Friday, November 9, 2012

Lorrie Unites-Struiff Spills the Beans today!

Hi Lorrie! So glad to have you at Spilling the Beans, where we can learn a little bit about you, and your book.
I’m also glad to be here, Cate. *looks around*  Sweet blog!

Thanks! Grab a cappuccino and let’s chat. Unless you have another favorite drink (alcoholic or otherwise)?
I’ll have a cup of tea please. Two sugars.

A woman after my own heart. Fur or feathers, petwise?
Ahh, neither.  But I do take care of my friend’s cockatoo when she is away. Does that count?

Any pet peeves? One thing that really burns your biscuits?
Ooooh, I have so many pet peeves, it’s hard to pick out one. Let me think. Hmm.

It really bugs me when I’m in the middle of writing a scene, I’m really into it, it’s flowing so nice, my fingers are flying across the keyboard—then the telephone rings. I have to answer because it may be family or an important call. Arrrrrgh!  That sure has a way of breaking the moment.

Argh, I agree! Favorite quote?
“Never argue with an idiot.” That’s a personal one I tell myself every time people argue and don’t know what they are talking about. Instance: when someone says to me, “Ah, anyone can write a book, self pub, and make lots of money.” Uh, huh, sure they can, but let them try it. Lol.

Lol, exactly. :) What’s your ideal day like?
Oh, to have an ideal day. I wish I had one.

Get out of bed, have my two cups of hot tea. Straighten the house, then hit the computer. Stop for breakfast at noon (yes, I can’t eat breakfast in the mornings) take a little break, then back to the computer. Stop to make dinner and hope my eyes stop burning. A very long break here. Back to the computer to finish up little things, like finish writing a blog article, trying to learn how to manage my blog and maybe answer the new emails. With eyes burning again after an hour, I’d get off and snuggle in my tilt back chair and watch TV, snack, and clear my mind for a few hours, try to relax, then bed.

Now that is an ideal day for me. But, do they happen? Sure!  Maybe once every two or three weeks. Like all  author’s, there is real life to contend with.

Too true. If you could live out any fantasy, what would you do?
Be younger and travel to distant lands.

Beethoven, Beatles, Foo Fighters or Keith Urban (what type of music makes you rock out)?
All of the above, and let’s not forget the oldies. I have a weird love of music. My mother used to get so angry with me. From my tapes converted to CD’s now, I’ll listen to one by Tears for Fears, the very next one on the same CD may be Chopin, then Smoky Robinson, then an old one by Hank Williams Sr. Then Foreigner, REM, then Mozart, etc. Hey, you asked. Lol.

Like my writing, I’m all over the place with genres. From horror to romance and all in between.

We have the same musical tastes too. :) Does music influence your writing? Do you have a music playlist for your book?
Nope. If I have music on, I would listen to it instead of write. Yep, weird.

Not at all! I'm the same there too. Which of your characters would you most/least to hang out with, and why?
Most would be Beggar, the ringtail monkey from A Heap of Trouble. He’s so funny.
Least would be Morgan’s husband from my short story Wild Blackberries. I don’t like him at all.

Beggar's a cutie! And I agree about Morgan *shudders* 
While creating your books, what was one of the most surprising things you learned?
That is was harder than I thought. You authors made it look so easy. Wow, did I have a lot to learn. And learn I did. I’m still learning as we all do with every story we write. We actually slave over the stories, so many rewrites until you have almost memorize every line you wrote. And it takes a long time to produce one story. At least it does for me.

Where can readers find out more about you?
My still learning to work blog at http://lorriejuly.blogspot.com/
I’m on Facebook, look for my page, and try punching my name in on Amazon to see what I have available. I have some nice reviews there for you to read.

Please share a book blurb and/or excerpt.
Blurb
Sheriff Cole Walker is fearless, except when it comes to critters. When a runaway ringtail monkey decides to adopt Cole and won’t leave, he has more woes than he can handle.
Cole has a powerful yen for the newly arrived Mattie Wells, the pretty woman who can jingle his spurs with just a smile. Mattie takes a shine to men who have pets, and she adores the monkey. So do all the town’s folk – until their smaller valuables start coming up missing. But Cole has no choice but to put up with the thieving furball if he’s going to win Mattie’s heart.
But Mattie is holding a dark secret and refuses to get married. Cole tries every which way to make her see that she’s the only woman he wants, but with cattle rustlers and a miniature thief on the loose, it’s all Cole can do to find time to take her to a picnic.
Cole and his deputies, Wade and Sully, are given a month to find the thieves before Mayor Farley calls for outside gunslingers. Cole knows that’ll spell disaster for the town and likely unemployment for him. Can he overcome Mattie’s fears, bring the rustlers in, and teach his new unwanted furball sidekick a lesson about property rights before the town implodes?
With the help of his deputies and his unwanted sidekick Beggar, Cole must find a way to win Mattie’s heart, bring the rustlers to justice, and bring peace once again to Cold Creek, Kansas.
Yep. Cole has a heap of trouble on his hands.

And on Amazon

Lorrie lives in West Mifflin, PA, thirty minutes from downtown Pittsburgh. She lives at home with her favorite toy—a computer.
Once a gold medalist teacher/manager for a big-name ballroom dance studio she has retired and now enjoys the quiet life of writing and watching TV. But she loves to have lunches with local writers to keep abreast of the challenging world of publishing.
Lorrie writes in many genres so you never know what she will come out with next. She never wants to bore her readers and enjoys the thrill of entertaining them by writing a good story.
She would love to hear from her readers at struiff@msn.com. Please put “reader” in the subject line.
Thank you for choosing this book.

Thanks for spilling the beans today, Lorrie!
I hope I didn’t spill too many. :)