Lorie O'Clare

   All my life, I've wondered at how people fall into the routines of life. The paths we travel seemed to be well-trodden by society. We go to school, fall in love, find a line of work (and hope and pray it is one we like), have children and do our best to mold them into good people who will travel the same path. This is the path so commonly referred to as the "real world".

The characters in my books are destined to stray down a different path other than the one society suggests. Each story leads the reader into a world altered slightly from the one they know. For me, this is what good fiction is about, an opportunity to escape from the daily grind and wander down someone else's path.

Lorie O'Clare lives in Kansas with her three sons.

PNR: How long have you been writing? What inspired you to choose writing as a career?

Lorie O'.: I've always wanted to be a writer. Not once have I ever considered being anything else. As a child, I would spend hours on an old blue manual typewriter that my Dad gave me. It was the typewriter that he wrote his thesis on in college. I would sit in my attic bedroom and pound out science fiction and fantasy stories as fast as my fingers could manage.

When my children were babies, I set the toy box next to the computer table, and wrote while they played at my feet. It became an obsession. Everything worked around my writing schedule. Write for an hour, do laundry, write for an hour, fix lunch, write for an hour, pick up the house…and so on.

During that time when my boys were still young, I discovered romance novels. I was hooked at once. But as with anything I read, I have to write it too, twist it, alter plots, create alternatives to what someone else had created. That was the same with romances. Instantly I wanted more aggressive heroes, more dominating heroines, the books just weren't going all the way for me. And that’s what got me into writing the kind of romance novels that I write today.

PNR: Do you have a strict writing schedule? How do you balance your personal and writing time?

Lorie O'.: What personal time? My personal time is when I'm writing. Otherwise, I'm a full time Mom with no rights other than to please my boys and see to their eternal happiness. (okay, I'm a fiction writer. LOL.)

Seriously though, the happiest moments I can think of are when I'm left alone and can really dig into a scene and let it spill out.

As to a strict writing schedule, I abhor time clocks, couldn't stand having to go to lunch at a set time, wake up at a set time, or sleep just because it was the middle of the night. I write when it hits me, or when it’s not quite as chaotic in my home of up-and-coming teenagers.

As to balancing my personal and writing life, to me they are one and the same. At least my boys always know where Mom is. J

PNR: Have you ever suffered from "writer’s block"?  And what did you do to get past it?

Lorie O'.: I've never experienced 'writer's block'. Now there have been times when I wasn’t sure what was going to happen after a really intense scene. I just close my eyes and type what the characters are doing. If it ends up being boring filler before the next action scene, I delete or edit after the fact. Works for me.

PNR: What do you consider to be the key elements of a great story?

Lorie O'.: In the first page, I want to be turned on, be made aware of some burning mystery or dilemma, and fall in love with the characters and setting. A great story to me is one with a compelling plot that keeps me guessing or trying to figure out where the author is heading. It's got to stay on my mind during the time when I can't read so that I can’t wait to get back to it.

PNR: Most authors are avid readers; what is your favorite genre to read? Favorite authors?

Lorie O'.: I'll admit I don’t get to read as much as I used to. I still buy the books at the same pace that I did before I published, but it takes me longer to get through them. Which is frustrating, especially when it's a good book, and everyone else is talking about it.

I'll read most all genres. Obviously romance is my top pick. In that genre, I like romantic suspenses, historicals, paranormals, and mysteries. Favorite authors would be Linda Howard, Nora Roberts, Jayne Anne Krentz/Amanda Quick, Annette Curtis Klause, Sherrilyn Kenyon…just off the top of my head.

PNR: Why do you think the "shifter" is such a popular character in the paranormal romance genre?      

Lorie O'.: For me, I can speak easier on why I enjoy writing them. And that is because I can create my own rules, my own world. With the Lunewulfs, I imagined a world, our world, with all of its routines and problems, altering it simply with a people who were blessed to be able to express their emotions while mere humans too often stuff them. These are people who can be more primal, more aggressive, more demanding. If they were mere human, readers would call them brutes, scream that they can't act that way. I needed an outlet where it was okay for a man to drag a woman to his den when he 'had to have her' and where a woman could go after a man she had to have, daring another lady to even get close to him, without editors saying 'we can't have people acting that way.'

PNR: How do you feel the sensual/erotic genre has affected the paranormal romance genre?

Lorie O'.: Quite obviously, its allowed the genre to blossom, go to the extents that it was meant to go. Humans capable of being so much more than human are going to be more sensual, more erotic. To close the door on the reader creates frustration. Erotic paranormals are more complete, more satisfying.

PNR: Could you tell us about your plans for the Lunewulf and Cariboo Lunewulf Series?

Lorie O'.: Both series are done. My plans for them now are simply to allow as many readers as possible to discover and enjoy them.

I have created a new breed of werewolves, details to come… J

PNR: You are known for your sexy alphas and strong heroines, which are your favorite to write?

Lorie O'.: You can' t write one without the other - or at least I can't. So both are my favorites.

PNR: The intensity of the sexual scenes is quite hot in your books, is it challenging to write love/sex scenes?

Lorie O'.: I've always thought of myself as more of an action writer, than a sexual writer. I wouldn’t say love/sex scenes are challenging, but they are more intense for me, and take a lot more thought. If there is a challenge, it's simply finding time to write them when I don't have at least a handful of kids hanging around me and talking to me. J

PNR: Besides your Lunewulf series, you write in several romance genres including contemporary, mythology and futuristic; which is your favorite to write?

Lorie O'.: I love them all - seriously. Even in my contemporaries, I’m creating a world. And that is what I love doing most, creating new worlds to be explored and enjoyed.

PNR: Please tell us about the projects you are currently working on.

Lorie O'.: Right now I'm working on a new breed of werewolf, completely unaffiliated with the Lunewulfs. Also, I’ve created a new futuristic world, post World War III. So I've got two new series in the works.

PNR: Where can readers find your novels, and how can they contact you?

Lorie O'.: You can find my books at Borders, and many independent bookstores. On line, you can order them from my website, from http://ellorascave.com and http://cerridwenpress.com as well as http://amazon.com. If you have a favorite bookstore on line, I’m sure you’ll find them there as well.

I love hearing from readers, any and all comments are appreciated and will be answered promptly. I spend the first couple hours of every morning returning e-mails. You can send mail to me directly at lorieoclare@aol.com. You can chat with me easily on my Yahoo Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LorieOClare/. I also put out a weekly newsletter, filled with free stories and contests. You can join Jaded Sensations at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Jaded_Sensations/. Also, you can check out all of my books, and read the first chapter from each of them at http://lorieoclare.com. 

Featured in this Issue:

Interviews with:
J.J. Massa
Lorie O'Clare