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Last week a friend of mine, Beverly Willett, a great writer with whom I work on the Coalition for Divorce Reform, asked me to participate in the Next Big Thing online event. I’m always up for some online camaraderie, and am happy to join in. The Next Big Thing is a way for authors and bloggers to share the news about their most exciting upcoming projects.

Beverly is a former lawyer, but don’t hold that against her! She is working on multiple writing projects, and you can meet her here at her blog: http://beverlywillett.com/blog. I think you’ll agree that her lively writing style is very entertaining. In addition, she is clearly passionate about helping to improve family stability in our country. She’s not afraid to look at all possibilities to achieve this. Here’s her article in the Huffington Post on the number-one problem facing our country.

So here’s my attempt at answering these questions about my current writing journey:

What is the title of your book?

For those new readers here, my book is called First Kiss to Lasting Bliss: Hope & Inspiration for Your Marriage. It tells the stories of a dozen couples who found that adversity could actually strengthen their marriages. It’s available on Amazon.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I was inspired by a few amazing couples I knew who had gone through difficulties that most couples could not endure. As a GenXer, I realized that few in our generation have great role models for how to thrive in marriage when the going gets tough. As a journalism geek, I’ve always loved interviewing people and telling stories. That’s how the idea came together.

What genre does your book fall under?
Creative Nonfiction.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

It took about a year of interviewing and locating all the couples and another year to write and edit.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
With two dozen characters in the book, there is room for nearly every Hollywood star, from the southern Belle to the military hero to the sweet older couple.

What is the synopsis of your book?
Life and marriage rarely go exactly as we had planned, but marriage can thrive even in the most difficult circumstances. Learn from couples who have experienced child loss, infidelity, drug addiction, cancer, financial crises, brain injury, stranger rape, separation for military service, infertility, opposing religions, unsupportive families, raising special-needs children, and much more.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I started a publishing company, Geode Publishing, so it was self-published. You can learn more at http://www.LoriDLowe.com.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Tom Brokaw’s The Greatest Generation has a similar story-telling vibe although my book covers multiple generations. Another book that has the same feel is Why Do I Love These People? by Po Bronson. I love the way Po uses creative storytelling to relay real life stories. My stories also use creative nonfiction style to allow the reader to immerse themselves in the stories and understand what factors got them into their troubled period, whether it was through poor decisions, such as infidelity, or harsh life circumstances, such as the death of a child.

What’s your next big thing?
My next big thing is to focus on the most important things in my life at this moment, to live in the present and to enjoy and treasure my family and nourish my spiritual life. During the research and writing of this book, I gave up many everyday things from TV and leisure reading to spending extra time with family. I don’t miss the TV, but literature is an important inspiration for me. My two kids traveled from toddlers to tweeners in the blink of an eye, and I don’t want to miss a day. I plan to nurture my own marriage and family life while also blogging and balancing my “other job” in healthcare marketing communications.

I’m also making a little more time for me! That’s hard for writers to do, but I ran my first 5K and learned to play tennis in the last year. I’m trying to make my own health and wellbeing a priority. We writers can’t feel guilty to indulge in a long walk or a great book, rather than spending more time on Facebook and Twitter.

So, 2013 will not be the year I become rich and famous (especially since I don’t play the lottery), but I hope to continue to balance the use of my talents with spending my time on these activities and with the family and friends I love, who as I get older seem more and more precious to me.

Thanks to all the bloggers and writers out there who have been supportive in my own writing adventures!  And now I would like to pass the torch to two writers whom I would love to introduce you to, Eve Gaal and Neil McNerney! 

Please meet Eve Gaal…

When Eve received  a typewriter at age four, it set in motion a cycle of creative writing starting with stories, poems, newsletters, advertising copy, non-fiction articles, essays and fictional stories. Then after a high school friend actually commissioned a poem, her destiny felt written in stone.

Eve’s writing has appeared in various anthologies such as Fiction Noir-13 Stories, God Makes Lemonade, My Funny Valentine and Goose River Anthology.  Online magazines and journals include the September 2012 issue of Rusty Nail literary magazine. Short stories, Kidnapped Writer and Front Page Kiss, both available on Amazon. Recent publications include: Open Doors-Fractured Fairy Tales, Epiphany Magazine, Wit and Humor magazine on iTunes and a humorous tale about her puppy in Not Your Mother’s Book on Dogs  out in time for the holidays. Watch for her upcoming novel titled, “Penniless Hearts.” Find more of Eve’s writing and read her Next Big Thing at: http://thedesertrocks.blogspot.com. 

And introducing Neil McNerney!

As a school counselor, and a licensed counselor in private practice, Neil has seen many kids and their parents struggle with homework issues. In the last twenty years he has developed a technique that has helped hundreds of families deal with issues of motivation, student stress, disorganization, and a number of other things that get in the way of doing well in school.

Neil hopes his book: “Homework – A Parent’s Guide to Helping Out without Freaking Out!“ will show parents a clear plan to increasing your child’s success while decreasing your own frustration.

You can read Neil’s Next Big Thing post right here!