Come and Say Hello to Rae Lori!!

Welcome Rae, we are delighted to have you here and would love to learn more about you and your books.

First, please give us a little background about yourself.

Thanks so much for having me! :-)

Your books cover a variety of topics. Where do your ideas come from?

Mostly in the world around me. I see certain situations or stories in the news and I wonder how different characters react to the situation based on who they are and what world they live in. From there the story grows and I have an idea. Usually I don’t have the full idea until I start writing the story and get a better sense of the characters and what kind of world they inhabit. Once I do get an idea it’s a wild ride every time!

Rae, I understand you write comic books also, how has this affected your present writing?

I’ve written a few that have remained shelved (not including the proposal that I sent to Marvel which *ahem* never really panned out!) But during my screenwriting phase it helped me to learn how to form a beginning, middle and end to a story. It also fueled my immense love for sci-fi and fantasy comic books (which I occasionally still devour to this day).

Your art is incredible. Do you plan on combining your art into your writing?

Thank you so much! I did one illustrated novella last year called The Eye of Alloria and I’m currently planning on doing another one hopefully in the coming months. Usually I use art as a breather from when I get tire of writing but mostly I tie it in by creating my own book covers and/or wallpaper, bookmarks and other promotional material to give to my readers. That’s probably one of my favorite things about marketing and the creative process.

Please tell us about your newest releases.

My newest releases are both romances. One is a contemporary novella, a re-release of one of my early works entitled One Evening in London. It was first published at my former partner’s and my publishing company and once we closed out doors I wanted to make it available again with some bonus things for my readers.

What other projects are in the working stage?

I’m currently working on a proposal for a book that melds contemporary times with fairtytale fantasy. I’m hoping it resonates with both young adult and adult readers. I’m also shopping an urban fantasy romance series that I hope to turn into three books. And finally I’m hoping to release the second book in my Cimmerian Series real soon.

I’m also in the process of contracting a Skinwalker romance trilogy as we speak with a wonderful company that just reopened. I’m really looking forward to working with them in the near future.

Is there something you would love to write but have not had the opportunity?

Oh yes! I’d love to try my hand at historical fiction based on an actual person. I was doing some research recently and came upon this fascinating lady who lived around the time of Marie Antoinette reign. It was literally a rags to riches story as she moved from Haiti (Port-au-Prince at the time) to France and became the country’s most sought after woman next to Madame du Barry. There were no records of this woman, unfortunately, given her background but I happened to come upon mention of her in du Barry’s memoirs. It was like hitting a goldmine and I’ve had the idea in my head ever since. So far I haven’t found the right time to write her story but I’m still researching her time period and trying to dig up anything else I can on her.

What is a typical day like in the life of Rae Lori?

Usually I get up in the late morning, turn on my computer and grab my coffee. For a while I check email, my blog reads and group notices which can take up a good deal of my time if there are some juicy news going on (I see why writers get sucked into “research” so easily!). After I put that aside I usually do my freelance art projects for any clients waiting for their work. Sometimes I focus on doing a few projects to market my new releases. Somewhere in there I eat *laughs* and definitely stop to exercise and take a breather.

Later I come back to do some writing. I tend to write best in the evening or late at night when it’s really quiet. If I have the story really loud in my head at the time, I can do a few pages or so in the afternoon. I usually leave them for that day so I can type it out the next day and then continue the story knowing what scene comes next. After I finish up writing and checking email and boards for the last time, I turn in. I have a pile of books to read and usually I’m reading one of those before I fall asleep just so I can relax my mind (and hopefully quiet it down a little). Then the next day I get up and do it all over again!

On weekends I’m usually catching up on works that my crit group has uploaded and give and get feedback myself.

When you are not writing, what are your hobbies or interests?

I’m a big movie lover so I love watching movies, I’m trying to learn the acoustic guitar at the moment which is kind of fun and I must admit I fall into fandom sometimes. A friend of mine got me into making banners and icons for other fans so I make some and collect others when I need a break from my own worlds. It’s wonderful to meet people who have the same love you do for a piece of work or world an author has created.

What authors inspire you? Which are your favorites?

I’d say Octavia Butler, Aldous Huxley, Philip K. Dick, Ray Bradbury, Dawn Thompson and Neil Gaiman really inspire me. I haven’t read all of their works (some are still in my ginormous TBR pile) but I love the fact that they can be so versatile. Their work is usually in the speculative fiction pile (save for Thompson who’s usually in romance) but the stories they weave tend to go beyond genre labels and touch a lot of readers. I hope to that with my story. I also love how gracious they were to their readers and how touched the readers were by them.

As for favorites, I love Shakespeare, PKD, Sandra Kitt, Thompson mostly because they have awesome minds and great characters.

Do you have any advice for new writers?

Sure! You may hear a lot of things in this business from editors, agents even fellow writers. Remember this business is highly subjective and you have to focus on telling a great story and finding out the best way to get that story to your readers. Know that there will always be words of criticism, even from your readers. Take what you can apply to make your work better each time you write. Learn all you can. Research your topics (but don’t research too much because you’ll get sucked into such awesome side information that you forget what you were looking for in the first place!). Above all, don’t forget to hold on to that love of writing and sharing stories because it will get you through the hard times. Learn to polish your work and get feedback from a good critique group within your genre. Above all, don’t give up.

If you’re a new writer just starting out, chuck what I just said and focus on telling a great story for now. The business end can put a damper on the creative end if you focus on it too much (I’m still learning to find a happy medium myself) but if you learn the basic mechanics of how to tell a great story, you’ll be good to go. I just read Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird novel taken from her classes to first time writers and I think that’ll be immensely helpful for all writers. Plus she’s funny to boot.

Is there anything you would like your readers to know about you?

Yeah! I’m always open to hearing from readers so feel free to contact me at Rachel@raelori.com. I love chatting books and movies. I’m also a serious info junkie. Recently I got hooked on podcasts and have been downloading them like crazy. There’s so much info and thoughts currently being exchanged out there on blogs, podcasts and forums. It’s a great time to be a storyteller.

How can your readers find out more about you and your books?

You can check out my current and future works at my (recently updated) website at http://www.raelori.com. You can sign up at my newsletter on the site and/or follow my blog which is usually updated more often at http://raelori.blogspot.com. If you’re an avid reader looking for a good read, I announce my releases there and also some great books I am currently reading on my shelf. I have a list of Fave Reads of the year on the side bar and I also showcase some writers you may not have heard of yet. Feel free to come on down because the more the merrier!

You can also check out my book directly at my publishers:

Freya’s Bower: www.freyasbower.com

Eternal Press: www.eternalpress.ca

The Wild Rose Press: www.thewildrosepress.com (writing under Adrianna Ravel)

Wild Child Publishing: www.wildchildpublishing.com