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Weekly Quotation
December 1 - 7, 2024


December is National
Human Rights Month!

XXIt is absolutely imperative that every human being’s freedom and human rights are respected, all over the world.”
~Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, a former Icelandic Prime Minister and the first openly gay head of state, in a speech at a 2014 Pride festival

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What's New
A New Writing Article Posted in the Article Section

I wrote a piece about Finishing Novels a few years back, and I reformatted it to make it available in my Articles Archive. (List of all Articles here.)

CLICK HERE to read the NEW article, How Do I Finish My Novel?.

Publishing Presentation at Opus Literary Alliance


If you're a member at the Opus Literary Alliance, you can still watch this online event! If you're not yet a member, please JOIN HERE. We are doing LOTS of fun stuff with and for readers and writers.

9/10/2024
Two New Books I Worked On Are Now Out!

Family Secrets
by EJ Kindred
Book 2

BUY LINK

Shanghai Murder
by Jessie Chander
Book 6

BUY LINK

 
5/1/2024
Author Q&A with Natty Burns and Lori L. Lake

Gosh - I forgot to post this previously. Whoops! I got a chance to read from my upcoming novel, Adventures Unlimited (again!), and Natty Burns read from her horror/sheriff/love story, The Rustle of Leaves. And then we talked books, writing, naming tactics, creating plot lines, and a lightning round of "Do You Prefer..." This was so much fun! Nat is a hoot, and our interviewer, Jazzy Mitchell, poked a lot of fun at us. You can listen to us here:

INTERVIEW LINK
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4/9/2024
Upcoming Retreat/Conference near Fresno CA ~~ Oct 2 - 6, 2024

I have been wanting to attend this event for ages! Word of mouth feedback is that it's more of a retreat than conference where many lesbian readers and writers come together for the love of literature to learn more and get a chance to make connections with others like ourselves. I also hear that the gathering is not huge, so it really feels cozy and relaxed.

I'm signed up - I'm going! Who else wants to give it a whirl? (At the host hotel, Sierra Sky Ranch, I'm pretty sure you don't even have to know how to ride a horse! <w>)

4/8/2024
The 2024 Alice B Awards were announced on Valentine's Day!


I really *love* being a part of this process! The Alice B Readers Committee has now awarded medals and the honorarium to over six dozen authors writing lesbian-themed literature. Click here to see the list of all who have been honored. Today the 2024 winners were announced. Congratulations to Nat Burns, Carolyn Gage, Tracey Richardson, and Brey Willows!

2/14/2024
And......the World is STILL being strange and crazy!

We had an unusually vicious snow and ice storm two weeks ago, and down came the best shade tree in the neighborhood.

Here is the view of my house around 10PM, about thirty minutes after the tree fell. We heard an ENORMOUS crash-thud, and the whole house shook.

It took a bit of time to gather up warm outdoor clothes and manage to slip and slide out the garage door and into the yard. The ice was treacherous. I can't believe neither of us fell.

The tree was definitely VERY up close and personal, but unbelievably, no windows were broken!

 

The tree smacked down on the deck, crushed the corner of the roof that juts out over the stairwell to the lower level, bent the fence (which you can't see in either picture), took out the gutter along half of the back of the house, and smushed the soffit--though so far <crossing fingers>--it's not leaking.

Big expensive mess! I have a $1,500 deductible on the ol' homeowners insurance. OUCH!!!

Sure hope I get a reeeeeeally big tax return!

2/6/2024
This Has Been a Strange Time!

I'm behind on everything, I'm still dealing with a crazy lawsuit, and my 20-yr-old car got T-boned and totalled by a rotten driver who ran a red light. It's pretty amazing how a few bits of bad luck can reverberate in a stressful way!

The good thing is that despite its age, my old car survived a 30-mph crash directly into the driver's door without anyone getting hurt. Amazing! Toyota/Lexus vehicles are the best ever. Most other cars would have been crushed in a lot more and injured the driver! I am *so* thankful for how sturdy and excellent the car was. I sure miss it though.

And here's hoping that 2024 is a whole lot less stressful!

12/11/2023
A Little Bit of Ancestry Genealogy

I dipped my toe into the pond of DNA and Genealogy - and fell in headfirst all the way to the bottom of the ocean! I found a whole lot of stuff about my forbears. Because I descend from Sir Jerome Weston (1550-1603) who was a Knight of the Realm, High Sheriff of Essex, and Judge of Common Pleas, it turns out Elizabeth II, former Queen of England, is my 11th cousin/once removed. Whoa . . . . who knew!?

I have known for years that aviation's darlings, the Wright Brothers, were my first cousins/4x removed, but who knew that Lucille Ball is my 10th cousin, Rosa Parks is my 12th cousin/1xremoved, and Babe Ruth is my 10th cousin/3x removed! (A Visionary, a Fighter, and a Slugger.)

Alas, Shakespeare does not fall into the equation. But Charles Dickens is 8th cousin/6x removed and Jane Austen is 9th cousin/5x removed. I couldn't find out about Virginia Woolf, but she was so depressed and killed herself, so although her writing was amazing, she is not a very good example for me.

Susan B. Anthony is 6th cousin/5x removed, John Wayne is 10th/1x, Muhammad Ali is 9th/1x, and Elvis 8th/1x. Even Abraham Lincoln is in my bloodline: 6th cousin/5x removed, and George Washington (no wonder I have bad teeth!) is a 2nd cousin/10x removed.

How fascinating to learn I have common ancestors with so many people who made history. And following along with the fact that my DNA shows no Asian, Native American or any American blood, it's fascinating that some of my ancestors brought important Black figures into this world and I am tangentially related to them. Wow.

Mind = Blown. Officially!

8/7/2023
Author Q&A with Lori L. Lake and Barbara Lynn Murphy

I got a chance to read from Adventures Unlimited and listen to Barbara Lynn Murphy read from her debut book, Two Lives, One Heart. We had a rockin' good conversation with our interviewer Jazzy Mitchell. You can listen to it here:

INTERVIEW LINK

4/20/2023
At the BOOKLOVER'S COMPANION

CA Farlow and I got the opportunity to interview Edith Zeitlberger about her new book, FRACTURES & HINGES.

CLICK HERE to see the podcast!

There are many fantasic reviews at The Booklover's Companion. Check out all the terrific author discussions and appearances here.

One of my favorite people on the planet and a great mystery writer, Ellen Hart, with me at Once Upon a Crime Mystery Bookstore in Minneapolis

 
Lee Lynch talks with me in THE ADVOCATE on "Lesbian Mystery, Police Raids, and Fairy Godmothers"
A few years back, I had the great honor of doing an Advocate conversation with award-winning GCLS Trailblazer Lee Lynch.


CLICK HERE to check it out!

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This site last updated on December 2, 2024

(c) 2001-present - All contents of this web site are protected by U.S. and International copyright laws and may not be reproduced in any manner (except in reviews and encyclopedia entries) without the written consent of the author. Please contact lorillake (at) comcast (dot) net with questions.

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Movie Trailers
for the Books

 
With Brenda Adcock's wizardry, there are now movie trailers, complete with music, for two of my books. Click below to see - make sure you turn on your speakers, too.
 
Shimmer & Other Stories
 
Snow Moon Rising
 
Bound/Printed Books
My novels and short story collections can be purchased through any bookseller or online. If a store doesn't happen to have copies on hand, they will order them for you. CLICK HERE if you want to contact me to get autographed copies.
 
E-Books at
Bella Distribution
The team at Bella carry books by an enormous variety of authors, and they're distributing my eBooks and print books. CLICK HERE to get the books in Mobi and ePub formats.
Kobo E-Books
Kobo Ebooks also carries LGBT books by a variety of authors. CLICK HERE to get my books for the Kobo eReader.
Kindle E-Books
Amazon.com carries my books in the Kindle E-Book format. CLICK HERE to purchase novels and short story collections for your Kindle eReader.
B&N E-Books
Barnes & Noble - BN.com - carries my books in their Nook E-Book format. CLICK HERE to purchase novels and short story collections for your Nook eReader.
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Recent
Interviews
A.J. Llewellyn at Dark Diva's Blog did an extensive interview with me. CLICK HERE to find out all my deep dark secrets. The interview shows up on the March 4 entry, and you will have to scroll down through a couple other interviews to get to it..

VIDEO INTERVIEW - With Jody Seay, the amazing interviewer at Oregon PBS's "Back Page" program, who sat down and talked to me for her weekly TV program with Pacific NW writers


CLICK HERE - for the interview with author Jae who has written so many wonderful novels


CLICK HERE to read an interesting discussion in the "Spotlight Interview" section that the gals at Ylva have been doing. Astrid Ohletz is a terrific interviewer!


Earl Kemp's online 'zine, eI, has featured a memoir piece I wrote called "There is No Reason Not To Trust that the Act of Writing Will Be Enough."
CLICK HERE if you'd like to read it.


MYSTERICAL-E featured a long interview with me about writing, creativity, book themes, etc. There are several great stories featured in this issue as well as other podcasts and interviews by a variety of terrific authors.

CLICK HERE
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Lori's Newsletter

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