Story & Lesson Highlights with Loretta C. Rogers of Lecanto, Florida

We recently had the chance to connect with Loretta C. Rogers and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Loretta C., thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What do you think is misunderstood about your business? 
I am a multi-published, bestselling author who writes in a variety of genres. Some of the most misunderstood concepts about writers is that we can simply craft and entire novel in a couple of hours, and once we write “The End,” the book is finished and ready to publish. Oh, my goodness, this is so far from reality. It takes hours of sitting at the computer, and very often, staring at a blank screen, just to get words on a page. Another misconception is that writers get rich. Writers may be rich in readership but not in royalty dollars. I could write a novel about how non-writers, new writers, and some indie authors misunderstand the ins and outs of the world of writing.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hello everyone. It’s so nice to meet you. I am Loretta C. Rogers, a fourth generation Floridian, a multi-published, bestselling author. My brand is “Stories with a twist…expect the unexpected.” What this means is that I’m a hybrid-genre author. My stories, whether contemporary or historical romance, contain a thread of paranormalism; and my mystery stories are neither cozy nor gory, but somewhere in between, and often contain a paranormal thread. For example, in my Doc Holliday Mystery series, the heroine is part Cherokee with empathic abilities. Spiritual animals often lead her to the dead. She uses her abilities to solve crimes. In the series, I incorporate bits and pieces of the Cherokee culture and beliefs. In my new single-title mystery, “Murders at Buzzards Bay,” which releases March 11, 2025, I have lightened the heaviness of the story with a bit of comedic relief, and a little romance. Currently, I am working on another single-title mystery that involves a haunted house, a mischievous parrot, and a heroine trying to overcome a tragedy that has left her mentally broken. I don’t have a title for the book, yet. I’ll have to see how the story ends, which is a mystery, even to me.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
When a child grows up in a home where the parents constantly tell them they are ugly, stupid, and worthless, the child believes it. Excelling in grade school, going to college, graduating magna cum laude with an M.Ed., and then becoming a published author, never changed my parent’s attitude toward me or my siblings. It wasn’t until I was named Georgia’s Teacher of the Year, and the State Secretary of Education presented me with a plaque, and I looked out and saw the pride in my husband’s face, and the smiling faces of my students and their parents’ that I felt unshackled and finally knew I was a person of worth.

What fear has held you back the most in your life?
As a child, I had a vast imagination with several imaginary friends. I could see them and talk to them. We went on the most wonderful journeys, visiting places that didn’t exist in the real world. I also had a gift for drawing. I would see the images in my head and put them on paper…images like Pegasus’, and belly dancers; images that a four-year-old with no books or television would ever see. My parents thought punishment, sometimes extreme punishment, would cure me of such nonsense. For eons, I wanted to write a book, but was afraid of punishment which of course, was in the form of failure. I used all kinds of excuses to keep from writing. After I retired from teaching, my husband took me to an electronics store. We bought a computer, took it home, and assembled it. He looked at me and said, “Write the damn book.” That was thirty-five books, and several bestsellers, ago. Today, failure doesn’t mean ‘failing.’ It means, not being afraid to analyze what didn’t work and then working to make it better.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What truths are so foundational in your life that you rarely articulate them?
My grandmother used caution us kids to always be as good as possible because Karma would come back and hurt you twenty-fold. I never fully understood what she meant but it scared me enough that I never wanted to test “Karma,” because I hid from punishment as much as possible. Today, and throughout my life, one of my foundational truths is found in the Holy Bible, Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 that there is a time for everything: a time to give birth, and a time to die; a time to be silent and a time to speak. Although, I rarely articulate these events of life, I try to live my life as close as possible to them.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. When do you feel most at peace?
What works for one person may not work for another. I am a Virgo and a true introvert. I also have acute hearing. Sometimes noises seem to escalate inside my head. I feel the most at peace in solitude–no noise, no music, no television, no voices–just ‘quiet.’

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rogers.loretta2018/?hl=en
• Twitter: https://x.com/BooksbyLoretta
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loretta.rogers.3591
• Other: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Loretta-C.-Rogers/author/B004948XP2

  https://lorettacrogers.blogspot.com/

Image Credits
I own all of the photos.