Lori Devoti, paranormal romance and urban fantasy author

Just in case any of you are in the area. I’m doing a book signing tomorrow at the Grand Chutes, Wisconsin Barnes and Noble. Five other authors are going to be there too. (In case I’m not enough for you. ;-) ) Pam Ford Stutz, Ana Leigh, Carrie Bebris, Linda Wichman, Victoria Hinshaw and me! It’s from 2 to 4. Stop by and buy a book for your sweetie. (I’ll have chocolate too.)

Lori

Here’s a link to an interview with her. :)

I am starting a tag for Valentine’s Day. A list of books perfect for Valentine’s Day gifts, of course. But to make it more fun, the title has to include a Valentine type word like: love, heart, kiss, Valentine, cupid. Anything you might find inside a valentine. To play take my list and add on. I’m going to start with three:

1. Love is All Around by Lori Devoti (of course!)
2. Valentine’s Day Is Killing Me by Maryjanice Davidson
3. Somebody to Love by Kate Rothwell

Now, just in case no one wants to volunteer to play, I’m going to tag Edie Ramer. :)

Okay, tonight “Hollywood week” starts. Who are you rooting for? My friend Kathy Love, fellow reality TV addict, is cheering on the little guy who sings to his turkey. Personally, while he was adorable, I think they are going to chew him up and spit him out–I hope not though. It is always great to see a nice person make it through something like that against the “tuffs”.

There were a couple people the put through that I really thought were “filler”, but I can only think of one that actually somewhat annoyed me–Mr. Wonderful. You know who I mean?

So, who are hoping will blow them away, and who do you hope just gets blown away?

Lori

p.s. Later tonight is Project Runway. I haven’t locked onto one favorite yet. Have you?

I am having an eating day…do you all have those? Days where you just want to EAT?? To stave it off I tried the Nicole recommended No Pudge Brownie mix. It was good, but geez, a serving isn’t much is it? Really, I am a six foot two woman trapped in a five foot two body.

What this means is I have to do my be-good dinner. This is a recipe I made up–I tend to make up a lot of recipes. The problem with my made up recipes is that if I try to measure all the ingredients and write them down so I can share them, say with you, they don’t turn out right. So, here it is exactly as I make it:

Mashed Cauliflower (I got the idea from TGIFridays low carb menu, but mine is lower calorie because I don’t use butter.)

• However many packages of frozen cauliflower you want to make–I usually do two at a time
• Either fat free sour cream or fat free plain yogurt -whichever you have, the sour cream is a bit more decadent tasting.
• Grated Parmesean cheese.
• Spice of your choice–I like Tastefully Simple’s Fiesta Party Dip or their Garlic Garlic
• Sliced cheese of your choice–cheddar tastes best, but also has more calories than a white cheese. I usually use provolone.

Okay, steam the cauliflower until is is really done–like you can cut it with a fork. Then put all of it in a food processer. (I tried mashing it by hand for a while, but this is much better.) Add however much sour cream/yogurt, spice and parmesean cheese as you like. You can start with the sour cream/yogurt to get the consistency you want then add the others to taste. Spread it all out in a big baking dish and top it with the cheese–then just bake it to melt the cheese.

Yummy and best of all, very filling. Just don’t overdo the cheese–that’s your biggest risk.

Let me know if you try it and like it. :)

Lori

I just got done with my judging sprint for the year–both pubbed and unpubbed. Whenever I judge unpublished manuscripts there is always one or more that make the same mistake–starting in the wrong place. This takes a couple of forms–one is the dreaded back story dump. You know the narrator/POV character telling you everything that ever happened before in their life? But it can also be just starting before the action–so you (the reader) get dragged along as the POV character journeys (physically or emotionally) to where the real story starts.

This can take pages–even chapters. Pages and chapters that if I wasn’t judging I would never have read because I would have slapped that puppy down and trotted off to watch whatever reality TV program I had recorded on my DVR.

To protect the innocent, I’m not going to go any further into what not to write–but instead thought I would give an example of a book that
starts in the right place. Risk Everything by my friend Sophia Johnson.

The story opens with the heroine sneaking out of the castle and putting on chain mail. In the opening pages we aren’t drowned in explanation as to why the heroine would be donning mail–we just see her do it. We also aren’t forced to live through the raids, and the threatening notes that proceeded this early morning adventure. Nope, that is just dropped in later when it becomes necessary for us to know it. So, we are left free to just experience what the heroine and hero are experiencing as they do.

Leaving out things like the history of the raids is hard for a writer. I think historicals in particular like to tell you all this stuff up front, but really, if you can keep yourself from doing it, for me it makes for a much more entertaining read. (have I mentioned I skip almost all prologues too?)

How about you? What is your tolerance for slow beginnings?

Lori

One last mention–for great handling of back story, check out Jennifer Cruisie. She is the prime example of how little back story a book really needs. Fab!!

I am so far behind this is incredibly embarassing–but I want to say a great big thank you to the following writers for donating to a basket I put together to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

This is a very personal cause to me and my family, and I truly appreciate any and everything people do to help find a cure. So, hugs and thanks to: Shari Anton, Kristina Cook, Jackie Ivie, Laura Drewry, Sandy Blair, Teresa Bodwell, Nikki Rivers, Barbara Plum, Rowena Cherry, Sophia Johnson, Sally MacKenzie, Jane Toombs, Laura Iding, Isabel Sharpe, Eve Silver, Cynthia Clement, Kathleen Long, Caroline Linden, Donna Kowalczyk, and Sue McKlveen.

Lori

Enough said. :)

Lori

Still making those ARCs for Love is All You Need, but I have also been busy tweaking a couple of synopses. The first is a paranormal mom lit. The second is a dark paranormal romance–yep dark.

I’ll let you know how those turn out. :)

Lori