First ever online slumber party gains media attention for author Lori Soard.

Indiana Author Throws Cyber-Bash
By Ronda Weems
Indianapolis Reporter
October 14, 2000

Indianapolis - How many people can boast of throwing a first of its kind party? Lori Soard, writer and business owner, has done just that with her cyber slumber party scheduled for November 18th.

"Each of my readers is special to me. I wanted to give something back to them by offering a party in their honor along with door prizes and surprise guests," said Lori Soard, author of six books and hundreds of articles and short stories.

The event will be accessible through Lori's website at www.lorisoard.com and will run from 10 PM until 2 am the following morning. Invited guests include: Fern Michaels, Charlotte Maclay, Nora Roberts, Vicki Hinze, and Maggie Davis along with a myriad of other names in the publishing industry.

Lori's books range from a young adult novel "It's Hard To Go Home," a romance "Man of Means," a nonfiction "Bridges: Adoption Resource Guide," and two children's books "Jasper's Secret" and "Journey of Hope."

Lori is on the cutting edge of technology as most of her books have been available in electronic form (on disk or CD) as well as in paperback.

"I see electronically published authors as the pioneers of the Internet. They remind me of the men and women who settled the West. Sometimes their families thought they were insane to want to put themselves in such a difficult situation, but those pioneers and today's publishing pioneers could envision the future and what things might be," said Soard.

"Jasper's Secret" will be Soard's first picture book. Ironically, a grade school art teacher once told her she had zero artistic talent and gave her C's on her work. Always one to prove her critics wrong, the illustrations for "Jasper's Secret" were drawn by Lori and are bright, vivid, and captivating.

"Bridges" is a nonfiction adoption guide she started while taking one of her master's courses. The project grew into a book when she saw a huge need for such a guide.

"To give up a child to someone else to raise shows a tremendous amount of love for the child." Soard has several adoptees in her own family, including two cousins. "This book addresses the needs of all members of the adoption triangle--birth parents, adoptive parents and adoptees."

"It's Hard To Go Home" is Soard's only young adult novel. She said it was a purging of pain story. Having lost her favorite cousin when he was 20, she wanted to express some of the pain she'd felt with the hope that it would reach another person. Since her fondest memories of Michael were of when they were young teens, she made her heroine twelve-years-old. The book quickly changed from its original format to become pure fiction but the emotions and personalities remain intact.

Lori's real passion is romance. Out of everything she writes, this is the one thing she truly loves.

"I read my first romance when I was nine. I was hooked. The story of falling in love and making that emotion work against all odds is classic."

Soard's romances include "Man of Means" a romantic comedy reminiscent of a 30's flick and "Picking Up Cowboys" which is a deeper, more emotionally moving romance set in Colorado. The one thing that shines through in whatever Soard writes is her strong sense of humor and her unique way of looking at the world.

"All of my heroines have a bit of me in them, or at least the person I'd like to be. Unfortunately, they also have my flaws but that can make writing them so much fun. I get to overcome my human flaws through my characters and give them funny quirks I might not have the nerve to experience in my real, rather ordinary life. Who wouldn't have fun living vicariously this way? I have the best job in the world," said Soard.

In addition to her writing, Lori Soard owns and operates wordmuseum.com. She opened the site in 1997. It now receives over a million visitors a year and continues to grow. The site is split into many areas and includes free workshops, writing classes, interviews with authors, reviews of books, articles and monthly columns and a free newsletter.

Soard will be appearing at booksignings and events in the coming months from Indiana to Ohio to New Orleans. One of her favorite speaking engagements is to talk to schools and organizations.

Her books are available through her publishers, as well as Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Borders.com and she offers autographed copies at her Web site: www.lorisoard.com

For details on Soard's books, speaking or workshops, she can be reached at 317-462-0037 or LoriASoard.aol.com

*This article may be reprinted in its entirety in any newspaper, magazine, electronic zine or website.