Lori Sjoberg: Reconnecting With the Past

First of all, thanks so much for having me here today! 

The road to publication can take you on a lot of twists and turns.  Editing, rewrites, deadlines, promotion, etc.  It can tug you in a thousand different directions.  But it also comes with many rewards, like the feeling of accomplishment when you finally finish a manuscript, the swell of pride that comes with a positive review, or the rush you get when you receive an email from someone who loves your work.  For me, the greatest gift came when my book, Grave Intentions, reconnected me with a childhood best friend.

You see, my family moved from Vermont to Florida when I was fairly young.  Leaving friends behind is always difficult, and my case was no exception.  Back then my best friend was the little boy who lived up the street.  We were virtually inseparable, spending our days playing in the field across the street, rollicking in the snow, and doing all the other things kids normally do.  I missed him dearly after the move.  Time and circumstances eventually caused us to lose contact, but I never forgot him and often wondered what became of him and his family.

Fast forward 30+ years.  About three weeks after Grave Intentions was released, I received an email via my website.  The subject line “Did you ever live in Vermont?” certainly grabbed my attention, but it was the sender’s name that had my heart skipping a beat.  It was none other than my childhood best friend!

He’d come across my book while surfing on Amazon, recognized my name, and decided to take a chance and see if I was the same Lori Sjoberg who once lived in his neck of the woods.  Thank goodness I didn’t publish under a pen name, or he never would have found me!  (I’m also very thankful that he’s an avid reader who browses Amazon.)  Since then we’ve been swapping emails, catching up on past events, and getting to know each other all over again.  It’s amazing, how quickly we’ve slipped back into a comfortable rapport.  And now that we’ve reestablished that connection, I’ll do everything in my power to make sure it’s never lost again.

So here’s my question for you all:  if you could reconnect with someone from the past, who would it be? 

 

Grave Intentions:

 

He’s handsome, reliable, and punctual—the perfect gentleman when you want him to be. But this dream man is Death’s best agent—and now he’s got more than his soul to lose…

One act of mercy before dying was all it took to turn soldier David Anderson into a reaper—an immortal who guides souls-of-untimely-death into the afterlife. But the closer he gets to atoning for his mortal sin and finally escaping merciless Fate, the more he feels his own humanity slipping away for good. Until he encounters Sarah Griffith. This skeptical scientist can’t be influenced by his powers—even though she has an unsuspected talent for sensing the dead. And her honesty and irreverent sense of humor reignite his reason for living—and a passion he can’t afford to feel.

Now Fate has summoned David to make a devastating last harvest. And he’ll break every hellishly-strict netherworld rule to save Sarah…and gamble on a choice even an immortal can’t win.