Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Meet Author Lori Toland

To get us started can you tell us a little about what you are working on or have coming out?

I’m hugely excited about my release today “Home For The Holidays: A Replacement Guitarist Christmas” from Dreamspinner Press. I also have several stories coming in 2011, including “Trust in Me” from Loose Id.

Do you have any guilty pleasures?

Besides watching sexy men touching each other? Actually my guilty pleasure is brushing my teeth in the shower (no joke) because I feel like it’s wasting water. 

What is the hardest scene you have had to write (published or not)? Why?
Oooh. That’s a secret but it is going to be in an upcoming book of the Replacement Guitarist series. It deals with a loss Jason experienced that haunts him always.

If you had a reporter follow you around for the day, what would the readers get to see in your daily schedule?
Readers would see how harried my schedule is one day and the next day, I’m sorta twiddling my thumbs and busy for a couple hours. It makes for a bad writing schedule but I do plan to always have my laptop with me.
When you begin your stories, do you go with the flow, or go with an outline?
I often start with just an idea for one scene and expand it from there. Sometimes scenes from another story I started fits in well with the book I’m working with. Sometimes there is this one scene I feel that makes the book and once I wrote that scene, I have a full outline and I know where I’m taking the book. Or, it just ends up being a scene kind of broken and left out.

Is it hard coming up with titles or characters names?
Yes. I always tell my editor, “I am NOT married to the title.” However character names often become embedded in my DNA.

What does your workstation look like?
I have an old oak desk my grandfather got me for my 12th birthday and an oak hutch my mom got me for my 14th birthday. My dad rebuilt the hutch when it was destroyed in a move so I love it. I do however write in bed or out at a diner or coffee shop and it ends up being kind of a change of pace.

When you're not writing, what do you like to do to just kick back and have fun?

I live a few minutes from Disney so I go there at least once a week with my husband. I also try to catch up on movies and TV when I’m not working or writing.

Do you ever experience writer's block? If you do, how do you cope with it?

I do experience writer’s block but it isn’t for lack of being able to put the words on the page. Usually it’s because of some other thing going on in my life, like maybe trouble with a crit partner where I don’t want to hand my work over to him/her. Or writing exhaustion (where I need a break from my keyboard, period)

Were you an avid reader as a child? What type of books did you enjoy reading?

I loved The Vampire Diaries when I was a teenager (when the original books came out). I remember when I was waiting for The Fury to be released and my best friend got it early somehow for my birthday. I’ve loved romance for a long time and I never actually thought I would be writing it today.



Tell us a bit about your latest book, and what inspired you to write such a story.

Well, my latest book is Home For The Holidays and it’s the sequel to The Replacement Guitarist. Blaze and Jason are back, taking a vacation from the energy sapping schedule of touring with a pop star.

Their vacation starts to go south when Jason’s family announces they are coming to his place for Christmas. Family feuds threaten Jason and Blaze’s new relationship and when a surprise trip to Hawaii is thrown into the mix, it may be more than their budding relationship can endure.

I wrote the story and used a lot of scenes from my own family holiday celebrations. Coming from a blended family that’s multicultural and different religious backgrounds, there was no set recipe for an exact celebration. We just went with what came naturally. It was always crazy and fun and no one knew what to expect. Most of the time, all the kids escaped the parents and called our friends from my private phone line (no cell phones back then)

Is there any books coming that you are itching to read (either electronic or print) from your favorite authors?
Oh yes! Mary Calmes, anything by her and Cat Grant’s latest book, Appearing Nightly. 

If you were to replenish your cabinets with one junk food, what would it be?
Christmas fudge cookies. They are amazingly yum.

What is one thing scientists should invent?
Something to make the words in my brain appear on my word docs lightning fast. That would make me happy.

Are you a morning person or a night person?
I am both. My schedule changes so much, sometimes I’m working in the early morning, sometimes I’m working late at night. It depends on what needs to get done.

Where can readers find you on the ‘Net?
Wow, I’m a lot of places. You can check out my website and I have links to all my social networking there. 

And that’s at http://loritoland.com

Thank you Dawn for having me by and have an awesome holiday season!


Blurb for Home For The Holidays

Jason Stockton and Blaze Shinozuka are looking forward to escaping their hectic
rock and roll lifestyle for a relaxing holiday. Their plans seem promising, and
the passion between them burns hotter than ever as they keep each other warm
despite the icy temperatures. Then a surprise
Stockton family get-together
threatens to reveal what Jason would rather keep hidden, and an impromptu trip
to Blaze's home in
Hawaii makes the cultural, financial, and social differences
between them more obvious than ever. Thanks to two chaotic family holidays and a lot of painful secrets, Christmas could end up being more than their budding relationship can endure.



3 comments:

Andi Anderson said...

I can't wait to read the continuation of Blaze and Jason's story! I know it will be a great success for you!!
Great interview, Lori:) Happy Holidays:)

Dawn R. said...

Dang this sounds like a good series to enjoy. Have to check both books out. They sound yummy.

Dawn

Lori Toland said...

Thank you so much Andi and Dawn. I hope you enjoy them :)

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