Lori Roy's Blog

My husband and I recently traveled to New York for the 2016 Edgar Awards. I'm thrilled to share that LET ME DIE IN HIS FOOTSTEPS received the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Novel .

Here are a few pictures from the evening...

 Photograph from Nominee Reception Edgar Awards Add caption All 2016 Award Recipients

The Mystery Writers of America recently announced the 2016 Edgar Award Nominations, and I'm thrilled to share that LET ME DIE IN HIS FOOTSTEPS has been nominated for Best Novel.


You will find all of the nominations here... http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html


And thought I'd share a few photos from my previous trips to the Edgars...






 

June 2nd is fast approaching...the day LET ME DIE IN HIS FOOTSTEPS will hit shelves...so I thought I'd share some early praise the book has received.


"The scents of Lavender and regret are heavy in this suspenseful coming-of-age novel...This powerful story...should transfix readers right up to its stunning final twist." Publishers Weekly - Starred Review

"Reading Lori Roy is a sinuous, near-physical experience, her stories so rich and well-told they twine into the reader in a manner both gentle and profoundly deep. I consider her writing a love-sonnet to American letters. Simply lovely."-
John Hart - NY Times Bestselling Author of THE LAST CHILD

"In the lavender-scented landscape of Lori Roy’s fine novel, secrets from the past emerge like long buried locusts, and the world of young Annie Holleran is changed forever. This is a beautifully observed story whose details of time, place, and character are stunning little jewels sure to dazzle the eye on every page. Annie’s journey from the comforting lies of childhood to the hard truths destined to shape her as a woman is one that readers will long remember. Quite simply put, I loved this book." William Kent Krueger - NY Times Bestselling Author of ORDINARY GRACE


“Young love, Southern folklore, family feuds, and crimes of passion . . . Roy describes life on a lavender farm in rural Kentucky in vivid detail, and the mystery of what happened years ago will keep readers engaged until the end.” – Library Journal

"Roy (Bent Road, 2011, etc.) draws a Faulkner-ian tale of sex and violence from the Kentucky hills...[Her] characters live whole on the page, especially Annie, all gawky girl stumbling her way to womanhood through prejudice and inhibition." – Kirkus Reviews

So happy to share this beautiful cover for my upcoming novel.  LET ME DIE IN HIS FOOTSTEPS will hit stores June 2, 2015.

It's paperback pub day for UNTIL SHE COMES HOME...

 A few pictures from this year's Edgar Awards Ceremony.  Though I didn't come home with a win this year, we had a wonder time.

I'm thrilled to share that my second novel, UNTIL SHE COMES HOME (Dutton/Penguin), is among the six novels nominated for this year's BEST NOVEL award.  It's all the more exciting as some of my favorite authors are among the other nominees. 

I had a wonderful time when last I attended the Edgars, and I look forward to another terrific trip. 


From the 2012 Edgar Awards Ceremony - pictured here with Agent Jenny Bent and Editor Denise Roy

For those of you in the Tampa Bay area, The Eckerd College Writers in Paradise Conference will be hosting several public readings in the near future.  Here's a look at the line up...All events are free and open to the public. They are held at Miller Auditorium on the Eckerd College Campus at 8:00 each evening.  A wine and cheese reception precedes each reading from 7:30-8:00.
2014 Eckerd College Writers' Conference Evening Reading Series:Saturday, January 18
Tim O'Brien with Q&A moderated by Dennis Lehane
Sunday, January 19
Dennis Lehane and Andre Dubus III
Monday, January 20
Jon Chopan and Les Standiford
Tuesday, January 21
Laura Williams McCaffrey and Peter Meinke
Wednesday, January 22*
NO READINGS
Thursday, January 23
Lori Roy and Stewart O'Nan
Friday, January 24
Ann Hood and Sterling Watson
Saturday, January 25
Laura Lippman and Attica Locke

Very excited to be part of WRITE YOUR HEART OUT TAMPA BAY, coming to Tampa Sunday, October 27. The day-long event will be led by Poynter Institute senior scholar (and darn fine guitalele player) Roy Peter Clark. The rest of the lineup includes Pulitzer prize-winning writers Daniel Ruth and Tom French, and award-winning Tampa Bay Times Journalists Kelley Benham and Jeff Klinkenberg. And…me. The event will be held Sunday, October 27 9:30-4:30 in the  The Straz Center (Maestro’s, 2nd floor), 1010 N. W.C. MacInnes Place, Tampa, FL 33602.  Details can be found here... 
50 WRITING TOOLS & HOW TO WRITE SHORT
Roy Peter Clark is Poynter’s senior scholar and the author of Writing Tools: 50 Strategies for Every Writer, The Glamour of Grammar and Help! For Writers. His latest, How to Write Short, was published in August.


WRITING WITH OPINION
Daniel Ruth is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist with the Tampa Bay Times editorial board. His journalism career spans four decades as a reporter, film critic, television critic, and columnist and editorial writer.

STARTING OFF WITH A BANG
Lori Roy was awarded the Edgar Allen Poe Award for her debut novel, Bent Road. The book has been optioned for film. Her second novel, Until She Comes Home, was recently named a New York Times Editors’ Choice.

TELLING YOUR OWN STORY
Tom French teaches writing at The Poynter Institute, Indiana University and at newsrooms and conferences around the world. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the author of three nonfiction books.


Kelley Benham is an award-winning writer and editor at the Tampa Bay Times. Her most recent project, a three-part series about her daughter Juniper, was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in feature writing.


FINDING GREAT CHARACTERS
Jeff Klinkenberg writes about Florida culture for the Tampa Bay Times. He is the best-selling author of four books, including Seasons of Real Florida and his latest, a collection of essays entitled Alligators in B-Flat.

 

A few days ago, I had the pleasure of speaking with Mary Glenney on 88.5 out of Tampa.  She hosts a weekly program called FROM A WOMAN'S POINT OF VIEW.  We talked about my latest novel, UNTIL SHE COMES HOME, Detroit and why we write about the past. 

You'll find a portion of that interview here.  (Slide forward to the 45 minute mark)