Author Interview – Lori L. Clark
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I’m delighted to welcome Lori to my blog today. She’s a writer of New Adult romances (yes, I like to keep things different around here), and she has a new book to chat about. A contemporary romance, The Heart Knows What the Heart Wants was released earlier this month.
I'm going to grill her about it in just a sec. But first, I probably should tell you Lori's running a giveaway!
Giveaway
Click on the link below for details on how you can win a $10 Amazon Gift Card and other goodies:
1. Hi Lori. Since this is the first time I’m interviewing a new adult writer, I’ll let you do the honors. What are the hallmarks of this sub genre? Where does it fit between young adult and adult?
I used to read a lot of YA books and I guess after reading my first Colleen Hoover book, I thought, "Wow! This is like YA only more mature." Which is how I believe NA started. I think it was supposed to be a genre between YA and Adult that was meant for the college years. It was more of an Age classification than anything.
Now, I'm seeing the genre go off in a different direction than perhaps it was when I first became aware of it. Technically, it's an age group. I think 18-25 are the ages that fit in the NA genre.
Somewhere along the way, it's been misconceived to mean that if the book isn't about a bad boy with tattoos, if it isn't about a rich man taking in a naive woman to be his forever-after, if it isn't about how many times between the first paragraph and last the main characters can do the nasty, then some readers believe it's not true NA.
Think "age group."
2. Finding romances with a heroine who’s older than the hero is rarer than one might think. What are some of the advantages of this age dynamic?
Personally, I have a preference for older women/younger men relationships. I read Jane's Melody by Ryan Winfield and fell in love with the story. I think that women in real life who prefer younger men need to have their own category of books to choose from!
Statistically, women outlive men. So, us mature women need to find a man about 10 years younger so we have a mate for life. At least that's my thinking on the subject.
3. Estelle and Shane seem to have very different personalities. Is this a case of opposites attract?
She's into metaphysical aspects of life. Astrology, following your intuition, etc. He's a bit more of a logical, science-driving person. While on the surface it might seem that they are from two completely different planets... it's their personalities that click on so many levels. Their banter back and forth was a lot of fun to write. So, I guess, initially, it might seem that these two were nothing alike. But, once they connect, they're more alike than one might think.
4. Are you at liberty to share Estelle and Shane’s first kiss?
Here's a snippet which reveals their first kiss. It's fun, because, Estelle calls herself "Star."
He cupped her face with his hands and kissed her, just a light brush of his lips across hers at first. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stepped closer to him, pressing her body against the length of his. The passion she felt for him was real and made her knees go weak.
His tongue found its way between her lips, and she sucked it deeper as her hands fisted in the front of his sweatshirt. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears as she imagined his tongue making love to her mouth.
It was Shane who broke their kiss first. He rested his forehead against hers. "I'm pretty sure I just saw stars," he panted.
5. I’ll let you off with one last question. How did you get your start as an author? What was your path to publication like?
I started getting interested in writing after reading the Twilight series. I know it certainly re-ignited my reading habit. I read, read, read, and decided to try my hand at writing my own book. I got serious in 2009 when I successfully finished NANOWRIMO.
It's been fun, it's been -- and still is -- a learning curve. I would probably go back and read my first stuff now and think, "Oh this is awful!" LOL
Since I self-publish, I think it's probably more fun for me than if I was receiving rejection letter after rejection letter. I'm free to write and publish when and what I want for now.
I does sound more fun! What I wouldn't give to never have to bite my nails and constantly hit the refresh button?
Since she has a book to promote, I’ll let Lori run off to her next engagement. For more information about the book and author, just scroll down.
Thanks for having me! It's been fun. Great questions!
The Heart Knows What the Heart Wants
Estelle "Star" Falconé, a thirty-year-old tattooed bartender, was once a free-spirited dreamer who dabbled in astrology for fun and secretly dreamed of becoming a rock-star some day.
Twenty-one-year-old Shane Harper was once the star of his high school basketball team. With a full ride scholarship, his dream was to play college basketball and study planetary science. When a tragic car accident permanently sidelines his basketball career, college is out of the question.
Sparks fly when their two worlds collide.
Can a relationship survive between a thirty-year-old starry-eyed woman who's on the run from an extremely dangerous man, and a twenty-one-year-old science guy who's hell-bent on protecting her at all cost?
***Caution*** for mature readers. Contains graphic violence including rape. This is a complete, standalone novel.
About Lori L. Clark
Lori L. Clark was born in Iowa, where she spent the first forty-six years of her life. In 2007, she loaded up a moving van and relocated to Missouri, where she currently resides. Lori's only child is a very spoiled Min Pin named Barkley. When not writing, she reads and runs. She completed her first half marathon at the age of fifty.
In 2009, after participating in NANOWRIMO, she began to take seriously the voices in her head. Two New Adult contemporary romance novels, Different Roads, and I Breathe You, were published in 2013, and showed early success. The Heart Knows What the Heart Wants is set to release in March 2014, and has her venturing into the realms of Romantic Suspense.
Lori is a member of Savvy Authors, the St. Louis Writers Guild, and Romance Writers of America.
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