Praise for L. R. W. Lee
“Her
humor is visible and the book has many clever touches in this multi-layered
story. L. R. W. Lee is a strong and determined writer with a well-thought-through plot and vivid
characters and situations.”
— Barbara
Bamberger Scott, Editor
A Woman’s
Write
About the Author
Since
the age of eight, L. R. W. Lee wanted to write a book that not only
entertained, but also impacted people, changing lives. She began her creative
journey by placing 3rd in a writing contest in middle school, and
winning an essay contest in high school.
After a career in public and corporate accounting, she became a mom and accomplished
business owner. After 12 years of
growing her business, she successfully sold it in early 2012. Now L. R. W. Lee has turned her creative
energy and talent to writing her debut novel, Andy Smithson: Blast of the Dragon’s Fury (Book One).
Tell us about your current book. Give a short summary.
Ten-year-old
Andy Smithson is magically brought to the Land of Oomaldee while he is doing
dishes one night. Unbeknowst to him, he is
there to break a 500 year old curse. Andy
learns that his quest is the Dragon’s Lair to find an ingredient critical to
breaking the curse - the scale from an elusive red dragon, the fiercest of all
dragon species. Andy nearly destroys the castle amidst adventures battling
fire-breathing dragons, fighting vicious vulture attacks, escaping
people-eating giants and more. I had a
lot of fun interjecting humor throughout the book in the form of fart jokes
that appeal to middle graders, but also more advanced word play for adult
readers. One example, when Andy is faced
with crossing a raging river, he speaks of overcoming the “current”
problem. I love doing word plays like
this. You’ll find these throughout the
book, particularly in the prologue.
There are many
teachable moments sprinkled throughout the book. I’d say overcoming frustration, fear and
impatience are important messages in this book as well as commitment and
dedication to a cause because of those you love.
I am passionate
about helping others embody new ways of approaching these and similar
situations. As a result, I have included
on my website discussion questions for parents to work through with their kids.
Can you tell us about your publisher and how the process worked in
getting published?
I am self publishing so I learned a lot as I worked to get my book
published. I went through Createspace
for the paperback. I had them design the
cover as well as the inside, knowing that what the book looks like matters
tremendously when it comes to attracting customers. While they were doing that, I had several
people read the manuscript and give feedback.
I have to say, the last couple weeks before the final manuscript hit the
presses were hectic in making changes and revisions. After that, Createspace coordinated with
Amazon and uploaded the manuscript to create the eBook version. They then got both the paperback and eBook
pages up on Amazon, and here we are.
How did you get the idea for this book?
I founded and grew a business for 12 years beginning in 2000 and successfully
sold it in January 2012. In 2005, I
chose to bring on a partner/mentor to continue to grow it. He taught me not only business narratives,
but also shared his personal philosophies.
He is Korean and therefore has many philosophies that you might call
Eastern-based that are refreshingly different from Western-based philosophies I
was raised with. Many of these,
including overcoming frustration, impatience and fear among others,
significantly changed how I think and act and improved my ability to enjoy life. It is these life principles that I seek to
share through my books. I hope to help
others better enjoy their journey through life.
What is a typical writing day like for you?
I usually
start with an hour of exercise. This
gets my creative juices flowing because I think about what I plan to write
about that day, organizing my thoughts.
After that, I get a cup of decaf coffee (creates a good mood for me) and
I sit down at my computer and begin committing to structured sentences what I
have thought through.
What do you enjoy most about writing?
Inventing the
story arc for this book as well as the rest of the series. I love to think about how all the details
need to come together and then reverse engineer the process, plugging the
various pieces in earlier. It’s like
putting a jigsaw puzzle together.
What is the most difficult part of writing?
I struggled with what to title the book as well as
boil down the novel into a one paragraph description for the back cover. It’s just not an easy task choosing what main
theme will best represent your work in a way that will draw readers to buy it.
How has publishing a book changed your life?
It hasn’t, at least not with my family!
I still do the grocery shopping, run errands for the household and
more. But seriously, when I tell people
I’ve published a book, most times I get a response that speaks respect for
someone who has the tenacity to not just have an idea, and not just start
writing, but has the focus and diligence to see her idea through to completion
in a form that others can enjoy.
What are your plans now?
I’m currently writing the second book in the series, Venom of the Serpent’s
Cunning. This book picks up after Andy
has been back home for 10 months. It’s
situated in the Sea of Mystery on Sometimes Island. The danger and peril quotient increase as
Andy seeks another clue to break the curse.
Relationships also deepen.
What is your best tip for aspiring authors?
Be
passionate about the message you want to communicate. Without passion, the hard times will snuff
your creativity and cause self doubts.
Is there anything else you would like to share with our readership?
My favorite part of writing is
inventing worlds out of nothing more than words. To me, words are magic! Everyone’s reality is just words. To be allowed to construct a world or people
or a scene out of nothing but words and have readers trust me with that, is a
privilege. The greatest challenge to
writing to this group is communicating the messages I am passionate about in a
way that readers can get for themselves without preaching. At times, this is a big struggle for me. I know what significant change happened for
me, personally, that fuels my passion for writing – I just want to tell people
about it! However, in the context of a
book, I can’t. This adds a lot of
challenge for me. The character of the
inneru came out of this conflict, so much good can result!
Do you have a website? If so, please give the URL. If not, where can
readers go online to learn more about your book(s) and to order?
- You can find me at my
website at www.lrwlee.com
- Both the eBook as well as
the paperback are available at Amazon.com or you can get the paperback
and other gear, like T-shirts, at my website at www.lrwlee.com. While you’re there, be sure to check
out the Read, Review, Refer reward program where you can get a free copy
of the next book.
Authors love to hear what you think of their
work. It’s a vulnerable business
inventing something and then putting it out there for the world to
critique. Please tell me what you think
by posting a review at Amazon.com, even if you don’t buy the book there.
