This week in The Loft: Author Alana Lorens

Joining me today in The Loft is author Alana Lorens/Lyndi Alexander. As Alana, she writes romantic suspense and as Lyndi Alexander, she writes sci-fi, fantasy, and paranormal mystery. She has also worked as a pizza maker, floral designer, journalist, and family law attorney. Currently a resident of Asheville, N.C., Alana enjoys spending time in the Smoky Mountains. She lives with her daughter, the youngest of seven children, two crotchety old cats, and six kittens of various ages. 

Author Alana Lorens

S:  Good morning, Alana! Thanks for joining me today.

What attracts you to the romance genre?

A:  Romance is something that makes people happy when they read. It helps people see that even though someone may face obstacles to happiness, that perseverance and determination can overcome them. Also, after working 30 years as a divorce attorney, I enjoy the irony of writing love stories. 

S:  That is a pretty bit of irony, isn't it?

How do you get in the mood for writing? 

A:  I prefer working on my desktop, even though my laptop is handy. The better quality of coffee, the more inspired I get. I’ve noticed, especially over the last year, that I tend to keep “butt in chair” a lot easier if I’ve got some kind of snackies to munch on. I especially like matchstick carrots! Music includes the soundtrack to Avatar, the soundtrack to The Stand, also music from The Hunger Games.  It’s interesting, months and years later, to hear the music somewhere and get transported immediately to a scene I’ve written.

S:  Have you ever shelved a book?

A:  I have tried to read literary-style books, and I just cannot get into them. I’m all for character development, but I’d rather see it happen with tense action and developing love or understanding instead of beautiful prose that just goes on and on. Call me a snob, I guess, but give me genre fiction any time.

S:  Well, you're not alone when it comes to those books. I read the classics in school, but even then, I suffered through them. When I start skipping pages to get to the end, I know I'm in trouble.

If you had to do it all over again, would you still choose to write books?

A: I would. It’s something I’ve been compelled to do since childhood. I wrote my first piece in grade school, my first paid piece at 18, was a journalist for much of the 1980s and then turned to novels. I can’t imagine doing anything else.

S:  What’s the best advice you have ever given? What’s the best advice you have ever been given?

A:  Write. It’s the same on either side. I know writers who spend ages reading books about writing, or drafting detailed outlines, or talking about the book they’re going to write. They never write anything. If you want to write something, get it on paper or a screen. Polish it. Get comments on it. Submit it. Nike’s right on this one.

S:  What inspired the Pittsburgh Lady Lawyers series? 

A:  As a practicing attorney in Pennsylvania for 30 years, I have lived the life of my three heroines. I have certainly bailed out of town like Brianna in "Voodoo Dreams." I have fallen in love with a man much younger than myself, like Inessa in "Second Chances." I was a single parent of teen girls for many years, like Suzanne in "Conviction of the Heart." I worked with survivors of domestic violence for many of those years as well as served as a guardian ad litem for abused children in Miami. It’s important work and I wanted to share it with my readers.

S:  Is there anything special you would like people to know about these books?

A:  These books are stand-alone—no need to have read the others. But if you like stories about lawyers in love, even under unexpected circumstances and while coping with danger following close behind, then these books are for you.

Here are the blurbs and buy links--

"Conviction of the Heart." Family law attorney Suzanne Taylor understands her clients' problems--her own husband left her with two babies to raise alone. Now that they're teenagers, her life is full. The last thing she wants is the romantic attentions of a police lieutenant, no matter how good-looking.

Lt. Nick Sansone is juggling the demands of a new promotion and doesn't need complications either. But when he sends a councilman's battered wife to Suzanne for help, he realizes he wants to connect with the lovely, prickly lawyer on more than a professional level.

They are soon confronted with a different battle when the abused woman's husband threatens retribution. The powerful, well-connected councilman can damage both their careers--not to mention hurt those they love. Can they bend enough to admit they need each other in a time of crisis? Or will a husband's revenge take them down before they ever get a chance?

Buy link:   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0089PTPAO/

"Second Chances." When Inessa Regan gets a pink slip, laid off from her law firm at the age of 42, without prospects she’s sure her life is over. She hides from the world, until her neighbor brings her a client, a young Iraq war veteran dying of cancer.

Kurt Lowdon only wants to make sure his affairs are in order should the worst happen, but meeting Inessa gives him encouragement on the road to recovery. His quest to help her realize her self-worth leads them into dangers they never expected, as horrors from the war and long-hidden family secrets come back to haunt them.

Buy Link:   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008CVY09Q/

"Voodoo Dreams." When her big trial goes bad, corporate attorney Brianna Ward can't wait to get out of Pittsburgh. The Big Easy seems like the perfect place to rest, relax, and forget about the legal business. Too bad an obnoxious--but handsome--lawyer from a rival firm is checking into the same bed and breakfast.

Attorney Evan Farrell has Mardi Gras vacation plans too. When he encounters fiery and attractive Brianna, however, he puts the Bourbon Street party on hold. He'd much rather devote himself to her--especially when a mysterious riddle appears in her bag, seeming to threaten danger.

Strangely compelled to follow the riddle's clues, Brianna is pulled deeper into the twisted schemes of a voodoo priest bent on revenge. To escape his poisonous web, she must work with Evan to solve the curse. But is the growing love they feel for each other real? Or just a voodoo dream?

Buy Link:   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G8I37MG/

S:  Alana, thanks so much for joining me today. If you'd like to learn more about Alana and her books, please visit--

Website:  http://Alana-lorens.com

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/AlanaLorens/

Goodreads:   https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4829967.Alana_Lorens

Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.com/Alana-Lorens/e/B005GE0WBC/