Good morning everyone
I’m sitting here at 9.18, having just finished a peaceful breakfast of poached egg and toast and the silence is very strange. I’m not quite used to having the house to myself of a weekday morning! Amelia and Nate both settling into their new routine of going into preschool and playschool at 8.30am but when I awoke Amelia this morning, she said, ‘No thank you Mummy, I’ll stay home today!’ Wouldn’t it be great if we could politely say no to work/school whenever we liked. 🙂
Anyhow, enough waffle from me. It’s Wednesday so that means we have another victim in MrsH’s house! And today all the way from Oregan in the USofA is a new friend of mine, fellow HarperImpulse author Lori Connelly. If any of you have been following our Written Fireside Series, that is Lori’s brainchild. If you haven’t checked it out yet, it really is worth having a little read. It’s a serial story written by a number of Harper Impulse authors, so it’s really interesting to see how the story involves as each writer adds their particular style and imagination to the piece. To play catch up, click here!
Right, down to business! Welcome Lori to MrsH’s blog, tell me a little about yourself.
I live in not rural enough Oregon. Family is the heart of my life. I married my best friend and we have amazing children. I love getting lost in a story by either writing or reading and also enjoy camping, rock hounding and long walks in the woods.
We love walks int the woods too but so far I’ve not actually done any camping. But Mr H is determined to get me camping one of these days, I’ll have to get tips from you, the pro! So tell us all what do you write? When did you start?
I write western historical romance for Harper Impulse and fantasy that has yet to be submitted anywhere. I got serious about perusing publication in 2006 but I’ve been writing forever it seems, always talked about being published, and filled notebooks for years.
I’ve read Lori’s book The Outlaw of Cedar Ridge and I loved it. It really is true escapism as it brings you back to a different time in a different world very far from the modern luxuries we have become used to. It also has the most beautiful love story at its heart.
So what are you working on right now Lori?
I am working on the third book in The Men of Fir Mountain series – The Outlaw of Cedar Ridge is book one.
Well that’s good news for all of us fans of the outlaw! So tell me what we can expect if we pop by your blog?
Stop by anytime and check out excepts of my book and my Written Fireside feature, a round robin story where different writers add a part.
Can you share a sample of your writing Lori?
From The Outlaw of Cedar Ridge
“It’ll be different this time.”
Evie fought the urge to cry. “Like it was supposed to be when we lost the saw mill in Montana, the boarding house in Salmon or the little farm right outside Cedar Ridge?”
“I’ve learned from my mistakes.”
“You were passed out in the barn a few hours ago.”
“What do you want me to do?” His hands clenched at his sides and his voice sounded edgy.
“Stop drinking, deceiving, breaking the law and make amends. Remember your dreams? To ride your own range? To build a herd and good reputation. You could make that happen. We have good land. We could have a good life here if you’d just -”
“I can’t do what you want.”
“You won’t know unless you try,” her tone fierce, Evie scowled at him.
“We have to move.”
“Don’t give up, please Ben.”
“We don’t have a choice.”
“Yes we do,” Tired and cranky, Evie snapped. “I do.”
“I sold it.”
Her vision blurred. A headache pulsed to life, pounded behind her eyes. “You did what?”
I know it’s really difficult to do this, but go on, give me 3 words to describe your best self and 3 words to describe your worst self.
Adaptable, curious, imaginative – shy, stubborn, tenacious
Yep, think ALL of those are attributes needed to be an author! Right quick fire round time!
Beer or cocktails – cocktails
Jeans or dress – jeans
Sun or Snow – sun
Beach or Pool – beach
Cats or Dogs – dogs
Theatre or Cinema -cinema
Pink or Green -green
Night in or night out -night in
Paperback or eBook -paperback
Lobster or steak -steak
And before you leave us, tell me Lori what is the best compliment anyone could give you?
I loved your story, can’t wait to read another.
Well, thats the end of another Guest Blogger slot. Thank you so much Lori for stopping by and I’ll finish up by saying this to you Lori.
I loved your book Lori and cannot wait to read another
Have a great Wednesday everyone, I’ve a lovely evening ahead of me. My niece Sheryl is graduating from UCD today and tonight all of the O’Grady’s will be out in force to celebrate such a wonderful achievement. Watch out Dublin, the Wexford gang are in town! We are all very proud of you Sheryl.
Chat soon,
Carmel
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