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The Exponent What happens when reality meets fiction? For former Michigan resident Lynn Isenberg it may mean another successful novel and business. The writer with Clarkdale connections will have her second novel The Funeral Planner released on September 1. The Michigan book launching party will take place on November 7 at 6 pm at The Eagles Nest Resaurant at Clark Lake. Isenberg came to Clark Lake as a child and cousins Bobby and Laura LaZebnik live on the lake. "I spent a lot of time there and wrote my first and part of my second novel there," Isenberg said. "I think the environment influenced me. Eagles Nest became a character and I integrated some of the local color into the novel." In the novel, Jackson and Clark Lake become the funeral planning capital of the world. At her party on November 7, Wetherby Funeral Home in Jackson will sponsor the event and bring a casket. "I love Clark Lake . . . I want to buy a home there someday," she said. The Funeral Planner has, in fact, launched a real life business aptly named Lights Out Enterprises, which launched on June 25 - her late father's birthday - and has already attracted substantial clients. When her father and brother died a year apart to the day, Isenberg was understandably grief-stricken. An unusual solo performance by a singer at her brother's funeral prompted her college roommate to comment, "gee, I wish I'd brought my boys then they'd know funerals don't have to be so sad," the words resonated with Isenberg. She was ultimately inspired to write The Funeral Planner, escaping inside the story while working through her personal grief. The Funeral Planner is a brisk new novel from Red Dress Ink starring female protagonist Madison Banks. More than simply a hilarious work of women's literature, The Funeral Planner is an entertaining fictional manual on how to start a business in a $28 billion industry which more and more women are entering. Even the table of contents reflects the anatomy of a business plan. While researching The Funeral Planner by auditing an entrepreneurial studies program at the University of Michigan, it occurred to Isenberg that Lights Out enterprises could be more than just a "novel idea". With the encouragement of her media mentors, she began gathering venture capital and pulling together a notable board of advisors. According to Isenberg, "Lights Out Enterprises caters to baby boomers seeking customized celebratory events and high-end Life Bio Videos for the now and hereafter. We create meaningful experiences to remember". In both the novel The Funeral Planner and her business, Lights Out Enterprises, Isenberg challenges convention through America's perception of bereavement, massaging the traditional mourning of death into a joyous celebration of life. Isenberg began writing at an early age. The self-taught art of daydreaming launched Isenberg on a writing career when, at 8 years old, her story King C was selected for Oakland University's Young Authors Conference. Proud of her accomplishment, Isenberg immediately picked up the phone to call the local press - The Birmingham Eccentric - insisting the operator connect her with the Birminghan Excedrin. Isenberg ultimately left Bloomfield Hills for the University of Michigan, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature, a minor in Film Studies, and an MBA audit. High-minded ambitions to write and produce Hollywood mainstream movies propelled Isenberg to Los Angeles, where she racked up credits on Tri-Star Picture's I Love You To Death (Kevin Kline, Keanu Reeves), MGM's Youngblood (Rob Lowe, Cynthia Gibb), Showtimes Network's Bordello, Playboy Channel's Maui Heat, Mistral Picture's family film True Vinyl, and Fine Living Network's I::Design series as executive producer. Preceding reality TV, Isenberg's avant-garde intuition and penchant for investigative research took her on a brief detour into the world of writing quality adult entertainment where she transformed her experiences into reality-fiction called My Life Uncovered. Her humerous fish-out-of-water tale follows a young female writer determined to write the great American screenplay who inadvertently writes the great American adult movie. Isenberg immediately sold the novel in a two book deal to Red Dress Ink. In addition to her publishing and mainstream feature film credits, Isenberg is a brand entertainment strategist, having written, produced, and marketed programming for cable television networks, live events, and new media. Through her company Focus Media - Finding Opportunities Creating Unified Success - Isenberg casts branded entertainment strategies for Big Fish Marketing and Fishnet, the premiere online entertainment advertising agency. The book is available for pre-order through Amazon.com.
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