Busy Moms Book Reviews: 08/31/13

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Lori Foster / L.L. Foster

Since first publishing in January 1996, Lori Foster has become a Waldenbooks, Borders, USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly and New York Times bestselling author. Lori has published through a variety of houses, including Kensington, St. Martin’s, Harlequin, Silhouette and Samhain. She is currently with Berkley/Jove. Lori believes it’s important to give back to the community as much as possible, and for that reason she ran special contests in conjunction with a publisher, facilitating many first sales for new authors. She routinely organizes events among authors and readers to gather donations for various organizations. Along with her good friend, Duffy Brown, Lori hosts a very special annual “Reader & Author” event in West Chester, Ohio. Proceeds from the event have benefited many worthy causes, including the Hamilton County YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter, the Animal Adoption Foundation, The Conductive Learning Center for children with spina bifida and cerebral palsy, and The One Way Farm, Children’s Home. In 2007, Lori put together The Write Ingredients a cookbook of recipes donated by popular authors. Proceeds from the cookbook go toward Lori’s ongoing “Troop project” of collecting and mailing fun, and sometimes necessary, items to our troops. In 2008, Lori coordinated with other authors of her choosing, and through Berkley, arranged for the publication of The Power of Love, a special romance anthology of novellas about empowering women. All author and agent proceeds from the anthology go to the Hamilton Co YWCA Battered women’s shelter. In 2009, Tails of Love, another romance anthology with Lori and other contributing authors, was published through Berkley with all agent and author proceeds to benefit The Animal Adoption Foundation. In 2010, The Gift of Love romance anthology, with Lori and other contributing authors, was published with proceeds to benefit The Conductive Learning Center, a school for children with cerebral palsy and spina bifida. In 2011, The Promise of Love, a romance anthology with Lori and other contributing authors, will be published with proceeds to benefit the One Way Farm, a home for abused and abandoned children. In 2012, Love Bites, a romance anthology with Lori and other contributing authors, was published with all agent and author proceeds to benefit The Animal Adoption Foundation. Lori has received many prestigious awards, including: Romantic Times “Career Achievement Award” for: Series Romantic Fantasy Contemporary Romance Walendenbooks: Say No To Joe – second “Bestselling Original Contemporary” Borders Group Inc.: The Secret Life of Bryan – “Bestselling Original Contemporary” romance title Jude’s Law – “Bestselling Romantic Comedy” romance title Back in Black – “Bestselling Romantic Suspense” romance title Lori Foster has been both a clue in the New York Times crossword puzzle and the USA Today Quick Cross puzzle. Lori enjoys visiting with readers on her Facebook Fan page, Twitter, Goodreads, and Pinterest.

Interview
1. We talked about this a little on twitter, how do you manage to turn the men in your books from what seems like them being a-holes to sweethearts?
Well, I don't think they're ever a-holes to begin with. :-) I think strong men lead, and that can irritate some people. It can also be misleading if someone doesn't have all the facts. But my heroes always try to do what is best for everyone. They have methods that, to our heroine, can seem too pushy and controlling until she gets to know him better. But the reader, once she's given his POV and knows what he's thinking and feeling and why he does what he does, maybe even the emotional conflict he suffers for having to do things a certain way, can see his altruistic motives and his innate honor and caring.

2. Going over your FAQs page one of your do not ask questions , "What do you do with your whole day, since all you do is write books?" since I am an at home mom and get pretty much the same question I was offended for you. How do you deal with people who seem to have no boundaries or realize that their questions are just plain rude?
Overall I understand that 99.9% of the questions are asked innocently. It is a very difficult concept to understand. To so many, the process seems easy. To ME the process seems far easier and more palatable than many, many other jobs. lol. So I get it! But the time suck... my word, I spend SO much time on this business. It is never just the writing that consumes my time. It's everything that goes with it - like answering this interview, answering reader questions on FB and Twitter and in my email. Doing promo with my publisher and the publicist they hire. Sometimes two publicists. It's giving cover approval and going over the back cover copy and contracts and negotiations. It is an endless supply of "busy work" that could easily take over my life.
I try very hard to "finish up" my work day by 6pm so I can chill some with my hubby. Sometimes I'm still answering random emails, but I try not to get super involved after that. And I try (try is always the magic word here) to keep my Sundays free for "family day." That's when our sons and their families know that we'll be around and we're happy for them to visit. We cook, hang out, chat and get caught up, etc... The boys make almost every Sunday, but it's a no-pressure deal. If they're free and can visit, we try to make ourselves available. But if they have other commitments, then we understand and it's all good. So far that system has *mostly* worked with my insane schedule.

When the occasional reader question comes along that is deliberately rude and condescending - which again, is rare - I most often just wish the reader luck in finding another author she enjoys. Getting into a back and forth exchange with a disgruntled reader is just another time suck - but without any benefits.

3. What are some of the perks of being a grandmother vs. being a mother? (I am curious my mother always says it's being able to do the fun stuff without having to worry about buying school clothes)
Ha! Well off the top of my head, more sleep! I love seeing my grandsons (2 of them, with a 3rd on the way) and I'm about as proud as any grandma can be. The oldest, almost 8, is just a little genius and so clever and funny. The "going on 2 yo" grandson is a hoot. He loves to dance and if you just knock on wood twice, he gets started. :-) They're both precious. (The 3rd will also be a boy. lol. I don't think the Fosters produce girl children.)
It's also nice to go to school functions without all the prep work. As a grandma, I just get to show up and see the fun, not all the work that went into it.
Best of all, I get to spoil them. One of my favorite pastimes is shopping for my grandsons. I admit, I go overboard. As a mother I never had as big a budget for the "fun" stuff.

4. What is the first thing you do when you have finished a book?
Collapse, rest a day or two (and by rest, I mean I do all the work *except* writing on a book, which usually entails getting caught up on other things) and then get started on the next book. As a writer, I haven't taken a "real" vacation since... well, since before I published. I'm always on deadline, so even while away I tweak and keep notes and answer reader emails, etc...
But there's something about finishing a book that just totally exhausts me. I think I take that big breath and just drop.

5. Are you already planning the 10th Annual Reader and Author Get Together? What donations are you looking for and where can they be sent?
We start planning the next event even before the current event is wrapped up! So yes, lots of preparations already under way.
This year we're eliminating paper products from the goody bags. Our volunteers were just too overworked trying to stuff a gazillion and one little things into the 500+ goody bags.
The only thing I'm looking for right now is sponsors. There's a difference between sponsors and contributors.
Contributors donate things like the goody bags, the name tags, lanyards, etc... Most of those are already taken by contributors but for anything else we need, I'll put out a query later, when I'm ready for it.
Sponsors, however, donate significant cash - $1000 or more - and are given one of our 8 boardrooms in exchange to use during the event. Anyone wishing to be a sponsor should contact me with the amount he/she wishes to give as a sponsorship, along with details of how he/she would use the boardroom. Because I'm insistent on the event staying friendly to all regardless of what subgenre of romance readers enjoy (contemporary, suspense, erotica, historical, YA, etc...) there are limitations on what can be done in the boardrooms.
If anyone is interested, please submit a proposal of $ donation and planned activities for the boardrooms.
And just so you know, this year (2013) we maxed out our space literally in days. Over 500 people (our max) registered in hours! It was awesomely insane. After I got things sorted, we had a very lengthy waitlist. I got *most* of the people off the waitlist and into the event because of last minute cancellations/conflicts/family illness, etc...
More info is here: http://lorifoster.com/connect-with-lori-online/readerauthor-get-together/ Details for 2014 will go up on the site in Jan, and registration will open in March on a specific day that'll be announced in my newsletter.

6. Getting Rowdy comes out September 24th, I absolutely loved it and can't wait for Dash of Peril. Cannon was my favorite character - he really was a sweet little hottie. You mentioned he would be the first in a new series. Can you give us any hints on what this new series will be about?
Absolutely! First though, I love that you called Cannon a "sweet little hottie," but let's make sure readers know he's not little. lol. The young man has blue black hair, light blue eyes, a shredded body, and is 6'2" tall.
Cannon is a fighter in the early stages of his career. He also works at Rowdy's bar, and enjoys playing protective vigilante for his neighborhood. Between the time you meet him in Rowdy's book, and get to know him better in Dash's book, he gets a little older so that when he's presented as the hero in the first book of a new series, he'll be a little more mature than his current 23 years. His career as an MMA style fighter will also have developed and that's the direction I'm going with the new series. Ala my last fighter series, with "Causing Havoc," "Simon Says," "Hard to Handle," and the others, the books won't be about fighting. They'll be about very disciplined, highly capable fighters fitting a romance into their rigid routines. Of course there will be suspense, and action, and lots of sexy romance.
Rowdy's story, "Getting Rowdy," comes out Sept 24th.
Dash's story, "Dash of Peril," will be out April 2014.
So the first book of the new series will be sometime around Sept/Oct 2014. A long way off, but we're already working on facets of it. Such is the writing industry!

7. What are your favorite sweets to eat when you are having a bad day?
As often as not, I'll want something salty on a bad day, like Ritz crackers or Pretzel Crisps. Yummy. But when I do want sweets, it's something gooey and doughy. Glazed donuts, lemon pie, Sugar Babies (candies) and occasionally chocolate caramels.
I'm a grazer, so I pretty much snack all the time. I try to eat healthier stuff like baby carrots or grapes, but yeah... I wouldn't be 20lbs overweight if I stuck with the healthy stuff. lol.

Thank you for the terrific interview!

Books
**Note I think I have all of Fosters books below, lack of sleep due to a restless child made things blend together a bit and I might have missed one or two. If I missed something please let me know and I will get it added. Thank You to Lori for the interview you're the best doll!**

Lover Undercover Series