An Interview with Lori Roy

Hi Lori.  Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions today. We are always looking forward to reading about the author behind the book.

TRC: Let’s start with some background information. Will you please tell us about yourself?

Lori: I was born and raised in Manhattan, Kansas where I graduated from Kansas State University. I spent my early career as a tax accountant and began writing when I chose to stay home with my first child. I now live in Florida with my husband and two children.

TRC: When did you start writing?  Have you always liked to write?

Lori: I can’t say I’m one of those people who always knew she wanted to be a writer. As a child, I did read a great deal. In particular, if I loved a book—i.e. THE OUTSIDERS by S.E. Hinton—I read it over and over.  I didn’t seriously pursue writing until my early thirties when I decided to be a stay-home parent. Ten years later, I sold my first novel—BENT ROAD. 

TRC: Many authors bounce ideas and information between friends and family. With whom do you bounce your ideas?

Lori: That’s easy—my husband and kids. All three are great at listening and tossing back ideas.

TRC: Is Bent Road your first book published?  What was your reaction when you saw your first published book, and to winning the Edgar award for Best first Novel?

Lori: BENT ROAD is my first published novel. I was actually out of town when the first copies of the hardback were delivered to my house, so my daughter opened the box and texted me a picture of the books inside.

Winning the Edgar award was a terrific experience as I was able to share it with my husband, some amazing writers and many fine folks from Dutton. In all the years leading up to the publication of BENT ROAD, not once did I sit at my computer and dream of winning an Edgar award, which is to say the honor was beyond my wildest dreams.

TRC: Will you please tell us about the premise of Bent Road, and what is the significance of the title Bent Road?. How did you come up with the idea for this story.

Lori: BENT ROAD is the story of the Scott family. For twenty years, Celia Scott has watched her husband, Arthur, hide from the secrets surrounding his sister Eve’s death. As a young man, Arthur fled his small Kansas hometown, moved to Detroit, married Celia, and never looked back. But when the 1967 riots frighten him even more than his past, he convinces Celia to pack up their family and return to the road he grew up on, Bent Road, and that same small town where Eve mysteriously died. Soon after the family arrives, a local girl disappears, catapulting the family headlong into a dead man’s curve. . . .

The story of BENT ROAD began with setting. As a child I visited western Kansas every summer and we still have family living there. This part of the country has always intrigued me. I have found that setting is where all my story ideas begin. After that, characters tend to spring up and lastly plot. It takes many revisions to weave all three together. 

The title—BENT ROAD—is significant in a few different ways. In the literal sense, many of the story’s major events take place on the fictional Bent Road. But it also refers to what happens when we let perceptions guide our thinking.

TRC: What made you decide to write Suspense/Mystery?  Was there any favorite author or book (s) that pushed you into writing suspense?

Lori: I wouldn’t say I decided to write suspense or that I thought in terms of genre when I set out to write BENT ROAD. Instead, I worked to write a book that would make its readers want to turn the page. At the first writers’ conference I ever attended, I received the following advice—write the book you want to read. I like to read a book rooted in character, setting and voice, but I also like a plot that will keep me up at night. My goal with my work is to weave all of these elements together.

TRC: What are you currently working on?

Lori: I am putting the finishing touches on my next novel, which will be out in the summer of 2013, again from DUTTON. In BENT ROAD, I briefly visited Detroit, Michigan and the riots of the late 1960s. In doing so, I discovered one of those great, gritty settings that I love to work with. My next novel—as yet untitled—is set in Detroit during the late 1950s. The simmering conflicts of that time—racial, economic and cultural—erupt on Alder Avenue when a young woman disappears. The neighborhood men temporarily abandon their factory jobs to coordinate daily search parties. The ladies set aside plans for the annual bake sale to serve sweet breads, casseroles and freshly brewed coffee to their hardworking men. But as the days pass with no news of the young woman, the neighbors begin to fear the worse. Only Grace Richardson, one of the last to see the missing woman, knows the truth of what happened. Fearing her silence puts the entire neighborhood in jeopardy, she is desperate to share her secret, but her own mother warns her against doing so … “No man wants to know this about his wife,” Mother says of Grace’s secret. “He can’t live with it. Do yourself this favor. No man wants to know.” 

TRC: Where do you like to do your writing?   In a quiet room…by yourself?  Do you like to use the computer or pen to paper first.

Lori: I usually write in my home office, although I’ll occasionally take my laptop to a coffee shop if I need a change of scenery.  Generally, I do my writing on a computer, though if I’m stumped, I’ll take pen to paper.

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

Lori: Many thanks for inviting me to participate in an interview. 

LIGHTNING ROUND

Favorite Food: Stone Crab                               

Favorite Author:  It’s a tie - John Steinbeck and Harper Lee

Favorite Book: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

Favorite Movie: THE BIG CHILL

Favorite TV Show: Another tie - MAD MEN and THE WALKING DEAD

Last Movie that you saw: ROCK OF AGES

Do you have a favorite fictional character (not your own): Scout Finch

Thank you, Lori for answering our questions. The Reading Café wishes you the best of luck with Bent Road.  Keep us informed about your upcoming releases. We look forward to working with you again.

To learn more about Lori, you can find her at the following sites:
Website: http://loriroy.com/
Facebook link
Twitter link