Welcome to my website. I'm Lisa Schmelz, an award-winning Midwestern freelance journalist. I live in southern Wisconsin, but gladly go wherever a story takes me. I cover most beats, but specialize in Midwestern travel and features. My work has appeared in: 

Delta Sky Magazine

Travel Wisconsin

Experience Wisconsin,

At The Lake

Corporate Report Wisconsin. 

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wisconsin Arts and Culture

The Janesville Gazette,

The Walworth County Sunday

The Walworth County Gazette,

Modern Bliss

Brava

Before embarking on a freelance career, I was a features writer with a family-owned chain of newspapers in California's Central Valley. Today, I'm a high school special education teacher and I continue to freelance because I love telling stories.

 Need a Midwestern Freelance Writer?  

I offer over 17 years of in-house and freelance journalism experience, accepting short-term and one-time assignments with major media outlets. I also provide ongoing news and features content to print and online media.

Working with custom publishers, I've co-authored three books with regional historical slants and will consider book projects with at least one-year's lead time.

I'm two hours from Chicago,  one hour from Madison and 45 minutes away from Milwaukee. Contact me to discuss your needs.

 Got a Story Idea?

As a regular contributor to a number of state and national media outlets, I'm always looking for the Wisconsin-connection to stories the nation and world are talking about. 

Off-beat people, places and things are also up my alley; and I write write advances of artists, authors, and entertainers appearing in Wisconsin and Illinois. Contact me with your pitch.





2017 Story Spotlight:

Doing Their Part - How Delavan factories helped secure victory in WWII. This story appeared in the winter issue of At The Lake Magazine. 

2016 Story Spotlight: 

Toy Story: Ingenuity and hard work pay off for two Lake Geneva inventors. This story appeared in the fall issue of At The Lake Magazine. 

Saving Downtown: Another installment in an award-winning series I pitched to The Walworth County Sunday. The series explores how small, historic downtown districts are faring in a strip-mall society. This installment looks at Darien. In addition to appearing in The Walworth County Sunday, the series has been picked up by newspapers across Wisconsin.  

2015 Story Spotlight:

Saving Downtown - A series I pitched and provide to the Walworth County Sunday, Saving Downtown explores how communities in one rural Wisconsin county are breathing new life into their historic downtown districts.

We are Family - Wisconsin waterparks that can lodge you and your cousins and your cousin's cousins. This story appeared on Travel Wisconsin, the state's official tourism website.

Wisconsin Winter Hotspots - Finding island warmth in Wisconsin isn't as hard as you think. This story appeared on Travel Wisconsin, the state's official tourism website.

2014 Story Spotlight: 

Let the Good Times Roll on an ATV: This story appeared on Travel Wisconsin, the state's official tourism website.   

Saving Downtown: A sereis on historic downtown districts in Walworth County.This story appeared in The Walowrth County Sunday.

Bait Shop is a Keeper: Need some minnows and a slice of Americana? Reel it in at this small town bait shop.This story appeared in The Walworth County Sunday.

A Walk to Remember - Finding peace on the Geneva Lake Shore Path. This story appeared in Experience Wisconsin.

Moonlighting on the Lake: Local educators take to the water for cruise line. This story appeared in At The Lake.   

McIntyre's Resort: Simply Magic.  Want to tme travel? Check out this family-owned vintage resort. This story appeared in At The Lake.

The Last House on the Block: A history of the Walworth County Poor Farm and Insane Asylum This story appeared in At The Lake. 

Harry Who? Harry Selfridge revolutionized the way we shop, and is the subject a new PBS series. He's also Wisconsin-born. This story appeared in At The Lake.

2013 Story Spotlight

Father Winter - Southern Wisconsin's own Dieter Sturm can control the weather - at least on movie sets. Meet the Oscar-winning Father of Fake Fluff in my Q&A with him in At The Lake. 

Remembering a Cat Named Badger - An obit I wrote for an eccentric friend, this toook second place for features in the Wisconsin Newspaper Awards. 

The Day Albert Einstein Came to Town - Einstein's first visit to America in 1921 included a tour of Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin.  Join me and his distant cousin, Daniel Einstein of Madison, as we retrace his steps. This story appeared in At The Lake.

Meet An Olympian - Casey Fitz-Randolph talks about going for the gold. This story appeared in Experience Wisconsin.

Meeting Jane - Bestselling author Jane Hamilton on life, farming, yoga and more. This story appeared in At The Lake.

A Walk Through Pioneer Cemetery - Honoring lives, preserving the past. This story appeared in At The Lake.

Rock in the Country - A world-class recording studio in a corn field? Well, kind of. This story appeared in At The Lake. 

Walking on Water - Check out this amazing pool of waterskiing talent. This story appeared in At The Lake.

Tree House - A modern addition to Delavan Lake. This story appeared in At The Lake.

One on One with John Mahoney - John Mahoney loves acting, the Windy City, and his lakefront home in Wisconsin. 

2012 Story Spotlight

Death by Meeting - How do you get any work done if you're always in meetings? This story will appear in Corporate Report Wisconsin.

Native+Newcomer - CEO's of one of Wisconsin's oldest and newest businesses talk shop. This story  appeared in Sky, Delta's inflight magazine.

Wisconsin Celebs - Find out what why authors, actors and athletes love calling Wisconsin home. This story appeared in Sky, Delta's inflight magazine.

Wisconsin Originals - Bestselling author and Wisconsin native Michael Perry takes us off the beaten path with his New York Times Bestseller Visiting Tom, This story appeared in Experience Wisconsin.

Walk On The Wild Side - Wisconsin abounds with animal encounters that let you get close - and sometimes even closere. This story appeared in Experience Wisconsin.

Native Lessons - Wisconsin is home to more federally recognized Native American tribes than any other state east of the Mississippi River, and all of them offer opportunities for us to learn more about their  ways. This story appeared in Experience Wisconsin.

Heavy Metal - Wisconsin businesses fight back against the rise in metal theft. This story appeared in Corporate Report Wisconsin.

Wadawega - You can go home again if home is a vintage summer camp in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. This photo essay appeared in At The Lake.

Doris Reinke's Bucket List - Doris Reinke not only loves history, she is history.  At 90-years-young, this ardent preservationist still knows how to have fun, too. This story appeared in At The Lake.  

Dress for Sucess - Has business casual gone too far? Is the necktie dead? This story appeared in Corporate Report Wisconsin.   

Go, Scott, Go - Elkhorn native Scott Wedige signs as an undrafted rookie free agent with the Arizona Cardinals. This story appeared in At The Lake.

There She Is, Miss America - And she's from Wisconsin. This story appeared in Experience Wisconsin.

Hometown Heroes - A Lake Geneva businessman makes poverty his business and gets the world's attention. This story appeared in At The Lake.

Bon Iver - The Wisconsin-grown indie folk band takes homes a Grammy. I caught up with drummer Sean Carey, who hails from Lake Geneva.This story appeared in At The Lake. 

Fitness Boom -  New health clubs are popping up everywhere, but will they last? This story appeared in Corporate Report Wisconsin.

Herstory - What a difference one vowel makes. They died long ago, but these two Midwestern women are still making an impact. This story appeared in the At The Lake.

The Allyn Mansion - One of Wisconsin's richest architectural treasures, this Queen Anne would have lost its crown were it not for one couple's labor of love. This story appeared in At The Lake.

2011 Story Spotlight

Training for the Trades- Filling the job skills gap. This story appeared in Corporate Report Wisconsin. 

Saving Lake Lawn - Iconic resort breathes again. This story appeared in Corporate Report Wisconsin.  

The Big Chill: Superior, Wis., battles frigid winters but its economy is warming faster than many. This story appeared in Corporate Report Wisconsin. 

The Last Word -Is it The End for books? I asked bestselling authors Jane Hamilton and Michael Perry. The Last Word is a regular feature in Corporate Report Wisconsin.

The Economy - A Candid Conversation: Join me in a discussion with two top Wisconsin CEO's, and hear what they have to say about the economic news of late. "The Last Word" is a regular feature in Corporate Report Wisconsin. 

Equine Grace - Saddle up in southern Wisconsin and see the countryside the way it was meant to be seen. This story appeared in At The Lake.

Losing Lincoln -When John Edgar Burton's mining fortune came crashing down in the late 1800s, he lost more than money. He lost his nationally renowned collection of Lincoln related artifacts, which he once stored on the third floor of southern Wisconsin mansion.  This story appeared in At The Lake.

The State of Lending - How Wisconsin businesses are facing the credit crunch head on. This story appeared in Corporate Report Wisconsin.  .

Little House Awaits: The spirit of Laura  Ingalls and Nellie Oleson lives on at Old World Wisconsin, the world's largest outdoor museum dedicated to rural life. Catch up with Alison Arngrim, the actress who portrayed the prairie bully on the long-running TV series and is now the bestselling author of "Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated." This story appeared in The Walworth County Sunday.

Chillin' with Craig Culver -, Meet the co-founder and CEO of Culver's Restaurant. This story appeared in Experience Wisconsin.

The Summer of '72: A Wisconsin Love Story - This essay appeared in At The Lake. 

The Curtain Rises Again -Historic performance centers come alive again thanks to the dedication of local communities.This story appeared in Wisconsin Arts and Culture.

Mysteries of the Mind - A Final Walk with Dr. Francis Brooks. Turn of the  century sanitariums in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, were a place of last resort for many. This story appeared in At The Lake.

The Big Top Lives On - Circus World offers an entertaining slice of the past. This story appeared in Experience Wisconsin.

A Wisconsin Original - Bestselling author Jane Hamilton on writing, being a farmer's wife and her favorite place for Friday Night Fish Fry. (They don't serve fish but she says you need to check them out anyway. ) This story appeared in Experience Wisconsin.          

Flea Market  Therapy - More than a place to score vintage bargains, a flea market is where the past and present meet. This essay appeared in At The Lake.              

Blizzard Babies -Southern Wisconsin moms deliver in historic blizzard. This story appeared in the Walworth County Sunday. 

11 for 11 -Eleven ways to put more wow in 2011. This story appeared in Weekender.

 2010 Story Spotlight

Remembering Christmas past - Slain civic leader, Sandra Teichow, honored for founding of Christmas tradition in Sharon, Wis. This story appeared in The Walworth County Sunday. 

Shipbuilding contract could bring 5,000 jobs to Wisconsin - What's fast, flexible and may be heading  toward Wisconsin? This story appeared in Corporate Report Wisconsin.