Today I am pleased to introduce you to a talented author and one of my best writing buddies - Lori Robinett. For those of you who missed yesterday's post, here's a quick update on how I met today's guest. Lori and I met through a mutual on-line writing group several years ago. Then she room-shared with me at her first trip to Ozark Creative Writers conference. We had never met in person. We reminisce how she had to calm her teenage daughter’s fears about meeting up with someone Lori had met only on line. We do teach our children that is a no-no.
Back then, Lori was hard at work on a sweet romance about a woman whose world has fallen apart... until she's give a second chance at happiness on her father's horse ranch in western Missouri.
NOTE: A portion of the proceeds from Denim & Diamonds will be donated to
Children's Miracle Network.
So, Lori.... Denim and Diamonds is due out any day now. Congratulations! I know this was a Nano project. Was this your first and if so, please tell us about the experience.
Thank you! Yes - Denim and Diamonds was my very first NaNo novel - and my first win. It was such a rush, the feeling of being cosmically connected to so many other writers all around the world. I had written for years, but never gotten all the way through a story until NaNo. I wrote 31 pages on the last day. It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving. My stepdaughter offered to take her little sister for the day, and my husband was out of town. It was a mad dash to the end, and I had no idea HOW the story was going to end until I wrote it with tears streaming down my cheeks.
2) What is the most difficult for you to write: Characters, conflict, emotions?
Conflict is definitely the hardest for me, because I tend to avoid conflict in real life. :)
3) What is your favorite Holiday and do you ever use it as part of the setting in your books?
My favorite holiday is Halloween. I alluded to Halloween in Denim & Diamonds, but didn't spend a lot of time on the holiday itself. The Diamond J hosts an annual hayride at night, and a few of the ranch hands dress up in costume to scare the party-goers. It's quite a ride!
4) What do you want readers to carry with them from your stories?
I want my readers to feel that everyone deserves a second chance, and to recognize that true happiness and magic can come from those second chances.
5) What was the best advice you were given leading you to getting published?
To keep writing. Several people told me to keep writing and keep honing my craft. I've done that by attending conferences, reading craft books, and meeting with my critique group every two weeks.
6) Would you share a bit of Denim and Diamonds with us?
I'd be glad to!
Blurb:
Attorney Beth Jameson might know her way around the courtroom, but doesn’t know a cutting horse from a carousel horse. That doesn’t slow her down when her estranged father dies and leaves her his horse ranch just south of Kansas City. True to form, the gift comes with strings attached – she has to be successful in her first year, or she loses her inheritance. All of it. Beau, the handsome ranch foreman, was her father’s right hand man, but she must convince him that she’s in it for the long haul – that she isn’t just some city girl that doesn’t respect her father’s legacy. She has to learn the business from the ground up, and must learn to trust others – not an easy thing for a woman who was abandoned by her father and then by her ex-fiancé. Beth can’t believe how quickly the ranch becomes home, and how hard she is willing to work to make it hers . . . and learns that everyone deserves a second chance at happiness.
Excerpt:
It was all Quinn’s fault. If she hadn’t just broken off the engagement because of his screwing around, she never would’ve agreed to leave the city and move to the middle of nowhere at the drop of a hat. No one could blame her for starting a moratorium on men. They were lying, cheating – ugh! Her blood pressure rose just thinking about it.
The crackle of the radio irritated her. She frowned and glanced down to switch it off. When she looked up, brown and white fur flashed in her headlights. She yanked the steering wheel right and slammed her foot down on the brake pedal. The BMW careened across the wet blacktop. She spun the steering wheel trying to correct the skid. The sedan slid left, then whipped right. Time slowed as the car plowed into the ditch. The seatbelt cut into her stomach and chest, squeezing the air from her lungs.
It was all over in a split second.
About Lori Robinett:
Lori is a creative soul trapped in a paralegal's body. As a child she wrote pages and pages in longhand. As a teenager she pounded away on a typewriter. As a college student she learned about critcism (death to English Comp!). As an adult she found her hours filled with work and parenting. Then she rediscovered the joy of escaping into a world of her own creation. After all, it's not illegal to write all those twisted things that pop into your head!
She lives in rural Missouri with her husband and daughter. One very spoiled Miniature Schnauzer and Miniature Beagle allow Lori and her husband to live in their house, and the outside is patrolled by BK (short for Barn Kitty) and Patches (a sweet tom cat stray that missed is calling as a lap cat). The pasture is decorated with three miniature horses.
DENIM & DIAMONDS IS COMING SOON!
to CaryPress - http://carypress.com/denim-diamonds-by-lori-robinett/
You can catch up with Lori:
Website: http://lorilrobinett.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elle.robb
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LoriRobinett
Sounds interesting, especially her distrust of men. I would like to know more. Good interview.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Wanda!
ReplyDelete