Lillie Ammann's Blog, page 98

Interview with Author Lori Soard

Please help me welcome to my blog my guest Lori Soard. I’ve known Lori online so long I can’t remember when or how we met. She’s a prolific writer and a fellow Christian who is very active online. Lori, who is on her first blog tour for her latest novel, Dear Viking, has generously offered a free ebook of her contemporary romance Finding Ms. Right to a lucky blog reader. All you need to do to enter is to leave a comment below.

Lillie: Welcome to A Writer’s Words, An Editor’s Eye, Lori. And thanks for giving my readers a chance to win a copy of Finding Ms. Right.

Lori: Thanks so much for allowing me to join you today, Lillie. I’ve been looking forward to it.

Lillie: When did you first fall in love with writing and how did you get from there to where you are today?

Lori:  I grew up in a family where story telling was second nature. I think I loved stories and fell in love with those long before I learned to read or write. When I was given the gift of being able to string letters into words, I never looked back. I simply absorbed every book I could get my hands on, particularly romances, and I always wrote stories in my journal and kept notes on story ideas.

However, it wasn’t until I was in college and took a journalism class as an elective that I had a light bulb moment and realized that you could make a living by writing. Our first assignment was to write an article for our local newspaper and submit it.

I chose to write about two local farms that had some exotic animals like zebras, llamas, and camels. This combined my love of animals and my love of telling a story. My small town local paper not only published that story but put it on the front page. More importantly, they paid me a whopping $25 for it.

Yes, that is a paltry amount of money. However, it made me realize that people actually get paid to write. I never looked back. I started writing novels and nonfiction and have continued to do that for the last 23 years. Now, I can’t imagine ever doing anything else. I love writing in all its forms.

Lillie:  I know you write both fiction and nonfiction. Before you talk about your latest work, please share with my readers a little about your earlier books.

Lori:  My first published book was put out by a very small press and was a young adult novel called It’s Hard to Go Home. I have considered having it republished, but it needs a lot of work. Although I’ve been a Christian since I was 13, some of my earlier books have love scenes that I wouldn’t write into my books today. While they are probably pretty tame by current standards, they aren’t anything I’d want my children or the youth I used to teach to read. Therefore, I don’t really promote the titles. However, I do have several books that are more recent or have been rereleased. Those are Finding Ms. Right, a sweet contemporary romance and The Elixir, a romantic suspense.

Lillie: Your latest release is out of ordinary. You can read my review on Goodreads or Amazon.com. Tell us about Dear Viking.

Lori:  The main male character in the book came to me in a dream a number of years ago. The scene where the heroine looks up at the hill and Rok Erikson is standing up there, outlined by flashes of lightning, is basically my dream. Who could help but write more about this man? Yowza!

Many people don’t realize this, but Vikings were all over the place, including islands with monasteries. It only makes sense that some of them were exposed to Christianity. This is what happened to Rok when his family invaded a monastery. A monk there had a huge impact on his life view and now he lives amongst people who don’t think too highly of Christians. As a new Christian, he is torn between sharing what he knows to be the truth and hiding it to keep his family from disowning him.

I love this book because it is filled with all these undertones of angst, secrets, jealousy, ambition, and inner struggles that the characters themselves must deal with.

Lillie: What part does your Christian faith play in your writing and your life?

Lori:  As I mentioned above, I’ve been a Christian for a long time. I’m actually kind of embarrassed to admit how long, because it seems that I should be a lot more spiritually mature by now. Of course, we all have our own walk.

About 10 years ago, we moved to southern Indiana. It’s a long story, but while they were building our house we had to rent an apartment. We had a house rented. It fell through. We had an apartment rented and the day before we were to move down here, it had a major leak in the master bedroom that couldn’t be fixed. Gushing water was what my husband told me. Finally, our builder had a townhouse open up at the last possible minute (it wasn’t supposed to be open) and we moved into that.

Directly across the street lived a pastor and his wife. Their family had a huge impact on us in so many ways and are now some of the dearest friends we’ve ever had. It was through getting to know them that our family grew closer in our walk with the Lord. When you realize everything that had to happen to put us right across the street from them, there can be no doubt it is a God thing.

I prayed a lot about what I should be doing with my life. God made it pretty clear writing was the right thing. How could I do anything other than glorify Him with what I write? One thing I try to do is be real. Christians often struggle with their faith. Or perhaps someone was raised in church but isn’t sure about their faith. My characters are the same way. They face real issues. They’re scared to share Christ with others. They are sometimes firm in their belief but angry at God for a great loss or other tragedy.

You’re going to recognize moments from your own life in my characters. Or, I hope so, anyway.

Lillie: What are you working on now?

Lori:  I am working on a contemporary romance about a woman who runs a nursing home. The home is in serious trouble and she is trying to save it. She was basically raised in the home and with these people. They are her family and she is about to lose it all. There is a particular character in this book that is taking it over. Her name is Libby and she is 90 years old. She is quite a character. I can’t control her most days. My biggest challenge is to keep Libby from completely taking over a scene when she is in it.

Lillie: Where can readers learn more about you and your books? 

Lori:  They can visit my website at LoriSoard.com or join me on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.

Lillie: Is there anything I’ve failed to ask that you would like to share with my readers?

Lori:  Pursue your dreams. When you are old and gray, the one thing you will regret is what you didn’t try. You won’t focus on the failures, the trial and error. You’ll wonder why you didn’t try to write that book, take that trip, start a new hobby, or even do something more adventurous like parasailing. Live life to the fullest, but do it in a way that others can look at you and see Christ in you.

Love others. Don’t judge them. No one knows another person’s walk. The older I get, the more I believe that Christians can push other people away from Christ by being too harsh. Yes, sin is sin, but do you really think someone is going to respond to you telling them they are a sinner?

Instead, invite them to dinner. Develop a relationship. Get to know that person. Invite them to Bible study. If you must point out sin, do it with a loving, caring spirit. You will get so much further if you can do that. I’ve seen it in action by our pastor friend and his wife, who both live out the true spirit of Christ’s love while also standing on Biblical truth.

Lillie: Thank you so much for visiting my blog. I know my readers enjoyed learning more about you and your books. They will probably have more questions for you. Will you check in during the day to respond to comments and answer questions?

Lori:  Thanks, Lillie. I will be sure to check in from time to time and chat with your readers. I love answering questions and I’m not shy, so they should feel free to ask me whatever they’d like.

Lillie: If you have questions for Lori, leave a comment below. And don’t forget that leaving a comment automatically enters you in the drawing for a free digital copy of Finding Ms. Right.

 

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BIO

Lori Soard has a PhD in Journalism, but she’s hardly the stuffy professor type. She enjoys writing romantic comedies, such as Finding Ms. Right, gets excited over a good comedy, and has even seen one of her books turned in a Manga comic. When she isn’t working on fiction, she is writing articles and designing websites.

Fibromyalgia Awareness Day

Fibromyalgia is called an “invisible disease” because individuals with fibromyalgia look healthy, yet they go through life with chronic pain and a host of other symptoms.

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in my mid-thirties. Although I had been to several doctors describing my pain, none of them believed there was anything wrong with me. I read an article in a popular women’s magazine about recent information describing eighteen “tender points”—at that time individuals (far more women than men) who had pain and tenderness in eleven of those areas were diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I had my husband Jack touch me in each of those spots, and if I remember correctly, I reacted when he touched fifteen of the eighteen areas.

When I took the article to my family physician, I said, “This is what I’ve been trying to tell you.” He was a wonderful doctor to treat injuries and illnesses that were well-recognized. However, he had been practicing medicine for decades and had seen many fads and theories come and go in medicine, so he didn’t immediately jump on the bandwagon when new discoveries were announced. Although he wasn’t convinced fibromyalgia was a real disease, he referred me to a rheumatologist.

At my first appointment with the rheumatologist, he told me how lucky I was to be able to work and function normally in spite of the pain. He said most of his patients were wheelchair-bound or bedridden. Then he went on to prescribe a medication that was controversial at the time because regular usage was associated with high risk of heart attack. I thought to myself, I’m lucky that my fibromyalgia is mild and I’m in much better shape than most of your patients. Yet you want me to take medicine that might cause a heart attack? I think I’ll pass.

I never got the prescription filled and I canceled my follow-up appointment. I didn’t go back to a rheumatologist for more than thirty years. Through the years, I’ve managed the pain with over-the-counter medicine, and when I was going through an especially bad time, prescription medications. Relaxing in my therapy tub, heat and massage, and mild stretching help, as does getting plenty of rest.

For too long, fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions have been invisible illnesses. We need to raise awareness so those of us who experience pain and fatigue can let others know we aren’t feeling well without being thought of as hypochondriacs. And we need to encourage and support research so people who have been in pain for decades can finally feel better.

To Mom on Mother’s Day

Thank you is too little to say

To you, Dear Mother, on Mother’s Day.

Yet to say what’s in my heart,

I don’t even know where to start.

For years of selfless sacrifice

Showing me what it means to be nice,

Caring for me through colds and skinned knees

That I got from ignoring you and climbing trees.

Your patience in teaching me some new skill

Taught me more by your example that teachers ever will.

Your encouragement when I was low

Gave me strength for the journey I had to go.

Your smile can always brighten my day

No matter the obstacles along the way.

Above all, what of moms makes you the best

Is your selfless love that stands above the rest.

So today on this special Mother’s Day

I say, “Thank you!” What more can I say?

One thing: I love you, Mother.

Of my favorite people, there is no other.

Remembering my sweet mother, who went to Heaven eleven years ago but still lives in my heart and wishing a joyous day to all mothers everywhere.

May Is National Stroke Awareness Day

May is . This year, the focus is on stroke in women and minorities. Did you know that stroke is more common is women than in men, African-Americans are twice as likely to die from stroke as Caucasians, and Hispanics are at higher risk of having a stroke at a younger age than Caucasians are?

If you don’t know the warning signs and risk factors, check out the information at the website of the National Stroke Association. You might also find it helpful to read previous posts I’ve written on the subject, including the story of my own stroke and recovery.

May Is Stroke Awareness Month 
National Stroke Awareness Month: My Stroke – the Beginning
National Stroke Awareness Month: My Stroke – The Next Three Days
National Stroke Awareness Month: My Stroke – the Aftermath
National Stroke Awareness Month: Stroke Risk Factors and Symptoms

And if you’d like to learn about the experiences of a stroke victim in the form of a romance novel, my ebook Stroke of Luck describes what happened to me but is told about a younger single woman and her caregiver who find love in the midst of stroke recovery.

May is . This year, the focus is on stroke in women and ...

May is . This year, the focus is on stroke in women and minorities. Did you know that stroke is more common is women than in men, African-Americans are twice as likely to die from stroke as Caucasians, and Hispanics are at higher risk of having a stroke at a younger age than Caucasians are?

If you don’t know the warning signs and risk factors, check out the information at the website of the National Stroke Association. You might also find it helpful to read previous posts I’ve written on the subject, including the story of my own stroke and recovery.

May Is Stroke Awareness Month 
National Stroke Awareness Month: My Stroke – the Beginning
National Stroke Awareness Month: My Stroke – The Next Three Days
National Stroke Awareness Month: My Stroke – the Aftermath
National Stroke Awareness Month: Stroke Risk Factors and Symptoms

And if you’d like to learn about the experiences of a stroke victim in the form of a romance novel, my ebook Stroke of Luck describes what happened to me but is told about a younger single woman and her caregiver who find love in the midst of stroke recovery.

A Country Mother’s Day

Next Saturday, I’ll be down at the Lil Country Store in Dilley, Texas, as the ole country gal storyteller telling stories about mothers. I’m inviting folks to share their favorite stories about their moms (with attribution or anonymous). Now, since I’m telling country tales, I reserve the right to adapt the story, but I promise every story is at least 10% true. Otherwise, it’s just a tall tale. Send your mother stories to moc.erotsyrtnuoclilehtnull@erots. I need the stories by Wednesday to include them on Saturday.

If you’re anywhere in south Texas, I hope you’ll join us.

Saturday, May 10, 2014, 2-4 PM

$15 for moms or $25 for you and your mom together

Every mom gets a personalized, framed Mother’s Day poem and a crocheted rose.

Everyone who attends gets a soda and a snack.

Call the store at 830-391-6868 to make reservations. Call by Thursday to ensure Mom gets her name on a poem. Otherwise, ya’ll come anyway, and Mom will get a generic poem.

Lil Country Store

7350 West Highway 85

Dilley, TX 78017

830-391-6868

moc.erotsyrtnuoclilehtnull@erots

www.thelilcountrystore.com

Prayer for the National Day of Prayer

Lord of the Universe. Lord of this planet. Lord of the nations. Lord of our hearts. On this National Day of Prayer, we look to You…

In the darkness, You are our Light.

In the storm, You are our Anchor.

In our weakness, You are our Strength. In our grief, You are our Comfort.

In our despair, You are our Hope.

In our confusion, You are our Wisdom. In time of terrorism, You are our Shield. In time of war, You are our Peace.

In times of uncertainty, You are the Rock on which we stand.

We make our prayer to You using the words of the prophet Daniel:

O Lord, You are the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and keep His commandments. You are merciful and forgiving. You are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame because we have sinned against You, and done wrong. We have turned away from Your commands and principles. We have turned away from You.

Yet You have promised in 2 Chronicles 7, that if we–a people identified with You–would humble ourselves, pray, seek Your face, and turn from our wicked ways, then You would hear our prayer, forgive our sin and heal our land.

So we choose to stop pointing our finger at the sins of others, and examine our own hearts and lives. We choose to acknowledge our own sin–our neglect and defiance and ignorance and even rejection of You. This day we choose to repent.

In response to our heartfelt repentance, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Father of Jesus Christ, in keeping with all Your righteous acts and according to Your promise, turn away Your anger and Your wrath from the United States of America. Hear the prayers and petitions offered to You on this National Day of Prayer, as we give You our full attention. Give ear, our God, and hear; open Your eyes and see. We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy.

For the glory of Your Name hear our prayer, forgive our sin, and heal our land.

We ask this in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ who offers us salvation from Your judgment, forgiveness for our sin, and reconciliation with You through His own blood shed on the Cross. Amen.

The above prayer was written by Anne Graham Lotz for the National Day of Prayer 2014.

Prayer for the National Day of Prayer

Lord of the Universe. Lord of this planet. Lord of the nations. Lord of our hearts. On this National Day of Prayer, we look to You…

In the darkness, You are our Light.

In the storm, You are our Anchor.

In our weakness, You are our Strength. In our grief, You are our Comfort.

In our despair, You are our Hope.

In our confusion, You are our Wisdom. In time of terrorism, You are our Shield. In time of war, You are our Peace.

In times of uncertainty, You are the Rock on which we stand.

We make our prayer to You using the words of the prophet Daniel:

O Lord, You are the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with those who love Him and keep His commandments. You are merciful and forgiving. You are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame because we have sinned against You, and done wrong. We have turned away from Your commands and principles. We have turned away from You.

Yet You have promised in 2 Chronicles 7, that if we–a people identified with You–would humble ourselves, pray, seek Your face, and turn from our wicked ways, then You would hear our prayer, forgive our sin and heal our land.

So we choose to stop pointing our finger at the sins of others, and examine our own hearts and lives. We choose to acknowledge our own sin–our neglect and defiance and ignorance and even rejection of You. This day we choose to repent.

In response to our heartfelt repentance, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Father of Jesus Christ, in keeping with all Your righteous acts and according to Your promise, turn away Your anger and Your wrath from the United States of America. Hear the prayers and petitions offered to You on this National Day of Prayer, as we give You our full attention. Give ear, our God, and hear; open Your eyes and see. We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy.

For the glory of Your Name hear our prayer, forgive our sin, and heal our land.

We ask this in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ who offers us salvation from Your judgment, forgiveness for our sin, and reconciliation with You through His own blood shed on the Cross. Amen.

Note: This prayer was written by Anne Graham Lotz, Honorary Chairman of the National Day of Prayer especially to be said in unison across the national today.

Update on My Upcoming Book

April is Book Blogging Month, and I’m working on a book. I’m pleased with the progress I’ve made, and I will soon share about the great new tool I’m using to compile the book.

My draft outline now consists of 70 essays/posts. Most will be posts edited to make them more appropriate for a book, but I am adding some new material as well. The title is What I Learned from Life, and each piece will describe what I learned from a particular situation, condition, or event.

Even if you are a long-time reader of my blog, you aren’t likely to recognize all the posts I’ve taken from the blog. They were written between 2006 and 2014, and they cover topics ranging from adversity to someday, from sports to government.

Stay tuned! I’ll have a publication date soon.

Hallelujah Chorus

The Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah is one of my favorite musical pieces.