Date
of Birth/Sign: February
9th/Aquarius. Born in the Year of
the Rat, whatever that means!
My Motto since 1978: What Goes
Around Comes Around!
Best Thing That Has Happened in the
Recent Past: Getting back to my
writing. I finished a first draft
of a novel in autumn 2022. Hurray!
Worst Thing
That Happened in the Recent Past:
Dental and jaw issues.
Ouchie wah wah...
Most Admired Person: There are
so many people I admire so much .
. . but at the moment, I am SO happy
to have the affection and encouragement
of my Fairy Godmother, Lee Lynch.
She helped get me through some difficult
times that were fraught with ill health
and worry.
College: Lewis & Clark College
in Oregon: English & Political
Science double major.
Master's Degree: Hamline University,
St. Paul: English/Liberal Studies
with a focus on sociology and families
in literature.
Famous Relatives: 4th Cousins
were Orville and Wilbur Wright - but
hey! I hate to fly! The word
in the family is that we have
Blackfoot heritage, but I did a DNA
test, and funny thing----not one
single drop of American blood.
I'm European - mostly from Ireland,
Scotland, England, and a smattering
of Italian, Greek, Norwegian, Portugese,
and Nigerian. Because I'm related
to Sir Jerome Weston, Knight of the
Realm, it turns out I'm an 11th cousin
to Queen Elizabeth II - who knew!?
First Full-Time Professional Role:
Working at a Welfare agency in
St Paul, Minnesota. I spent almost
20 years at "The Hellhole."
I learned a lot and have enough stories
to last for a lifetime of novels,
but thank God it's over!
First Book Written: Ricochet
In Time (started in 1992, completed
in 1995, and published in 2001).
First Book Published: Gun Shy
(completed 1998, published online
in 1999 and in book form in early
2000. 20th Anniversary Edition
came out in 2019!)
Number of Books Published So
Far: Seventeen: eleven novels
(soon to be 12, I hope!), two short
story collections, and edited four
anthologies.
Number of Books Mostly Completed
Now But Not Ready for Publication:
Two.
Number of Books at Least Half Done:
Four more.
Number of Books Rattling Around in
Lori's Head but Unwritten: Too
many to count----somewhere in the
two dozen category.
Favorite Song: Still
a 1970's oldie, "Dancing In The
Moonlight" by King Harvest.
Favorite Bands of Late: Dua Lipa
and anyone she is singing with!
CDs I can't seem to stop listening
to lately: I'm gorging on Miley
Cyrus, Kelly Clarkson, and Chantal
Kreviazuk. I also found out that Gerry
Beckley, one of the duo that makes
up the band America, has a whole bunch
of CDs that are fantastic. So I've
got them in the CD player on Repeat.
Favorite Vocalists: Kelly Clarkson,
Halsey, Taylor Swift, Linda Eder,
Cheryl Wheeler, Dar Williams, Christopher
Cross, Whitney Houston, Carly Simon,
Donna Summer, James Taylor, and Ben
Folds.
Favorite Movies: Leaving Normal,
Flawless, Stranger Than Fiction, Truly
Madly Deeply, Fearless, and
Parenthood.
Favorite Book Series: Still Charlaine
Harris's Lily Bard series. Close Second:
Jane Casey's Maeve Kerrigan Series.
Favorite City: Used to be Duluth,
MN, but I think it's now changed to
anywhere on the Oregon Coast, particularly
Newport because that's where my Fairy
Godmother lives!
Worst food on the planet: Seafood
- I'm allergic!
Best foods on the planet: Chicken,
Cheezits, and Chocolate - but ever
since gallbladder surgery and then
kidney stones, I can't eat the latter
two very often. :-( And I need
to eat the first one a lot more often
instead of carbs!)
Favorite TV Shows: Gentleman
Jack!, This Is Us, A Million Little
Things, FBI, 9-11, pretty much
any British crime show, and every
few years I can't help but go back
and re-watch Jericho!
Favorite sport to Play: Basketball.
Favorite sport to Watch: In the
category of Guilty Pleasures, I very
much enjoy boxing. So glad women finally
are in it - *GO* Claressa Shields!
Best thing about being a Published
Author: Getting to meet lots of
wonderful people and sharing my vision
of how the world works in the plots
that come to me. I went to the mystery
convention, Bouchercon, in Minneapolis
in Sept 2022, and it was fabulous.
I met so many of my all-time favorite
writers.
Worst thing about being a Published
Author: Mean reviews. I don't
mind reviews that point out areas
where I need to continue to make improvement.
I just hate the ones where the reviewer
slams me personally and says nonsensical
stuff making it clear they never read
the book. Bah!
Happiest
Moments in Life: Time
spent with the Minnesota Minions,
with my best friends Claudia Kuzie,
Jessie Chandler, Jodi & Peggy
Zeramby, Renae Standen, Jane Cuthbertson,
and Lee & Lainie Lynch, with all
my writing pals and friends (including
the Polliwogs), and with my dad, sisters,
nieces, nephews, and extended family.
I'm blessed to have a large family
and an even bigger chosen family.
All of them brighten my days!
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