About Lori Lapekes:
I’ll always be a country girl at heart. Growing up on a small farm in Wayland, Michigan was a surreal experience; our excitement consisted of such things as riding a bow-legged cow named Raisin, sitting in the crow’s nest of a magic apple tree and reading comic books, or building leaf forts and Koolaid-Machines. Yet I still found time to write goofy plays that my sisters and neighbors would act out beneath the boughs of the huge maple trees rimming the yard of our humble farm house. That’s when the writing bug really started,and continues to this day. Our magic apple tree (sniff) is long gone, but stories fill my head nonetheless. My hope is that the peculiarities of my life have lead to an originality in my stories that people will connect with and love.
What inspires you to write?
I have been writing since I was a kid. I think it was a way for me to make up stories that involved my sisters, and in a way to control our lives through fantasy and adventure! I have been quite shy all of my life, but my sisters weren’t, so I put all of us in predicaments that I could control on paper.
That was the start….
Now, my stories often come as a result of an intriguing dream,or even a daytime fantasy that won’t let me go. (Although I did once dream that i was riding a flying carrot stick, not sure if that will ever be a book, but who knows?)
My friends have always teased me about my wacky dreams!
Tell us about your writing process.
I am soooo unusual in that I write my first drafts…by hand! I just can’t connect my thoughts and ideas on a keyboard. I think it has something to do with needing an organic connection from my hand, to a pen ,to a piece of paper. Afterwards, 9after I’ve hired someone to type up the manuscript,) I can edit and changer it as much as I want.
Oh, and I never outline. For me, it feels claustrophobic. I know I can change things from an outline, but I mostly write from the seat of my pants, although I always have an idea where the story is heading–and usually an ending. But even the ending can change if the story makes me change it! ( Stories are alive to me.)
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
Not out loud…that I know of! (Maybe that’s why people stare at me so often when I am alone.)
Everything is in my head. I may read some of the story out loud to see if it makes sense, or how a line flows, but I don’t actually talk to them. They are my creation, and they must listen to me through the pen and keyboard. Hee, hee, control issues i guess!
What advice would you give other writers?
You always hear never give up, and that is true. But you can get tired and burned out and depressed. When that happens, I think you must take a break. Whether it’s for a few days of a few years, take the time to read a lot, enjoy life, and revive yourself.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I am with several small publishers.
I am not against self-publishing, but the process terrifies me! I work during the day as a graphic artist, so I know I can create great covers if allowed, ( So far I have only been allowed on my first book, “For a Short Time,)” through a Canadian publisher, Lachesis.) But for me, I appreciate the editing and attention small publishers give.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
It makes me sort of sad that it seems to be going to mostly e-books. I appreciate them, certainly, and have bough lots of them, but I also like the smell of paper, how it fells in your hands, and how people ask you about what you are reading on a plane, etc. when they see the cover.
(Now, if an electromagnetic pulse hits the earth that’s big enough and fries all electricity, paper books will once again rule.)
(Not that I think an emp will hit any time soon, but one never knows…)
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer, Beta Readers
What genres do you write?: contemporary romance, romantic suspense, new adult
What formats are your books in?: eBook, Print, Both eBook and Print, Audiobook
Website(s)
Lori Lapekes Home Page Link
Link To Lori Lapekes Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit, to allow you, the reader, to hear the author in their own voice.
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