Sunday, March 20, 2011

Interview--LORI BRIGHTON

BIO: Lori Brighton has a degree in Anthropology and worked as a museum curator. Deciding the people in her imagination were slightly more exciting than the dead things in a museum basement, she set out to become an author. Her first book, a historical romance, was published by Kensington in November of 2009. Her new release, The Ghost Hunter, is a contemporary paranormal and can be found on Amazon. Lori currently resides in the Midwest, where she juggles her time between a husband, a son, a golden retriever, a cat, two goldfish and the many, many people in her imagination.
Thanks for being here, Lori. It’s a pleasure.


#1- Tell us a little about yourself outside of your writing career…

Thanks for having me here! Let’s see…I currently live in the Southern U.S. although I’ve lived most of my life in the North/Midwest. I love art (drawing, painting and photography). I love nature and actually the first thing I had published was an article for a bird/nature magazine. As a family we love to hike and travel. We usually end up at the beach or Disney World when we go on trips. My goal is to live near the beach. My 6 year old son’s goal is to live at Disney. lol. And basically whenever I have free time I’m writing.

#2- You write in contemporary paranormal and historical romance. Any trouble genre-jumping and what challenges have you faced?

I usually work on a couple books at the same time. It’s not too bad to jump genres and I can even work on a contemporary and a historical. Although at times I forget to let go of my more formal historical voice when I’m working on a contemporary. What can confuse me are the character names. I’ll forget or use a wrong name for the wrong book. Even worse, I recently wrote a Young Adult book that’s in first person. Now going from first person to third is impossible! I always find “I’s” when it should be a “she.”

#3- How do you handle the negative reviews and critiques you receive?

I don’t mind it much when people don’t care for my book. It’s insane to think that everyone is going to love your work. It’s just not going to happen because everyone is different and has different tastes.

But it’s hard to take those reviewers who seem to love destroying a book and an author. I guess the only way I can describe it is for you to imagine working on a project at work for 6 months and your boss telling you it sucks, then he gets on the web and tells all his friends it sucks. lol.
The thing that bothers me the most isn’t so much reviewers being negative, but just the huge surge of negativity in general that you encounter on the web. There’s such a lack of respect.

As I mentioned, I can take it if someone doesn’t like my book. In fact, if they offer valuable reasons why it just may help make me a better writer. But there is certainly a difference between giving an honest review of a book as opposed to wanting to stir up controversy and belittle someone. As a writer, it’s probably better if you just don’t read them, or have a friend weed through them for you.

#4- Can you tell us about your eBook in this giveaway?

Sure! The Ghost Hunter is a contemporary paranormal romance. It’s the first book in a series and I’m actually working on the second book now. Here’s a blurb for The Ghost Hunter:

When Ashley Hunter inherits the Inn where her father mysteriously vanished years ago, she jumps at the chance to finally uncover the truth about his disappearance. But soon after taking ownership of the decrepit building, Ashley realizes she’s in for far more than she bargained. Not only has she inherited answers to many sought-after questions, she’s also inherited spirits, demons and even fallen angels! Then Cristian arrives, a gorgeous man who insists he merely needs a room to rent. She believes him, until one by one her ghosts start disappearing...

As a fallen angel destined for a life of servitude, Cristian Lucius is relegated to protecting earth from unwanted spirits. But he can’t accomplish this daunting task alone. He requires assistance from the very woman who frustrates him as much as she intrigues him. Cristian is determined to ignore his intense attraction for Ashley, and focus on his mission. If they don’t work together, they won’t have a chance in hell of defeating the demon threatening their lives. The problem is getting Ashley to trust him. No easy task, considering Cristian is the very man responsible for her father’s disappearance.

#5- You are a relatively new author on the scene. What was the publishing process like for you?

Lol, it seems like I’ve been here forever! The funny thing is that I wrote my debut book, Wild Heart, about two years before Kensington purchased it. Then like 13 months later it was published and it’s been out for almost a year now. So basically I wrote Wild Heart four years ago. It took me about seven years before that to sell.

But my publishing process is actually pretty typical. Although you hear about authors who got published with their first book, within a year and made a ridiculous amount of money, it takes the typical author years to get published and they make so little, they have to have a regular job.

But after getting rejections for seven years, you can imagine how excited I was to get that call saying they wanted to buy Wild Heart.

#6- Are there any upcoming releases we would like to know about, and could you give us your web site so readers can check it out?

Sure, my website is:

www.loribrighton.com

My second book with Kensington will be released in March of 2011. It’s called Wild Desire and has a secondary character from Wild Heart. I really enjoyed writing Wild Desire. It’s very fun and adventurous. It also has a bit more paranormal than Wild Heart.

I also have a Young Adult that will be out sometime, hopefully soon. It’s with a publisher right now and if they buy it, you’ll find the book in print format. If they don’t end up buying the book, I’ll put it out in Ebook format. It’s a contemporary and I guess what one would consider to be a paranormal, although not your typical paranormal.

#7- This about concludes it. Thank you again for joining us. Is there anything else you would like to share?

Thank you so much Kelly! I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been so supportive. Authors really would be nowhere without bloggers and readers.

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