Today I get to welcome author Lorrie
Farrelly to the blog. I’m so glad you could be here today, Lorrie. Please
introduce yourself. Tell us a little about the person behind the pen.
I’m a Navy brat and a graduate of the
University of California at Santa Cruz. (Home of the world’s wonderfully
worst mascot: the Banana Slug.) When I
was a kid, my dad was transferred every few years, mostly up and down the West
Coast. As hard as it was to leave friends behind, there were always new ones to
meet, new places to see, and new adventures to have. When I was lonely, I made
up stories, and read. And read. And read.
My parents were older than most when I was
born. (Mom at first thought I was a symptom of menopause.) Were Dad alive
today, he would be nearly 104. He was a remarkable fellow. A true Southern
gentleman, he was born in 1909 in the Deep South, where the Civil War was still
considered a current event. He was appointed to the Naval Academy at Annapolis
and became a career US naval officer. He loved military history and stories of
the Old West.
I was quite a tomboy, and when I wasn’t
finding horses to hang out with somewhere, I was listening eagerly to Dad’s
(mostly made up) stories. With a twinkle in his eye, he claimed to have ridden
shotgun with Wild Bill Hickok and manned a locomotive with Casey Jones. I was
pretty sure those stories weren’t true, but in my heart, I secretly hoped they
were.
My love of horses never waned, even when
most young girls were moving on to fashion and boys. At thirteen, I began spending
summers at Donner Lake, site of the infamous Donner Party’s doomed winter
encampment in the Sierras, near the California-Nevada border. But where the
Donners had had dreadful luck, mine was pretty good. There was a nearby stable
and pack outfit that supplied horses for the popular TV Western, Bonanza, and the wranglers patiently
tolerated my “help.” Horses and
Little Joe? Well, the only time in my life I’ve been more smitten was when I
met my husband.
After college, I began to teach: 4th
grade Art, 8th grade English and Drama, and finally, high school
Math. For several summers, I shepherded wide-eyed young foreign exchange
students up and down Hollywood Boulevard. (“As many stars and lunatics as there
are in the heavens.”) I also shoveled and curried as a ranch hand at
Disneyland’s Circle D Ranch. (If you’re curious, it’s tucked back behind
ToonTown and Frontierland’s Big Thunder Ranch, but Shhh! Don’t tell anyone.)
But whatever else I was doing, I always
wrote. Today, I have five published novels – two Western historical romances,
two contemporary romantic suspense novels, and one time-travel/alternate
reality romance – and I’m working on a sixth, the third book in the series that
began with my Orange Rose Award finalist TERMS OF SURRENDER (which is coming
out shortly as an audiobook!) All of my novels have at least a touch, and
possibly much more than a touch, of the paranormal. During my teens, my second
favorite TV show (after Bonanza) was The Twilight Zone.
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| Lorrie and her family in the Yukon |
I live in Southern California and am the
proud mom of 3 and grandmother of 2 ½. (A new baby, our first granddaughter, is
due at year’s end.) My husband, Wally, is my rock and my inspiration.
Why did you decide to write Romance? What is
the appeal?
For me, writing was a natural outgrowth of
reading. I love good storytelling, and I was so lucky to have parents who
encouraged my imagination. I even wrote stories for my dolls to read. With
Romance, there are so many possibilities of characters and plot, so many
subgenres, so much emotion. And you
get a happy ending. I do love happy endings!
How much research goes into your books, and
how do you tackle that?
In the case of my first published novel,
TERMS OF SURRENDER, research found me.
In an old box of family papers, I found a faded
copy of an Oath of Allegiance to the United States signed by my Confederate
great-great-grandfather at the end of the Civil War, as well as a parole pass
allowing him to go home – if he swore
to never again take up arms or support rebellion against the Union.
I wondered what would be in such a man's heart
after so many years of struggle and pain and defeat. Would honor and hope
survive bitterness and loss? And what could have driven a good man to forsake
his country and fight for a new one founded on terrible injustice? Could he
ever find peace? Would he ever have a true home again?
I had to find out more, and the more I read about
not only the Civil War, but about all sorts of other things – from Teddy
Roosevelt’s presidency to therapies for autistic children – the more I wanted
to know, and the more stories popped into my head. Sometimes I get carried away
with research and forget I’m supposed to do
something with it. (I’m a trivia geek anyway, but as a past winner on the
TV game show Jeopardy! I’m convinced
everything I learn will someday come in handy.)
Some resource books a writer simply can’t do
without; for example, a good, big thesaurus and dictionaries of slang and
historical language. I do a lot of online research, but I still have shelves
full of resource books and maps.
What is the best comment you ever received
from a reader? The worst or weirdest?
My two favorites are these lovely reader
comments:
About TERMS OF SURRENDER: “When I first bought this book, I was prepared for a pretty love story,
with some basic plot investments. What I got was a heart-melting, pulse-racing,
beautiful piece of literature. The emotion invested in the love between Annie and
Michael jumps off the page and utterly wraps you up in their story, from tender start to
fulfilling finish … I was so enthralled that I read this wonderful book
straight through!!”
And about
TIMELAPSE: “First off I have to say WOW! This story took me completely by
surprise and had me glued to the pages right to the end … This was an emotional
book dealing with tragedies, heartaches, and desperation which were triumphed
(over) through sheer determination and the power of love…”
The strangest and worst one was from a reader who
apparently hated one of my heroes so much that he “prayed for him to be shot
dead.” (Why not just quit reading?) Oh, and that same reader consistently
referred to me as “he” and “him” all the way through his comments. Um, Dude, my
name is Lorrie…
Tell us a little about your writing style?
Do you plan and plot your stories, or do you just plow through them?
I do both. I usually come up with the hook
first, then block out the rest of the story. When I began writing THE
GUARDIAN’S ANGEL, I knew the hook would involve a suspect in a police line-up
who suddenly could see and hear a terrified witness in the soundproof
observation room behind one-way glass. Then I planned it from there. However,
as all writers know, sometimes characters just do and say whatever the heck
they want, and all you can do is just hang on and go for the ride.
Can you tell us a little about your current
work, TERMS OF TEMPTATION? Is there a story behind the story?
The first book in this series, TERMS OF
SURRENDER (soon to be an audiobook!), proved so popular that I wrote a sequel
set about 20 years later, entitled TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT. (I wanted to know what
had happened to all the characters in that time, too!)
TERMS OF SURRENDER is, as one reviewer
wrote,
“about the healing, redeeming power of love after
the chaos and pain of war.” The main characters are a former Confederate
cavalry captain who has lost everything and a young Wyoming rancher who
struggles to survive and defend her land. TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT moves their
growing family forward about 20 years, and features the rancher’s brother as
its hero. A child in the first book, he is now a widowed doctor, raising his
young daughter alone. Readers loved this story’s “romance, action, intrigue,
and intensity.”
The latest book
in the series, TERMS OF TEMPTATION, currently a work in progress, takes us
forward another couple of decades in this family’s life. At its center is a
headstrong young woman, a rescuer of abandoned and injured animals, who
discovers both passion and heartache as she comes to love a man who doesn’t
believe in love, and who has no intention of ever settling down.
I love the family
in these books, but boy, how that family has grown! I blame the original
couple, Michael and Annie Cantrell, in TERMS OF SURRENDER. Darned if those two
just can’t seem to keep their hands off one another!
What sets your heroine Annie Devlin apart
from all the other women in your hero, Michael Cantrell’s, life? Why is she
perfect for him?
Let me quote one reviewer who took the
words right out of my mouth: “Annie is a realistically
strong woman with a welcome sense of humor. She and Michael challenge each
other in interesting and sometimes unexpected ways … (They work) through the
hardships they have endured and those that they face in the novel together
without angst-ridden melodrama. (Farrelly) effectively depicts the sensual side
of their romance emerging from both physical attraction and emotional
connection.”
Have you ever had writer’s block? How do you
deal with it?
Sure. I think every writer does from time
to time. Sometimes things just have to sit and percolate for a while. When that
happens, I try to work on something else. And things can change quite suddenly.
One novel stalled miserably until I abruptly realized that my hero wasn’t a
lawman, but a doctor. Then, at last, the whole story unfolded.
Describe a favorite scene in your current
novel.
Here’s an excerpt I really like from my
work in progress, TERMS OF TEMPTATION. The year is 1904; the setting is
Northwestern Wyoming. Kinley Cantrell, a headstrong young woman devoted to
caring for abandoned and injured wildlife, meets her match in one creature who
won’t be tamed – Deputy Game Warden Bram Killoran:
Kinley tore her gaze away from the tall,
unnerving man who inexplicably made her insides flip like a bag of bobcats. She
cleared her throat, clasped her hands together at her waist to regain her
composure, and spoke to her young nephew with exaggerated calm, pointedly
ignoring Bram Killoran.
“Forgive me, Mike. I didn’t catch that last
bit you said.”
Little Mike grinned. “The otters, Aunt
Kinnie. I named ‘em. The big one’s Useless, and the little gray one’s Li’l
Use.”
Kinley chuckled in spite of herself. The
boy was a caution. “Ah, I see. Well, just don’t go getting too attached to
them.” She paused, thought a moment. “Little Mike, I have a favor to ask. I
need you and your brother to come back up here as much as you can for the next
week or so to see to the animals. A pressing matter has come up that requires I
pack out for a few days.”
Bram’s
head jerked toward her, brow furrowed in a suspicious scowl. Little Mike
shrugged, smiled. “Well, sure, ma’am, we can do that.”
“Good.
Very well, then. That’s settled. I’m much obliged, dear. I’ll leave a list of
what needs to be done in the next few days, but you and Bobby are fine hands.
You know most all of it already. Just remember to always milk the goats before
you let them out of the pen. Sonny will see they don’t stray too far.”
At
the sound of his name, the little shepherd’s tail vigorously thumped the floor.
Mike
squared his shoulders, nodded. “Yes, ma’am. We will. But where’re you going,
Aunt Kinnie?”
Kinley
turned to Bram, challenged his black scowl with her small jaw set in
determination. Though she spoke to Little Mike, she aimed her remarks pointedly
at Killoran.
“Deputy
Warden Killoran aims to shoot a cougar to make that ornery ol’ sheepman, Mr.
Hackett, happy. Well, I’m going to go along with him to make sure he doesn’t
succeed.”
Bram
dumped the bottles with a clatter in the sink and whirled, taking a threatening
step toward Kinley.
“Now
you wait just a dam- … darn minute!”
She
turned, folded her arms across her chest, stubbornly met his eyes. He came to a
halt, stood for a long moment trying to rein in his now-steaming temper, then
growled, “Now ma’am, you listen to me. I got a job to do, and nobody – not even
you – is gonna get in the way of my doing it.”
At the harsh sound of Bram’s voice, Sonny,
who’d been lying on the floor with his head resting on his front paws, leaped
to his feet and began barking wildly. He seemed to have completely forgotten
his earlier joy in greeting Bram.
Softening his tone, though still gruff,
Killoran said tersely to Little Mike, “Boy, take that dog out of here.”
The child stood frozen, eyes wide. Then he
scowled, clamped his jaw. Mike shifted his stance, stood his ground, dropped
one hand to rest on the dog’s raised hackles. Sonny’s barking stopped, became a
low, threatening growl. His yellow eyes stayed fixed on the warden.
“No, sir,” Mike ground out, his voice
wavering just a little, betraying his apprehension. Bravely he squared his
shoulders.
“You got no call to talk to my Aunt Kinley
that way, Mr. Killoran.” He drew a deep, shaky breath. “Sonny don’t like it,
sir, and … and neither do I.”
So proud of him she could have bust a
button, Kinley stepped beside her nephew, laid her arm over his shoulders. All
three – woman, boy, and dog – fixed Bram with almost comically similar
expressions of fiercely obstinate defiance.
Except he wasn’t laughing.
He sighed, propped his hands on his hips,
regained his patience with some difficulty. He was usually a patient man, cool
as they come. What was it about this stubborn slip of a woman that made him
want to tear her clothes off one minute and his hair out the next? *
*Copyright 2012 by Lorrie Farrelly
What else do you have in store for your
readers?
I’m delighted to announce that TERMS OF
SURRENDER is soon to be released as an audiobook. Read by the wonderfully
talented actor and voice artist Keith Tracton, it’s an exciting and emotional
listening experience. Keith is a master storyteller, and readers are sure to
love the way he brings my favorite characters to life!
It’s both humbling and delightful to me to
hear that a novel of mine has captured a reader’s heart. Here are my currently
available books:
In TERMS OF SURRENDER, Confederate cavalry
Captain Michael Cantrell has lost his home and everyone he loved. On the
frontier, he finds himself in the middle of Annie Devlin’s war. Standing with
the stubborn young rancher will test the limits of his courage – and his
passion.
When Tess Rutledge is at her most desperate
– hunted, on the run, and close to death – only Dr. Robert Devlin’s skill and
compassion can save her. In TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT, they have a chance for a
future together. If they survive.
What if everything you knew – and everyone
you loved – suddenly disappeared, leaving you stranded in a dangerous world
gone terribly wrong? With only a beautiful, reckless young outlaw as his ally,
Alex Morgan races against time and destiny in TIMELAPSE.
DANGEROUS ex-LA cop Cam Starrett is burned
out, sick of urban trauma and warfare. He longs to escape to a peaceful place
where life is calm and serene. But he should have been more careful what he
wished for!
Elizabeth Driscoll, THE GUARDIAN’S ANGEL,
is running for her life, inextricably bound to a compelling man and a troubled
young child who, only hours before, were strangers to her. Now the danger is
not just to her safety, but also to her heart.
These novels, as well as the soon-to-be-available
audiobook of TERMS OF SURRENDER and the upcoming publication of TERMS OF
TEMPTATION, can be purchased through amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and
numerous other online sites. All books are available both in paperback and
ebook format, and some of my ebooks may also be borrowed from amazon.com.
Please visit at:
Thank you, Lorrie, for a fabulous interview!
