Ask the Author: Lurlene McDaniel
Answered Questions (118)
Lurlene McDaniel
Thank you for your kind words. Yes, I loved writing these Christian romances, and once thought this would be the path of my writing career. But God had another direction for my writing....the Young Adut genre. And that’s where I made my living and grew my fan base for 30 years. So many of those readers have grown up and have careers and families, which is why I wrote the Windermere series, beginning with THE YEAR OF LUMINOUS LOVE. At least my characters were out of high school in this series! My next release for this series will be on Dec 18, THE GIRL WITH THE BROKEN HEART. I appreciate your encouragement to re-awaken my first dream.
Lurlene McDaniel
Truthfully, I purposefully left BREATHLESS open ended because I wanted every reader to decide for themselves who granted Travis his wish to die on his own terms. I wanted readers to discuss the book’s ending. I wanted readers to ask themselves, “If Travis was my friend, boyfriend, brother, could I grant his wish?” It’s an ethical dilemma that each of us must dig deep inside ourselves for an answer.
Lurlene McDaniel
Thanks for being a loyal reader! Glad you remembered our book connection, especially since I’ve been writing a small series meant for my readers who’ve grown up,. That series begins with THE YEAR OF LUMUIOUS LOVE, and is followed by four more titles. THE GIRL WITH THE BROKEN HEART will be on sale in December (in time for Christmas). When to retire is a head scratcher because I have so many other things I want to do these days. I have grandkids, a love of travel and friends who want me to visit. Writing future books always depends on book sales, and in today’s world and a writer must decide if the the sales are worth the time and energy to write other books after a long career. It’s a balancing act. Today’s readers have many choices. Love my readers!
Lurlene McDaniel
Yes. All are part of most recent series with older characters moving on through life beyond high school. YEAR OF LUMINOUS LOVE, YEAR OF CHASING DREAMS start the series. All stories are centered within a made-up small town, Windemere, in Tennessee. GABRIEL and BABY focus on a new set of characters in the same town, but previous characters show up and will be recognized by readers of the first two books. A fifth book, THE GIRL WITH THE BROKEN HEART will publish inDecember (in time for Christmas!). It will have two new characters with familiar ones from the earlier books included.
Lurlene McDaniel
Glad you enjoyed SOMEBODY’S BABY! Next book is THE GIRL WITH THE BROKEN HEART, and is supposed to pub in July. Thanks for asking!
Lurlene McDaniel
The ideas are everywhere...news papers, magazines, stories on the web. Sometimes it’s just a fragment that I read or hear and it fires my imagination. I feel great empathy for sick and hurt people, and years ago, I wanted others to understand what their lives were like, their courage, and what they dreamed about regardless of their limited futures. In the past I’ve written two 50,000 word books a year, but now it takes me longer b/c I want to enjoy my family and also travel.
Lurlene McDaniel
Actually, Lani and Dawson appear in my next novel set in fictional Windemere... The new book is THE GIRL WITH THE BROKEN HEART and features two new characters, and will likely be available in July 2018.
Lurlene McDaniel
When I wrote DON’T DIE MY LOVE, I had no idea it would become such a fan fave. The inspiration was simply to write a love story about two teens and how their love reached across the barrier of time. The tulips represent eternal love.
Lurlene McDaniel
My phone chimed, and when I saw the caller, my heart went cold and my hands trembled. The Internal Revenue Service wanted my money!
Lurlene McDaniel
I’m not sure I understand your question....in SOMEBODY’S BABY the story focuses on Sloan, Dawson and Lani you read about in LOSING GABRIEL. I also wanted readers to understand that Sloan had matured and began to think of others instead of only herself. Knowing she had a half sister who had a child, gave Sloan a sense of family, and of belonging to something bigger than herself
Lurlene McDaniel
I stop writing, and take a break. During the break, I travel, shop, visit friends. However, during that time the characters are living inside my head, and before I know it, they start talking to me, and that breaks the block. I also plan scenes, and do a detailed plot line before starting. And, most important, I NEVER begin writing a book until I have its ending. Often, I have an ending long before I have the plot and characters! So for me, the ending is really the beginning of all my books.
Lurlene McDaniel
I heard a radio interview with a 23-yr old woman who had leukemia, and had gone out of remission. The woman's name was Rochelle Dove. Her story touched my heart and I thought her medical journey would make an interesting book for middle school readers. SIX MONTHS TO LIVE was successful and so I took Dawn Rochelle all the way through high school---a survivor, unlike Rochelle Dove who died before SIX MONTHS was published.
Lurlene McDaniel
Publishing was a whole different ballgame than today. Back then, I was very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. I met a woman who ASKED me to write a book for her company's fledgling Book Fair business! I wrote a couple of books for them quickly, but when I wrote SIX MONTHS TO LIVE, it took a few months to write (30,000 words) and I already had an editor at the company so it went right into production. The book came out in 1985, and still sells in book fairs today. I was blessed!
Lurlene McDaniel
Sadly, no. In my mind the ONE LAST WISH series ended with all looking forward to Katie and Josh's future of marriage, and a life together. Thanks for being a loyal reader.
Lurlene McDaniel
I wanted to create characters who had different values---what better way than an Amish boy, a believer with an honest and sincere belief system, and a girl with a more worldly outlook on life? I enjoyed working with these two. I also liked inserting a spiritual being, an Angel, for the Bible clearly speaks of them as messengers of God, and that people are sometimes visited by Angels. I very much enjoyed writing these books!
Lurlene McDaniel
I don't really have list going. I mostly read electronically, and I try and read new writers. I diligently search online and when a blurb catches my eye, I try it. If I like a book, I keep going. If not, I delete and move on. So many books...so little time...
Lurlene McDaniel
I never knew my biological father. Mom and he divorced when I was under a year old. She married my dad when I was about three and I wasn't told about this until I was 11. The news shocked me, but I've never felt a desire to meet or know my bio dad/family. Both Mom and Dad are gone now, and I miss them, but I've always been fine with the choices Mom made for both our sakes so long ago. My Daddy was the Best!
Lurlene McDaniel
I write to an already negotiated contract...and every contract has a deadline. So, yes, I write to meet that deadline, often all day...9-5pm, 3 to 5 days a week. Writing is my job and a 70,000 word book with interesting characters takes a lot of hours to create. Because I've written 75 books during my career, most of the storytelling is instinctive---I know what my readers want from my books, so I try and create stories that will appeal to them. Craft learning is never-ending. Reading other authors well-structured works over several genres of fiction is always helpful and rewarding. Learning is on-going!
Lurlene McDaniel
See answered question above
Lurlene McDaniel
I started publishing with School Book Fairs/Willowisp Press (Lerner Publishing now). One of the things that contributed to my early book successes was target marketing---books sold directly to target audience via book fairs. Successful Subsequent titles built my name with SIX MONTHS TO LIVE, being my break-out book that took me to Bantam/Random House. Yes, YA titles are a more difficult sale than adult b/c teens have a lot of entertainment choices via social media these days. Also the demographic is smaller than with the adult market..
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Dec 21, 2018 08:00AM · flag