A Conversation Over Tea with Lory L.
by Barbara Tiller Cole
I am very grateful to have Lory Lilian with me today here at Darcyholic Diversions. Back in the early days of JAFF, I discovered Lory L’s Rainy Days. Since that time, when someone wants an introduction to Jane Austen inspired literature, that story is one of a handful that I have recommended to a novice Austenesque reader. So I was thrilled when Lory agreed to stop by for an interview.
There are TWO ecopies of one of Lory’s novels of your choice as a give away with this post! Thank you Lory! In the comment section share what you have enjoyed in Lory’s previous works or what you are looking forward to in this one. Extra entries for liking this blog, joining the email list, liking my author page on Facebook, reposting this link on Facebook or Twitter, or anything other idea you might have. Please included any extra things you have done in comments below your own post in the comment section.
And now, I’ve poured tea, lets chat with Lory...
Lory, tell us a little
bit about how and when you first discovered any of Jane Austen's novels.
The first Jane Austen book I read and instantly fell in love with was Pride and Prejudice. I was 13
years old back then and I can say it changed my life completely. Of course, I first
read it translated in Romanian, but as soon as I found it in English, my
enjoyment increased.
Was it Austen love at
first site? Or did you read it in school and return to Austen later?
Pride and Prejudice was love at first sight without a
doubt. Then came Sense and Sensibility, and Emma. Mansfield Park, Persuasion
and Northanger Abbey.
Was it one of Jane
Austen's books, or one of the Austen movie adaptations that really began your
love affair with Austen?
My love affair with Austen started with Pride and Prejudice the
book, long before I saw any adaptation. Then with the BBC 1995 miniseries it
begun my fanfiction obsession – and I was lost forever.
I know that I discovered
your early writings long before you had anything published online. How
did you first discover JAFF (Or Austen-inspired literature--depending on how
you refer to it)?
Well, it was 2004 and I kept searching the Internet for anything
related to Pride and Prejudice 95. And I happened to click on a link toward the
Derbyshire Writers Guild, then to Hyacinth Gardens and Firthness. So for the
next 4 months I read EVERYTHING I could find online, which means I slept no
more than 4 hours every night LOL. It was such a blissful time. Then, in
January 2005 I started to write and post on line my first
novel, Rainy Days. Its success is still hard to believe for me.
How has your career or
your hobbies influenced your writing? (I don't know anything about your
history, so you can separate this into two questions if you have an answer to
both.)
Until three years ago I had a long carrier in Human Resources and
sales, in different multinational companies. So my time for writing was very
limited. That was the main reason why I only wrote 4 books since 2005 to 2015,
although I had lots of inspiration and ideas. Then at long last, I decided to
split my time equally between business and my hobby- which is my writing. As a
consequence, I published three new books in two years.
When a non Austen
inspired reader is curious about JAFF I have often recommended that they read
your first novel, Rainy Days. What inspired you to write your it?
Oh – thank you so much; you are very kind! I am thrilled and
humbled to see how many people still love Rainy Days. What inspired me to write
it? Hmmmm – just my endless passion/devotion for Elizabeth and Darcy and their
story. The idea came into my head and would never leave. Can you believe that I
wrote the 390 pages in about 3 months ? J
What was the inspiration
for your new release, A Man Without Faults?
A man with Faults was a challenge – for me and my readers. Some
people whose opinion is very important to me suggested that my books are a
little bit … too perfect. That a little more angst might be nice. Oh well –
here it is! Lots of angst, I might say. But of course, it has its well-deserved
part of mush and a hot happy ending! And people seemed to enjoy it, as the
sales and the reviews are excellent. The book was number 275 in the total
Amazon sales rank; I am pretty sure it is the highest rank ever reached by a JAFF
book and I cannot thank my readers enough for that.
Without giving too much
away, one of your book's thematic elements appears to be about the consequence
Darcy's long held resentment and anger? It is much stronger than in
canon. What did you like and not like about your Darcy in this book?
Ha ha – I pretty much hated this Darcy in the beginning (just keep
in mind that the first draft had much more angst and Darcy was much darker!).
Seriously speaking, it was hard to write him, his anger, his resentment… But I
hope I succeeded in keeping his major traits: he is honorable, fair, caring,
generous – and very much in love with Elizabeth.
I understand you had the
misfortune to have someone fraudulently plagarize your name on a book you did
not write. I know many were shocked and concerned when we heard that that had
happened to you. Would you like the opportunity to clear the air about
what happened?
I was shocked too – although I know that many nasty things happened
in JAFF community in the last years: books stolen from the online sites,
plagiarism and others which I would never believe possible among people who
love Jane Austen. So basically, searching for the latest reviews of AMWF,
Amazon just recommended me a book of 36 pages, which had the author name
written with very large fonts, while the title was barely visible. The author’s
name was Lory Lilian LOL. My first concern was that my readers would be
deceived to believe it was my book, would buy it and be disappointed with it –
and with me. That was very painful and worrisome! So I emailed Amazon, but they
basically told me there was nothing they could do, since it was allowed to have
more authors with the same name. However, as soon as I posted the announcement,
the reaction from JAFF community was immediate and so powerful that Amazon took
that book down within a couple of hours.
Are you currently
writing thing new you would like to discuss?
Yes, I am working on a new project. It is light, romantic, hot and
low angst. Ha ha – I really love writing it.
Anything else you would
like to share with the readers here at Darcyholic Diversions?
Just to say how excited I am to be here for the first time and
hope to repeat the experience in the future. Thanks so much for having me.