Please welcome author LoRee Peery to Writer Wednesday!
When did you decide you would be an author? Was it something you fell into, felt called to…?
Back in the mid-80s we were on I-80 in western Nebraska, driving back from vacation. I slapped a magazine on my lap and spouted, “I could write better than this.” My husband challenged, “Why don’t you?”
The Lord wouldn’t let me put that out of my head. I started with short magazine romances. So pitiful, I submitted them without rewrites. I tried different things, piled up rejections, and learned as much as I could. I didn’t get the call until going through three editors in 2009-2010. I have learned notebooks full and gathered more cyber friends than I could have ever imagined. And I can’t forget the blessings!
What’s your pet peeve?
I’m sure they’ve changed over the years. I was always good at English grammar and worked as a proofreader/editorial assistant for 20 years.
I remember someone using sense for since. The irksome it’s / its.
Transposed ending punctuation, as in quotation marks before the period.
There had to have been many, but I must have overcome the bothersomeness (made-up words are not a pet peeve).
Right now the words after, before, and when signal passive writing to me, indicating that the order is backwards. If any of my sentences start with those words, they’ve come from someone else.
What was your most embarrassing moment as a writer?
Oh, boy. I remember sending off for some kind of journal kits, those were the days before the Internet. I probably read something in a Writer’s Style Manual. Oh, it just came to me. They were called press kits. I later pictured whoever opened those requests roaring and/or shaking heads over my stupidity.
What has been your most difficult challenge as an author?
Voicing the mechanics of story. I’ve heard all the terms, and understand them. But if someone asks me to describe my character’s journey with plot pinches and turning points, I go “duh.” For a while there was psychology of character as in taking some kind of test for those made-up people and incorporating that into story. I’m sorry, but that stuff just goes over my head. I’m all for simple, though my characters meet tough real-life situations, and they somehow grow, overcome, and change. As in life, they can’t do those things without the Lord.
How do you process rejections and/or negative reviews?
It’s been a while since I received actual rejections. My White Rose Publishing editor has asked for rewrites. She didn’t care for the heroine of one of my upcoming releases, so I changed her backstory and motivation. A reader’s comment from my first Christmas story bothered me for a long time. This person didn’t like that I referenced God, yet one of the main characters worked in a bar. (She or he obviously doesn’t know that in small-town Nebraska, many restaurants are housed in the town tavern.)
What do you feel is the best success so far in your writing career?
How does a person measure success? It sure isn’t money for me, or a number of sales. I always think of the words from my publisher’s editor-in-chief. “My calling as a writer is just as legitimate if I never make a dime. This call to write is a sacred invitation. A soul is a good return for my writing investment.”
I’ve had highlights. Finally, after decades of writing on the topic, I self-published the story that haunted me, based on my father’s unsolved homicide. I solved the crime in fiction. Once Touches of Time released, peace concerning the event filled my soul.
I petulantly mentioned to a writer friend that I felt left out that no other author had invited me to be part of a boxed set for release on Amazon. Within a few months, I received an invitation and couldn’t be more tickled to have been asked to take part again.
What is your current work-in-progress?
I’m waiting for a critique partner to return my Christmas Extravaganza story. I’ll edit it and submit by the end of April. Here’s what I call my 40 working words for “A Cup of Christmas Kindness”: Violet returns home. Her twelve days of kind Christmas deeds to help Heath through his grief instead churns bitterness. His daughter is intrigued by the Advent tributes, grows close to Violet, and seeks to draw the old lovers back together.
The title and setting are clear for my next story, but at this time, that’s all I know. Brainstorming will kick in soon.
Thank you, Susan, for letting me visit on Writer Wednesday.
Bio:
Nebraska country girl LoRee Peery writes fiction that hopefully appeals to adult readers who enjoy stories written from a Christian perspective, focusing on the romance. These include novels and novellas for women and men in the Contemporary, Rom
ance, Historical, Time Travel, and Mystery/Suspense categories. She writes of redeeming grace with a sense of place. Her Frivolities Series and the book based on her father’s unsolved homicide, Touches of Time, are available on Amazon. She is who she is by the grace of God: Christian, country girl, wife, mother, grandmother and great-, sister, friend, and author. Connect with LoRee through this Website: www.loreepeery.com
Twitter https://twitter.com/LoreePeery
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/LoReePeery
Pelican Book Group http://tinyurl.com/kwz9enk
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/LoRee-Peery/e/B004UAGL2W/ref
Latest book release:
Susan, thank you so much for allowing me to greet your readers on Writer Wednesday. I wish you all manifold blessings in these weird days that surround us. Rest assured, God’s got it!