Lori Foster Interview

Posted by Nicole on Jun 3, 2011 in Author Interviews, D-F Authors | 22 comments

So Lori agreed to answer 7 booky questions and 7 Random questions, and the random questions are just because I know authors get asked the book questions all the time and well I’m of the thought that If I ask someone something off the wall they’ll laugh and I’ll get a great answer. And luckilly with Lori I did. I’m a total fan girl by the way and literally threw up fangirl all over her at BEA (super embarassing but I think there was an acutal squeee involved, we’ll move on). IN case you didn’t catch it the RANDOM QUESTIONS are in that color and the Booky ones are in black. GIVEAWAY details are at the end.  Enjoy!

If you were an evil villain, what would be your signature accessory?

If we’re being realistic (ha!) and not making up weapons, then I’d say a really powerful Taser. You can use it without making too much noise, you don’t have to be too close to the victim when using it, and it can be really effective in debilitating someone. I’ve done a lot of research on Tasers, and they scare me! LOL

Your recent novels have been a departure from your older works, these have been majorly action packed, very in your face, even more aggressive than the SBC books. What made you go in this direction and what can we do to keep you there?

Hmmm. Well see, as the one writing them, I didn’t realize all that. I’m lousy at analyzing my own work. I figured I’d always written Alpha males (because I love them) and that I’d always had action but maybe focused it in different directions. If this is a new direction, then I’d say it’s probably just a growth of confidence (as my #s grow) to do exactly what I want to do, when I want to do it. I no longer really think about taking what I love and tempering so that it’ll sell. I just jump in and run with it.

If you were a super secret spy, would you rather be lasered in half or nibbled by sharks? (Or any other suitable James Bond-y death? )

Lasered in half, for sure! A quick death – no suffering. Plus, I have a very real fear of water and the creatures in it, with sharks at the top of the list! On our last trip to Florida, I walked along the shore and *just barely* let the water hit my feet. No wading in or swimming for me!

LOVE That– especially since so many of her hero’s are like Aqua men

What’s easier to write, stand alone books, novella’s or series?

Novellas for sure. After a single title, a novella is a walk in the park. Plus my novellas are generally more humorous, and a straighter shot to the “Happy Ever After.” I’ve had very few stand alone books because most of mine have secondary characters that end up demanding stories.

What’s the most insane file name on your computer?

Torture devices. I saved a lot of weird stuff for my L. L. books, and of course, some odd stuff for my contemporary romances too – like weapons, details on bombs, domestic abuse, and most recently about human trafficking. But the torture stuff is the most amazingly awful.

Oddly not surprised. Intrigued but not surprised…

You’ve been supremely prolific in your writing. How do you keep your passion for this alive? Does author burnout ever come into play?

Author burnout as far as being tired, not wanting to do promo, not wanting to answer business emails, not wanting to travel – yes. Unfortunately, that’s all a part of it, and as my career grows, so grows the rest of the stuff.
But I pretty much always want to write, and I always have too many books in my head. I have the one I’m working on, the book that will soon be on stands, the book I know I’ll write next (sometimes the next two I know I’ll be writing) and the book I’ve just turned in that is still going through the production process, ie line edit, copy edit, galleys, etc…

What is the first thing you would do if you woke up in a body of the opposite sex?

Depends on how good I looked. Maybe either cry – or start personal exploration! LOL

Uh oh… Gonna move on…. from the personal exploration.

What is your most recent blonde moment?

I blew up an egg in the kitchen. I’m not only frazzled from too much work and a lot of community involvement, but I’m also in menopause. (You can all offer appropriate sympathy now!) On his way out the door, hubby reminded me that he had an egg boiling so I could make egg salad. I said I’d remember – and then immediately forgot… until I heard the loud explosion. Literally. Egg was on the ceiling, the walls, out of the kitchen and into the other rooms, on the tops of the cabinets… Egg shell hit the ceiling with such force that it chipped the paint. Talk about a mess!

Me Thinks this should totally appear as a new weapon in a future book, or at least as one of those moments the heroines have as they try to act normal and impress the Super HAWT guy with their cooking prowess….

You are extremely active with your readers, your convention is regularly sold out, and one of the most enjoyable conventions to attend. Do you think the increased reader feedback in the form of social media connectivity is helping authors or making it harder to keep a line between a professional, as you are a and reacting as an artist?

Hmmm… Well, first, our convention – the
“Reader and Author Get Together” http://www.lorifoster.com/community/readergettogether.php doesn’t sell out. We get around 300 people, but we don’t have a cut-off on attendees. Yet. We could probably accommodate around 500 if it came to that. But we’re happy with the 300+ for now. LOL

Thank you for saying it’s enjoyable. I LOVE our Get Together, and I say “our” because no way could Dianne (Castell aka Duffy Brown) and I do it alone. We have the most amazing volunteers who have signed on for the long haul and help us in immeasurable ways each and every year.

The entire weekend has remained a very affordable $50 for years now. Thanks to generous contributions from Samhain and Liquid Silver, Dianne and I have been able to add to the event without adding to the registration fee.

We’ve done our best to keep the convention low-key and casual (jeans and a T-shirt are perfect!) and to make it fun for everyone. It’s the perfect time to meet an author, chat with an editor, sharing your favorite stories with your friends, and gets lots of photos. Yes, I’m very proud of the event!

On to the other part of your question – since I’ve never really thought of myself as an artist, I can’t say that readers have affected that. I LOVE interacting with readers, talking about life, books, kids, jobs, sickness and in health, till retirement do we part. J Not that I have any plans for retiring. I’ve always been that odd duck who didn’t fit in – but then I met other readers and writers and in many ways, they feel like best friends, even the people I only know online.

What is the one song you can’t help singing out loud no matter where you are?

Macy Gray’s “I Try.” LOVE that song. Also love her “Venus Freak.” There’s a really awesome video of the Supernatural guys (TV show) put to that song. Sexy! And just about anything by Kid Rock is worthy of a sing along. Cowboy, especially. Or Black Bobby. Oh… most of them! Love his work.

Whoda thunk it, Lori Foster a Kid Rock freak… Kind of loving that too

Character Arc and development are two things I love about your writing, its always so detailed and expressive. How do you develop your characters, do you take from say, an object they’d like or wear and develop around that, or use an example form someone you know?

No full-character examples from people I know, although I probably pick up on character traits from everyone. I always start with a visual scene in my head. I can be a conflict, a love scene, a first-meet… and from there, my muse builds a story. But I don’t wait for the muse to flesh out the whole thing. I’m a panster. I get an idea and I start writing and fly by the seat of my pants. I’m often surprised by the twists and turns a book takes. My only given is that somehow, whatever happens, they’ll work it out and it’ll end happy. Everything in the middle of A and Z is anyone’s guess!

When my books have disappointed readers (and of course they often do! That’s a given in this biz) I have a T-shirt that says, “Blame it on the Muse.” I just go with the flow.

If you could have complete immunity for 24 hours what would you do?

This is a pretty serious question, and my answer will also be serious. I detest child abuse and animal abuse. With compete immunity, I’d remove a lot of the threats that circulate in our society, preying on the weak and getting away with it because of a flawed system. I can be really brutal when it comes to defending others. I’m afraid – with complete immunity – some people would find themselves in serious peril. I understand the tragic reality of abuser’s perpetuating the problem… but it has to end somewhere.

Another thing I love about your characters are their quirks, Dare and his “girls” and Chris, Drew Black’s comedic cursing, there’s always something.. off.. to make them human. Please tell me there’s a dart board of quirks that you throw things at to chose, and that we’ll see an OCD hand sanitizing governmental assassin soon?

LOL. No, but that’s a great idea! I think overall, I love people. Men and women. So often we focus on those quirks as a bad thing, but there’s just part of the whole. No human is perfect, and it’s terrific that we can find someone to love us, even with our faults. If folks have good intentions, and if they don’t deliberately hurt others, then the quirks are just a part of the whole.

What’s the one thing you haven’t been able to do yet in your publishing career, or the one person you haven’t met, what’s the next big YES!!!! moment for you?

Like most authors, I’d love to hit #1 on the NYTimes.

I’d also love to have a movie made out of one of my books. (Or a dozen of my books!)
I’d love to see my L. L. Foster (darker, urban fantasy stuff) take off. I’d love time to work on my L. L. Foster books. LOL (Soon, for those of you who’ve asked me about that.)

But really, I’ve already been blown away by my success. I’m a very down home, simple, non-fancy woman. That I get to do what I love, and that others enjoy my efforts enough to make me a success… well, that’s already a pretty big “YES!” moment for me. I don’t want to be greedy and ask for too much more.

So this interview totally made me love Lori Foster More and More….

OKAY so now for the giveaway… one of you will get ALL 3 YEP thats right ALL 3 Men of Honor Books……

ALL You have to do is comment below, with which question was your favorite and why. Thats it! Contest ends on Sunday June 5 at 11:59pm. OPEN INTERNATIONAL (within reason, that means UK ok! Tanzania not so much)