing was the path she wanted to take, thanks in part to a helpful English teacher, who went on to help her publish her first book.

She went to college at Whitworth University and obtained a degree in literature/writing in 2003, later receiving a master’s degree in secondary education from the University of Phoenix in 2007. Weis lived in Moses Lake for a couple of years after college and did occasional freelance writing for the Columbia Basin Herald. She credits the tutelage and mentorship of longtime Herald employee and current editorial paginator Joel Martin in her development as a writer.

“I would like to say that he has helped my writing a lot, because he gave me a lot of opportunities to cover business profiles, special interest stories and holiday fiction, which is my favorite,” she said. “I think that gave me more of diversity with my writing, because I was trained as a creative writer, that’s my background. He helped me become a journalist too.”

Weis’ first novel, “Swiftwater,” tells the story of Julie Fletcher, a switchboard operator from Roslyn who overhears incriminating information about a murder and has to decide what to do with that information.

“It’s based on a real mistaken murder that happened in the 1930s,” she explained. “Our family has a telephone company in Roslyn and so that’s how I became interested in switchboard operators, because I interviewed my husband’s grandmother and that is what she did for a living.”

Weis’ second novel, “The Emblem,” is finished and currently going through the editing process before it is published. “Swiftwater” is currently available for purchase in select locations, but the best place to purchase the novel is at Weis’ website, www.alisaweis.com. The novel won’t be available for purchase on Amazon.com until September.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.