Meet Lori Foster

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lori Foster a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lori, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

I never knew I wanted to be an author until I stumbled on the books that truly resonated with me. Those happened to be romance inspired women’s fiction. I loved the character interactions and personal growth, how very real – sometimes seemingly insurmountable problems – would force the characters to find innovative and determined ways to overcome. In the end, human contact, understanding, empathy and love is shown to make an enormous difference.
I’ve always believed that, which is why not long after becoming a dedicated reader, I also became a motivated writer.
It took me over five years to sell to a main publisher, and in that time I honed my craft and truly learned the power of my own voice.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I spend nearly every day with some time dedicated to writing or working on my books – in one fashion or another. Writing isn’t only about sitting at the desk and writing the story in my head. It is also edits, promotion, proofreading, answering reader questions, sometimes negotiating new deals, and social media.
For 20 years, I’ve also hosted an annual event of 400 readers and authors with the help of some incredible volunteers. The event is a casual gathering (with book signings, workshops, meals, parties, games, and raffles) meant to help authors interact with readers, to enable readers to get to know authors, and to benefit my local community.
We donate all the proceeds from our amazing raffles to CancerFree KIDS, an organization that helps to find gentler treatments for childhood cancers. Our 2025 event raffles allowed us to donate $44,000.
Each year I also write a novella (short story) where all advance and all royalties go to a local no-kill animal shelter.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Most importantly, I trusted my instincts but wasn’t afraid to learn. I’ve never felt compelled to follow the crowd. To a new writer, there might seem to be a lot of rules to writing, but I’ve always felt that telling a good story (and having a grasp on grammar) was more important than trying to keep up with whatever subgenre or topic seemed popular at the time.
I started every book with the intention of entertaining myself first, because if I wasn’t entertained, then writing wasn’t fun, and that lack of enjoyment would likely bleed into the story.
I want to entertain people, I want to make them smile and feel good about themselves and the world around them. I want all my readers to have a sense of hope and to see the possibilities, not just the roadblocks.
Often, by changing our perspective, we can change our own reactions to things. My books often show that maybe when it feels like something is ending, something even better might be starting.

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?

I face every day with the reminder that it could be my last. No one knows when things will end. Horrid accidents happen all the time. I try very hard to ensure that I won’t leave behind hurt feelings.
A great many conflicts would be easily resolved if everyone kept in mind that your last words, your last act, might be the memory of you that sticks.
I want to accomplish as much as I can (in the field of publishing) without sacrificing what is most important to me: my husband and sons, and my extended family.
I love writing, and I always want to do my best with it. But if my career ended today I would still be a happy person because I love my family and they love me.

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Lori Foster

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