In 1993, Lori sold her first western romance and since then she has written a ton of novels. After writing only five pages, she entered the manuscript into a contest and won the prize of having a Harlequin editor read her manuscript. She read about the Romance Writers of America and a few days later she had joined and was learning all manner of things about romance writing while writing in her free time. It was while she was teaching that she read “How to Write a Romance and Get It Published,” that she credits for changing her life. For a time, she was a waitress and then decided to go back to school and train as a teacher. In her twenties, the need to make a living took precedence while writing was sent to the back burner. However, they did teach her how to write a good proposal as she got better over time and got people to look at her work. During her teenage years, Lori must have written more than fifteen historical romance manuscripts that never saw the light of day. Handeland remembers thinking to herself that she would never run out of books if she knew how to write her own novels.

Since she was an only child most of her summers were spent watching the TV at the typewriter and reading books. She told her mother that she was writing a space opera story about a family that traveled to space. Before she even knew how to type, she was sitting in front of a typewriter playing with the keys. Lori determined that she would become an author when she was aged only ten.

She decided to write under a pseudonym since she wanted to branch out into a different genre but her publisher would not let her until she was done with other contractual obligations. Both Handeland and Austin are humorous, dark as well as sexy in their writings. Even though her western historical romances are written in the same tone and voice as her other works, they are not as scary. Lori also publishes sexy and gritty western historical romance under the pen name Lori Austin. The novel tells the multilayered story of two women who love one man and their journeys of forgiveness, loss, sacrifice, and grief as their lives intertwine.

In 2018, she published “Just Once,” a blockbuster bestseller than announced her entry into women’s fiction.

After more than twenty-five years of writing, she has achieved much success and won many accolades. Her short stories, novellas, and novels have been published in several genres from historical romance, urban fantasy, and paranormal romance. Lori Handeland is a USA Today and New York Times bestselling author who has written more than 60 works of fiction.

Marked by the moon by lori handeland