by A.E. Albert
@aealbert23
I am passionate about family genealogy and found my 3rd great grandmother had lost seventeen family members in one year to the Civil War and a typhoid epidemic. I couldn’t even fathom that kind of pain and loss, and I was so impressed by her strength, I wrote her story for her descendants. That book became “Okatibbee Creek.” It got such amazing response; I wrote a sequel named “An Orphan’s Heart.” From that point, I became obsessed with telling the stories of those who came before us. I enjoy putting personalities to the people we know only as a name and date on our family trees.
Is there a message in your books?
I don’t know that there are any great words of wisdom, except that our stories of struggle are unchanging. The people in my books, in our past, were real people. They dreamed, fought, laughed, and cried, just like we do today. We can learn so much from them if we only listen.
Is there anything in your books based on real life experiences?
Most of my work is historical fiction, so all the dates, names, and places are real. As far as being based on my own experiences, I tend to believe all stories are told from the psychological viewpoint of the author. How I would respond in a situation is probably the same way my character responds. Of course, one of my books, “Stuckey’s Bridge,” is about a psychotic serial killer. I was shocked at how easily his character came to life and how effortlessly his wicked personality flowed from my pen.
What has been your greatest challenge when writing?
My greatest challenge is keeping my character from dying at the end! Writing about real people seems to be linear. They’re born, they live, they die. It’s hard to end the story before their death. It has become a joke in my family that everyone knows how my stories will end – the main character dies.
What are you working on right now?
My current book is the first in a four-book series. It's called, “I, John Culpepper.” It’s based on the life of the 17th-century man historians refer to as John Culpepper the Merchant. He is believed to be the progenitor of the modern-day American Culpeppers, and he's my 10th great grandfather.
What have you learned and do you have any advice for other authors?
I think the most important quality in being an author is to stay true to yourself and your story. Write what you love, know why your characters do what they do, and don’t apologize if someone doesn’t like your work. There will be many times a reader will complain about something in your book, but if you know why you wrote it that way, you won’t take it so personally. Stay true to yourself and your story.
John Culpepper was born into a privileged childhood, surrounded by abundant wealth, vast land holdings, and stately English manors. As he grew, he was expected to follow family tradition—attend law school and serve in Parliament; following which, he would retire to a quiet life as a country gentleman. John, however, had different desires. He longed to captain a mighty ship, to hear the snap of the sails, to taste the salty spray on his lips. To follow his dreams, John would have to risk being disinherited by his unyielding father. He would have to deny family convention. He would ultimately be forced to choose between the woman he loved and his mistress—the sea.
I promise John won’t die at the end – not in this book, anyway.:)
Lori's website:
http://loricraneauthor.com/
Lori’s blog:
Lori’s blog:
https://loricrane.wordpress.com/
Lori’s books are available at Amazon:
Lori’s books are available at Amazon:
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