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01.May.08
Share your favorite setting for a novel and you could win an autographed backlist book (winner's choice!) from Lori in this month's contest. Enter for your chance to win!

18.April.08
Lori writes about everything from the weather to high-tech reading devices in this month's Journal entry. Check out her latest recommended read, too!

17.March.08
Lori shares photos from her winter escape in Jamaic-aah, plus an Oscar party wrap-up, football musings, and a new recommended read in this month's Journal entry. Check it out!

15.March.08
Get ready for Mother's Day with Lori's latest novella, Mommy for Rent, part of the Harlequin SuperRomance Anthology, Mothers of the Year. If you're a mother, or have a mother, you'll enjoy these heart-warming stories from Lori Handeland, Rebecca Winters, and Anna DeStefano.  Preview it here.

15.February.08
Follow Lori from New York to Appleton to Las Vegas in this month's Journal entry.

15.January.08
Lori got some swanky new 'tools of the trade' over the holidays and tells all about them in this month's Journal entry. Join some of the men in her life at a football game and check out her latest recommended read, too!

10.November.07
We've added a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section to the site. Be sure to let Lori know if you've got a question you don't see on the list.

We've added a Site Map to help you find things. Look for a quick link at the bottom of every page. Be among the first to hear about web site changes and events: Join Lori's Email Fanlist!

Q-Where do you get your ideas?

A-Hard to say. I rarely have an “ah-ha!” moment where I get “the idea.” I usually just start doodling on a yellow legal pad, writing down everything I can think about the situation and the characters. The plot grows from the people.

A good book about plotting is The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler. I use this whenever I get to the plotting point of a book.

I also keep a notebook of stray ideas that might work at a later date and a folder of magazine and newspaper articles that I think might make a good jumping off point. When I need something to get me going I look at the notebook or the file.

Q-How did you get published?

A-I read a lot of the types of books I wanted to write first. Then I wrote. And wrote and wrote and wrote. The only way to get better at anything is to practice. I joined Romance Writers of America (www.rwanational.org) and my local chapter, went to conferences, meeting and joined a critique group.

When I felt my book was ready to be seen by others, I entered contests. When I finally won one, the prize was to send my book to the editor who’d judged the contest.

Eventually I got an agent by sending my book to several and she sold my first book to Dorchester publishing.

This took several years and a lot of rejections. By the time I had my first book sold, I had 4 written. Don’t stop writing and wait for the answer on your first book, keep writing! If they buy that book they’ll want more. And when the inevitable rejections arrive, you won’t be as discouraged if you’re already in the middle of the next book.

Q-What is your work day like?

A-I’m usually at the computer by 6, doing e-mail and promo stuff while my kids get ready for school. Once they’re out the door, I write from 7-3 or 5 depending on when they get home. If I’m behind, or if something “extra” comes in—like galleys or line edits etc—I may work half a day on the weekends, too. But I prefer to take the weekends off and rest both my mind and my body for the week to come.

Q-How long does it take you to write a book?

A-It takes me 3-4 months to write a book, but that’s not including the brainstorming and proposal time, which usually comes several months to a year or more before I write it and the production time after I turn it in—which includes rewrites, copy edits and galley reviews.

Q-Why don’t you write faster?

A-I’m actually considered a fairly prolific writer. I’ve been writing for 2 houses (Harlequin and St Martin’s for several years, as well as doing novellas for both them and other houses.) Some people write faster than I do, some slower. Each writer can only write at their own speed and as fast as they “get” the ideas from wherever it is those ideas come from. I don’t like to think about where my writing comes from because I’m afraid if I analyze it too much, it’ll stop coming!

Q-Why does it take so long for the books to come out?

A-Production on a book usually takes about a year. The Nightcreature Novels have actually been coming out a bit faster than that. Once the author turns in her final draft on or before her deadline, then the editor reads the book and (usually) asks for revisions. These can be small to major and can take up to another month or more of work depending on the editor, the author and the book. Once the revisions are approved, which means the editor must read the book again and accept it as completed, the book goes to a copy editor. Then the author reviews the book with the copy edit changes and either accepts or rejects them, plus adds her own. These changes are inputted into the author’s computer file of the manuscript. Then the book is sent back to the author, as well as several other readers at the publishing house, for a final read through called the galleys or page proofs. This will be the last time the author sees the book.

In the meantime, there are all sorts of other things going on behind the scenes at the publishing house, which take time. The cover is being worked up, as well as promotion plans and galleys of the book to go out for review.

Q-Where can I find your books?

A-They are available at any bookstore—chain (Barnes and Noble, Borders, Books-a-Million or independent (privately owned) —and also at many Wal Marts, Targets, K-Marts, grocery or drug stores.

Q-The bookstore is out (doesn’t have) your book, now what?

A-Often, once the initial order is sold, a bookstore will not order more unless you ask them to. They can usually get the book within a few days to a week. You can also order the books online at amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com

In some cases, the book may be in the store, just not where you think it should be. Always ask the bookseller, who can check on their computer how many books are left in the store. If the book has just been released, it may be on the “New Releases” shelf, table or end cap (at the end of the shelves). If the book was released weeks or months ago, it might be on the romance shelf, which is alphabetized by the last name of the author.

Q-How do I get an agent?

A- Sometimes it’s harder to get a good agent than to get published. And you want a GOOD agent. A bad agent can do more damage to your career than you can imagine.

Never agree to work with any agent off the street (or the internet). Do your research, check them out, talk to their clients, find out what they’ve sold and to which publishers. Anyone can hang up an agent shingle and say they’re an agent, that doesn’t make them one. And never, EVER, pay an agent to read your work. That’s their job. If they charge a fee, they cannot be a member of the AAR, which is the Association for Author’s Representatives. There’s a reason for that. It isn’t kosher to charge money to read work being offered for representation. Agents make their money when they sell the work. If they’re making money off just reading it, where is the motivation to SELL it?

The best way to find a good agent is to look in the acknowledgement/dedication sections of books that are “like” yours. Find out who is representing similar works. Then check them out. You should have joined a writers’ association for whatever type of books you are writing. Ask questions of other authors. There is nothing authors like more than to talk about writing. If there is bad juju out there on an agent, you WILL hear about it. And while some of that may be the work of a disgruntled author, if you hear a lot of bad things and the SAME bad things from more than one author, heed the warning.

What are bad things? Long response times, lack of response, lack of follow up, low offers, bad advice, too many authors, rudeness to clients, slow payment of royalties, non-payment of royalties. All of these are BAD things.

Make sure the agent has sold a lot of books to the types of publishers you are interested in. It doesn’t pay for you to hire an agent who sells mostly non-fiction to sell your romance. Agents need to have working relationships with viable publishers and editors who publish what you are writing.

Q-Do you plan out the entire book before you start to write?

A-Yes and no. I usually know the ending and a few of the big turning points along the way, but how I get there is a mystery. And often when I get to the end, the end I planned no longer works. If I write too much of the book out before hand (i.e., in an obsessively detailed synopsis) the book for me is done. I know what happens; I’m bored. But this isn’t the way for everyone. Some writers feel better knowing where they are going, and that’s okay too. Whatever works.

Q-Will you ever be in my area to do a book signing?

A-Doubtful. Mid-list authors are not sent on book tours. So unless my NY Times Bestseller comes along soon, I’ll be in my office.

If you have any questions you’d like answered, e-mail me at Lhandel120@aol.com and I’ll add them to the FAQ page whenever possible.

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