...Romance Author...

Welcome...

In the last six years, I've gone from querying agents, to publishing my first book (Whispers in Time) through a rinky-dink independent publisher who ultimately crashed and burned, to publishing my first and second novels myself.

Now I've finished a third novel, Kissing Mr. Bellamy and a fourth (paranormal romance), Twelfth Moon, Legend of the Pantera. I returned to querying literary agents for these two books, and even received some positive feedback on both of them. Unfortunately, book publishing is a tight market right now, so I really haven't had any success in that area.

So . . . I did the next best thing. I published Whispers in Time, The Devil Rogue, Kissing Mr. Bellamy, and the first in a 3-book series, Twelfth Moon, Legend of the Pantera, on Amazon's Kindle.

Use the links on the right to purchase your copy today.

I'm very excited about it and hope for better success in the eBook market.

Author's note:

Writing a book isn't easy and nothing at all like reading one.

Every word, every sentence, every scene has to be meticulously constructed to give the illusion that they just flowed from the author’s mouth and onto the page. It’s a major juggling act to balance plot, character development, timelines, and crucial elements such as integrating a sense of urgency and, more importantly, to include some kind of conflict. Then there’s grammar, punctuation, spelling, dialog, and keeping your point of view on track. You don’t want to write too much detail so the reader becomes bored, but enough to give a feel of who the characters are, where the story takes place, and when.

To be honest, every word I write is a form of torture. Not torture in the sense that I’d never want to do it again, but a beautiful process to create an arrangement of words and phrases in such a way that they entertain and take the reader on a journey of the mind and spirit.

It isn’t easy to create a work of fiction and then put it out there for the world to see. It’s a reflection of yourself, a piece of your soul bared for the enjoyment of others and, yes, to be torn to shreds by harsh critical reviews. It pleases me as a writer to know that someone enjoyed one of my books. The critical, and sometimes downright nasty, reviews can’t change what I’ve already written, but I do consider them as constructive insight for future books.

However, I've made immediate corrections brought to my attention if they are glaring mistakes - the kind that make me cringe.

What I’ve learned and I’m (admittedly) still working on is that a writer has to be thick-skinned. You can’t please everyone all the time, and if I were to try to write according to every person who has a complaint about one of my books, I’d be re-writing them through infinity.

I’ve always wanted to be a writer, going back to when I was in the sixth grade. When I was in high school, science fiction is what I liked best. Growing up with five brothers had a slight influence and, to this day, I still enjoy the kind of sci-fi and action-adventure movies guys like so much. It wasn’t until I was much older that I found my niche in romance writing. I read romance books of all varieties voraciously. I love them all: historical, contemporary, paranormal, sci-fi, fantasy, western. You name it, I like it.

I study what it is that makes a book so enjoyable to read, what makes the story and characters so captivating, and do my best to emulate those talented authors. But it all comes down to my own inner voice, my own words, and my writing style that determines how a story unfolds.

My writing reflects what I like to read. I like to read about hot, alpha-male types and strong, independent women. If a book doesn’t have steamy (tastefully written) love scenes in it, I’m woefully disappointed.

What book am I working on now?

Well...right now , I'm working on a 3-book Paranormal / Shape-shifter Romance series, Legend of the Pantera, which takes place in America's Post Civil War time period.

The second book in the series is Kara's story and is a work in progress. Ba'cho, his two brothers, Kara, and her sister Jaelene begin a journey as they join forces to vanquish an evil foe.

Spanning from Texas to Louisiana, the first book, Twelfth Moon, is about Cadence, the oldest of three sisters who, because of a spell cast generations ago by their gypsy ancestors, are able to transform into panthers.

FIRST BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Cadence LaPorte is about to be hanged.

For weeks, U.S. Marshal, Jonah Kincaid, has been hot on her trail for the murder of his brother. His pursuit ends in a dusty Texas town at the scene of a lynching – namely, Cadence’s. Since revenge is at the top of his list, he saves her from death-by-hanging – for now.

Except Jonah thinks he’s been tracking a young boy.

And Cadence has this itsy-bitsy little problem: The women in her family are shape-shifting panthers, and once a year they’re compelled to mate with any male who happens to be in the vicinity – and become bound to him for life.

Jonah Kincaid is the last man on earth Cadence would wish to bind herself to. If she doesn’t find a way to escape him soon, she’ll be mauling the infuriating (handsome) U.S. Marshal – but as a woman, not as the panther.

Despite the obstacles thrown in their path, can two imperfect people find perfect true love?

 

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Lori Villarreal

 

 

 

 

 

 

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