Author Interview & Contest with Lori Devoti

About a couple of weeks ago I read Amazon Ink by Lori Devoti. It was an amazing read and one of the first things I did after finishing it was contacting the award winning author. Lori Devoti was happy to hear from me and instantly said she would love to be a guest on the blog.

So today I welcome Lori to Amberkatze's Book Blog and hope you all enjoy the interview answers she gave me to post. Make sure you check out her books and also check out the contest below (US & Candada only!).

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Amber - Welcome to Amberkatze's Book Blog! It is great to have you here as a guest! Could you start things off by telling my readers how you came up with the idea for your Amazon series? Was it a long process or did it just come to you?

Lori - It came in bits and pieces. I'd been thinking of doing a story on Amazons for quite a while before I actually started writing.
Amber - Will there be more books in the series? How long would you like to see things continue? Do you see an end in sight?

Lori - I would like to write at least one more, but for now, unfortunately, no more books are under contract. That doesn't, however, mean I might not go ahead at some point and write the book anyway. With the changes in publishing (growth of eBooks) that is something an author can actually consider even without a publisher behind the book.

Amber - Your main character has a few generations of family around her. Is family very important to you?

Lori - Family is important to me. I think I drew on the generations shown in Amazon Ink from my childhood. Unfortunately, my children don't get to grow up surrounded by multiple generations like I did.

Amber - What kind of research have you done for your books? Anything interesting or is the research boring?
Lori - I enjoyed the research I did for the Amazon series. It was mainly a combination of researching real archeological digs of female warrior graves and Greek myth.

Amber - The Amazon books are your Urban Fantasy debut but you have written quite a few other books. Can you tell us a little about them?

Lori - My first two books were romantic comedies set in my home region of the Missouri Ozarks. When the popularity of romantic comedy took a dive, I switched to dark paranormal romance. I have six of those out with Harlequin Nocturne and a seventh coming out in July.

Amber - Why did you become an author and what drew you to the paranormal genre?

Lori - I became an author because I was at home with my kids and had the time. That sounds horribly unglamorous, but it's the truth. So far as paranormal, I have been a big fantasy reader for years. It was a natural move.

Amber - How much say do you have in the book publishing process? Eg. Do you get to pick the cover?

Lori - I get input on the covers, but I don't get to pick them.

Amber - What are the good times and bad times of being an author?

Lori - Good times are going out and seeing people or hearing from people who "get" your books. My bad times have all pretty much been when I was trying to write too much in too short of time. Not good.

Amber - What is next? Are you working on any other projects you would like to tell us about?

Lori - I have a few things in the works. I have more Nocturnes coming out this year and next. I also have a paranormal young adult out with editors and am working on a new single title paranormal romance proposal. When I am finished with it, I have an idea for another urban fantasy I'd like to try.

Amber - There are alot of online sites taking up peoples time lately. Are you on Facebook or any other sites? Do you think the sites are useful or do they just take up too much of your time?

Lori - I'm on Twitter and Facebook. They can take up time, but you need some time away from writing and being an extrovert I need some outlet. I have over the years eliminated a number of things though that I felt were just time sucks--mainly loops.

Amber - What are you listening and watching lately? Is there any music or other media that influences your writing?

Lori - Not really. I write in silence. I do watch a lot of reality TV. I love reality TV. I think you can get a lot of insight into how people think and act watching it.

Amber - If you could be any paranormal creature, what would you be and why?

Lori - I'm not sure. Maybe shift into a cat. I love the way they show their mood with their tails.

Amber - Thanks for being a guest on Amberkatze's Book Blog! I hope you will stop by again!



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Contest Time!

Lori is going to send one lucky winner a surprise package. All she can guarntee is that it will include one of her books! Please note that this contest is only open to US & Canada mailing addresses!

How to Enter

Which of Lori's books would you most like to have?

No Book = No Entry

Earn more entries for each place you link this contest on the net. You can post on Facebook, Twitter & MySpace but make sure you add links here for me to confirm your entries! However please do not make individual postings for each entry. Please post all your info in one post.

You can also earn extra entries by emailing your friends about the contest. Just make sure you send a copy of your email or receipt to me at Amberkatzes_book_blog at gmx dot net.

Make sure you post your links here so I can confirm your entries.

Keep the contests going by using the Amazon link below and around the site!

The contest will stay open until Sunday 30th of May 2010 4pm CET and the winner will be picked by a randomizer. Entrants should check back to see if they have won. I do not hunt down winners and will pick new winners for any prizes not claimed within 7 days.