An Interview with
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A huge CK2S Kwips and Kritiques welcome to L.L. Foster (aka Lori Foster)! We’re thrilled to have the chance to talk to her about her upcoming book, SERVANT: THE ACCEPTANCE, her career, and anything else that comes up. Thanks Lori for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with us! Question 1: Congratulations on your latest release, SERVANT: THE ACCEPTANCE! I love Gaby and her world and am thrilled to see this second book out. Please tell us a little bit about this book and what sparked the idea of Gaby being a paladin. The idea for the book actually came from a short story that my son, Jake, wrote in high school. I loved his story so much, especially the ending, that I kept thinking about it and plotting around it and eventually had my own series all sparked from his very short story. His lead character was male and died at the end, so don’t think I completely stole my son’s story! J My lead is a female, and I promise, being that I’m a romance writer at heart, she won’t have a fatal end. Question 2: Gaby is a very unusual character with her bluntness and coupled with such innocence at the same time. And Luther… what can I say about Luther other than the man defines patience! Any hints as to where Gaby and Luther are headed in future books? And please tell me there are future books!!! As of right now, I’m thinking there’ll be 5 books. But me being me, a “seat of my pants” writer, that could different 1 book either way. I have book 3 all mapped out in my mind, and even book 4 partially. Throughout the series, each plot will have a definite ending, but Gaby and Luther’s romance will continue to grow and refine until the last book. I can tell you that they also grow physically closer, sexually closer, throughout each book, too. Question 3: Most readers are familiar with your romances but the Servant series is very different. What prompted you to write an urban fantasy series? Is the writing process different for writing urban fantasy versus romance? My writing process is pretty much always the same. I’m character driven, so I “see” my characters in complete form, physically and emotionally, before I ever start writing. All plots are kept in my head, not on paper. And when my brain settles on the perfect starting point, I begin writing. From there, I know how each book will end, but the characters are the ones who decided what to do between the start and finish. I let them do their own thing, and just try to get it on paper in a way that (hopefully) helps readers to “see” it as I see it. I’ve always loved horror movies the best. Anything super scary or suspenseful is a fave for me. I detest most chic flicks. So branching out to “scarier” stories that still have a thread of romance is a perfect blend for me. Question 4: Quite a few authors are beginning to serialize their books in the graphic novel/comic book format. Any hopes we’ll see the Servant series as a graphic novel? And if we peeked in your house, would we find any hidden comic books or graphic novels? My house is overflowing with graphic novels, but they all belong to my sons. I haven’t read any of them. As to making the Servant into a graphic novel... that’s entirely up to the publishers. I know there was some talk about it, but in this business, talk doesn’t always equate to action. So... I’m not really sure. Sorry! Question 5: You mention on your website that you love urban fantasy and horror movies. What are some of your favorites? Horror – The Hills Have Eyes, both the old version and the new. Resident Evil – all of them! All the Alien and Predator movies Shaun of the Dead Grindhouse All the zombie movies: Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead, etc... Rob Zombie’s flicks: Halloween, Devil’s Rejects, etc... Underworld 1 and 2 Army of Darkness and the related movies. The Descent The Ruins Question 6: You recently were involved as the editor and wrote a fantastic story in THE POWER OF LOVE anthology. The proceeds from the book are for a battered women’s shelter. Can you elaborate a bit on what went into putting this anthology together and how you got involved for this particular cause? How does it differ in the role of editor versus contributor in an anthology? Actually, I would NEVER presume to edit another author’s work. I’m a writer, not an editor. The publisher, Berkley, named me as editor only because I chose the authors who took part in the anthology. My feeling was that for a project that would benefit others, I wanted authors who I liked and respected as women as much as for their talent. This is actually a project I hope to do every year, with each new anthology featuring MOSTLY new authors, to benefit different worthy causes. The authors who will likely remain the same are Dianne Castell and Patricia Sargeant, along with me. I set up the anthologies to release during my and Dianne’s “Reader and Author Get Together,” and since Dianne is my partner is setting up and running the event, and Patricia does all our promotion for the event, they’ll naturally remain involve. For each anthology, all author and agent proceeds will go to the cause. “The Power of Love” goes to benefit the Hamilton Co. YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter. Next June we’ll have “Tails of Love,” and the author and agent proceeds from that will go to a local no-kill animal shelter that I love, The Animal Adoption Foundation. Question 7: Your Men of the SBC Fighter series is so fabulous. Have you ever considered having a heroine who is a woman of the SBC? Uh... no. My series is based off my love of mixed martial arts and the UFC. Although there are some fabulous female competitors in the sport, I’m not a fan. It’s just not my thing. And if I’m not into it, I don’t want to write about it. Question 8: So many authors today are asked to take a larger and larger role in their own promotion. There is the author’s website, "extras" like podcasts, youtubes, blogs, "special insider tidbits of the characters" now on top of the more traditional author signings and book tours. How do you keep up with it all and still have time to write? And which parts are your favorites? You know, I LOVE being connected to my readers. It’s why I hang out on my own email loop (which was set up by a dear reader friend) and my message board, and why I have 4 My Space accounts and take part in the RWQ blog. Any promo that I don’t want to do, I skip. Any that I think sounds fun and happens when I have a free minute, I do. Recently, I enjoyed doing video interviews with Lifetime.com and Romantic Times. I love the book trailers and more that COS Productions does for me. And I enjoy meeting booksellers when my publishers send me on tour for that. Booksignings I generally only do in large groups, so that when readers are scarce (which happens a lot!) I’ve got fun people to talk to. J Question 9: What first sparks a story idea for you? Is it the characters, a scene, or something else that kick starts your imagination? Characters, always, but usually it’s the characters in a specific scene. It might be a love scene, a conflict, a chance meeting... but it’ll spark the idea and my brain starts stewing on it, and a book is born. Question 10: Do you have any specific rituals you go through while writing? Any particular ways you celebrate once a book is done? I like to burn heavily scented candles (floral scent or fruit scent) and listen to loud music when I write. But as of today, I’m going to try writing in our RV. We bought the RV a few months but didn’t have a chance to take it out and about until recently, and I’m loving it! If I can break the habit of writing only at my desk, and get used to writing on the road, I’ll have the perfect combination. We’ll see. I don’t celebrate when I finish a book. Usually what I do is crash. I don’t know what it is, but that last 50 or so pages of a book is grueling for me. It exhausts me. So I often drop in a double chair we have set in front of the TV, and I get my little dogs on my lap, and I veg my way through hours of television or rented movies. Question 11: What is your favorite place to write and what does it look like? The only place I “usually” write (see above about the RV) is at my desk. It’s cluttered with snacks and drinks, notes, bookcovers, candles, phone, calculator, mail I need to answer, tissues and hand cream. My desk faces the big window so I can look outside, with the office door behind me. My walls are lined with schedules for book releases, due dates, speaking engagements, blogging dates, promo stuff, etc... Next to my chair is a rocking chair and on the floor is a doggy bed. My dogs pick and choose where (near me) they want to nap. J Question 12: How would you describe the ideal romantic hero? And what about the ideal romantic heroine? The hero is smart, capable, responsible, independent, and he loves children, pets, and women. ;-) He’s considerate to everyone, and he (like me) despises that old saying about “boys will be boys.” Gender is no excuse for insensitivity, however, men show sensitivities in ways different from women, and women need to remember that. Most of the heroes I write, and the men I’m close to, also have a great sense of humor. Women would be the same, but I’m old fashioned enough to like women who nurture, and men who protect. Sure, I flipflop that sometimes in my writing because for me, it’s not a hard fast rule. Question 13: If you could meet any one character out of all of your books, who would you choose to meet and why? I’d want to meet Gaby. I like her the most out of all my characters, male and female, because she’s so special, with amazing abilities. It’d be nice to know that there is a “superhero” of sorts, around to help keep us safe. Question 14: One thing I really like about your books is the variety and your willingness to take chances with the characters and their situations. How difficult is it to write something that is outside your usual stories or comfort zone? And with your love of horror movies, any hope that we’ll get a horror novel out of you one day? The world is filled with a variety of people, and if you live long enough, you learn that your way isn’t the only way, and that what doesn’t work for you in a relationship, works perfectly for someone else. My mother used to say that if troubles were laundry out on a line, and it started to rain, we’d all pull in our own laundry. Which means we all have hardships, but it’s the hardships we’ll tolerate, the ones we’ve accepted, based on our own perspectives. I don’t really write outside my comfort zone – meaning I couldn’t write anyone, male or female, who didn’t put the care and concern of children first. I couldn’t write people who were insensitive to animals. I couldn’t write a man or a woman who was too stupid to know how to do laundry or change a diaper. So while my characters have different careers and different backgrounds, different personality traits, at the core... well, at the core they’re all people I could love as friends. Question 15: Which book has been your favorite to write and why? I can’t name just one, but I loved writing Mick in “Caught in the Act.” He just stole my heart. And I loved writing Grace in “Too Much Temptation.” Gaby, in my Servant series, is always fun because she’s so unpredictable and I let her talk with a real gutter mouth. But one character I really loved a lot, who was over the top macho, is Sam in “My House, My Rules.” He could have played Tarzan, he was so macho, but what fun! He’s in one of my anthologies, “Bad Boys on Board.” Question 16: Can you give us any hints as to what books are coming up in the future? Sure! This December I’ll have a new Winston novella, featuring Dex Winston, a cousin to the other Winston guys, and also a twin. His twin, Hart, will have a novella out Dec 09. That antho is titled “Double The Pleasure.” In Feb, I’ll have my next single title romance, “My Man, Michael,” featuring Mallet, who was in “Simon Says” and “Hard to Handle.” There are a lot of reissues out between now and then. My entire book list is on my website at www.lorifoster.com under the “Book” link. Thank you so much Lori for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer our questions. Is there anything you else you would like to say in closing? Thanks! Anyone who is interested should check out my and Dianne’s reader & author event! It’s super cheap ($35 – but might go up a few bucks for 09) and that covers a Friday night pizza party, and now a full breakfast and lunch on Saturday. Plenty of editors come, along with authors from every stage of their careers, and some really wonderful industry professionals. Our last event doubled in attendance, and we were pretty even with authors and industry professionals vs readers. It’s super laid back and fun. You can see more info about that on my website too, under the “Community” link. It’s early June, so start planning now! Visit Lori's website! Read reviews of Lori/LL's books: Crystal's reviews: Debbie's reviews: Kristi's reviews:
Interviewed by Debbie |