Interview with Lori Sjoberg, author of Grave Intentions - January 3, 2013

Please welcome Lori Sjoberg to The Qwillery as part of the 2013 Debut Author Challenge Interviews. Grave Intentions is published today. A very Happy Publication Day to Lori!

TQ:  Welcome to The Qwillery.

Lori:  Thanks, it's great to be here!


TQ:  When and why did you start writing?

Lori:  Strange as it sounds, it all started in 2004 with my addiction to the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich. After I devoured the last book of the series at that time (To the Nines), I was desperate for a Plum fix. That led me to the wonderful world of fan fiction. Unfortunately, there wasn’t nearly as much Morelli fan fiction as there was for Ranger, which is what spurred my first foray into fiction writing.


TQ:  What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Lori:  I come up with some of my best ideas while in the shower.


TQ:  Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Lori:  I'm more of a pantser. When I start a story, I begin with a general story idea and write whichever scenes spring to mind. (For Grave Intentions, I actually wrote the final scenes first.) Once I get to a certain point (usually somewhere around the 40,000 word mark) I start piecing them together like a giant jigsaw puzzle.


TQ:  What is the most challenging thing for you about writing?

Lori:  Keeping my focus when I get near the end of the manuscript. By then, my brain is already thinking about the next book, so it takes a bit of discipline to keep my attention locked on the story I'm currently working on.


TQ:  Describe Grave Intentions in 140 characters or less.

Lori:  Lifetime skeptic Sarah doesn't believe in the supernatural. Imagine her surprise when she learns her handsome neighbor is Death incarnate.


TQ:  What inspired you to write Grave Intentions?

Lori:  It may sound odd, but the final chapter popped into my head one day while walking my dog. It was so emotional and compelling, I walked an extra couple miles figuring out who this guy was, and what had turned his life upside down. As soon as I got home, I scribbled down everything I'd come up with and went from there.


TQ:  What sort of research did you do for Grave Intentions?

Lori:  Since the hero of Grave Intentions is a reaper, a lot of the research for his character revolved around death and ways of dying. My heroine is a medical research scientist, so most of the research for her was in the areas of lab procedures, experimentation, and mental health. Toss in Google searches for Bigfoot, meth labs, industrial accidents, the Korean War, and pitt bulls, and you have one very strange Google search history!


TQ:  Who was the easiest character to write and why? The hardest and why?

Lori:  David was probably the easiest character to write because he had so much baggage. Sarah did a lot of things that I would personally have a hard time doing, so getting into her head to understand her point of view was a bit more difficult.


TQ:  Without giving anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in Grave Intentions?

Lori:  Isn't that kind of like asking a mother which of her children is her favorite? LOL. I don't know if I have a favorite, but I do love the chapter where everything Sarah thinks she knows gets turned on its head. It was fun to explore her reaction to such a drastic change to the landscape of her reality (I'm trying really hard not to spoil anything.).


TQ:  What's next?

Lori:  At the moment, I'm working on the sequel to Grave Intentions. Death of a cruise ship - sounds like fun, eh?


TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Lori:  Thanks for having me! It's been a blast!




About Grave Intentions

Grave Intentions
Grave Intentions 1
eKensington, January 3, 2013
eBook, 96,100 words

He’s handsome, reliable, and punctual—the perfect gentleman when you want him to be. But this dream man is Death’s best agent—and now he’s got more than his soul to lose…

One act of mercy before dying was all it took to turn soldier David Anderson into a reaper—an immortal who guides souls-of-untimely-death into the afterlife. But the closer he gets to atoning for his mortal sin and finally escaping merciless Fate, the more he feels his own humanity slipping away for good. Until he encounters Sarah Griffith. This skeptical scientist can’t be influenced by his powers—even though she has an unsuspected talent for sensing the dead. And her honesty and irreverent sense of humor reignite his reason for living—and a passion he can’t afford to feel. Now Fate has summoned David to make a devastating last harvest. And he’ll break every hellishly-strict netherworld rule to save Sarah…and gamble on a choice even an immortal can’t win.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Books-A-Million : Kensington : Kobo

About Lori

Growing up the youngest of three girls, Lori never had control of the remote. (Not that she’s bitter about that. Really. Okay, maybe a little, but it’s not like she’s scarred for life or anything.) That meant a steady diet of science fiction and fantasy. Star Trek, Star Wars, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits – you name it, she watched it. It fed her imagination, and that came in handy when the hormones kicked in and she needed a creative excuse for being out past curfew.
After graduating from the University of Central Florida, Lori spent over a decade working in the fun-filled worlds of retail management, financial planning, and insurance. The writing bug bit a few years later. After completing her first manuscript, she joined the Romance Writers of America and Central Florida Romance Writers. Now she exercises the analytical half of her brain at work, and the creative half writing paranormal romance. When she’s not doing either one of those, she’s usually spending time with her husband and children of the four-legged variety.

Website : Facebook : Twitter : Goodreads