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Lori Berhon

Goodreads Author

Born

New York, The United States

Website

http://www.loriberhon.com

Twitter

loriberhon

Genre

Fiction

Member Since

February 2012

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Novelist, playwright and sometime-actor Lori Berhon lives in her home town of New York City where, technically, she makes her living writing. She is actually taller, slimmer and far more elegant than she appears to be. While her contemporary fiction is written under her own name, Lori also writes ripping Alternative History yarns under the name Merle Darling. ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

How do you deal with writer’s block?

Lori Berhon When I'm stuck at any point in the current WIP (the work in progress), I take a long walk. In a pinch, the gym treadmill will do. And, as I've famousl…moreWhen I'm stuck at any point in the current WIP (the work in progress), I take a long walk. In a pinch, the gym treadmill will do. And, as I've famously said, I often write on trains. There's something about forward motion that shakes up my braincells. If I'm still paralyzed, I allow myself to skip ahead to a scene I'm ready to write. Here's where I give a big shout out to my adored writing tool, Scrivener, which allows me to jump around and still feel safe -- tremendously liberating! I'm grateful that this is usually the last resort. But at those rare times that my brain stubbornly refuses to move, I take a vacation from the WIP and noodle around with the characters for my next planned writing project for a while. Usually a day or two of that pushes me back on track. (less)

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What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Lori Berhon My advice is very personal, and it's the same I have for aspiring actors (because yes, I once did that too): write only because you can't stop yoursel…moreMy advice is very personal, and it's the same I have for aspiring actors (because yes, I once did that too): write only because you can't stop yourself from writing.

If you long to share your thoughts experience of the world and you're a singer or a photographer, do that instead, because more people take a minute to listen to a song or look at a picture than will invest hours in reading words. Only write if words when you have no choice but to express yourself that way, because words are your native element.

Definitely don't write because you think it's a great way to make an income: very few artists make money that remotely compensates the effort (I think writing fiction currently earns me about 15 cents an hour). And fewer still are much known beyond their circle of friends, so don't write out of a yearning for fame or admiration or love.

And when you've written something and decide to share your work, prepare yourself to accept two important things: (1) Most of the world won't care. I have long-time friends who've never read my work because "no offense, but I really don't read." For those in the world who do read, your book will be only one in a river of thousands and, unless you have a unique marketing hook (you were orphaned as an infant and raised in Venice by feral cats?), the odds aren't great that they'll notice yours. (2) When you do get readers, they're not all going to like what you've written. And that's okay! Reading is a matter of taste, after all. Think about it. What's your favorite book? Do a search online and you'll find some negative reviews. Check for reviews about a book you couldn't stand and you'll find other people who adored it. I'm not saying the negatives won't sting, but they're to be expected as part of the experience.

Bottom line, write for you, to make yourself happy. Anything else that comes of it is a bonus.(less)

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Combine Editions
Lori Berhon’s books

Average rating: 4.68 · 22 ratings · 8 reviews · 4 distinct works

	The Breast of Everything 4.67 avg rating — 12 ratings — published 2012 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Under the Bus 4.71 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2015 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Chasing Fireflies: A Broadway Love Story (book and lyrics) 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Chasing Fireflies: a Broadway love story: book and lyrics it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

40 posts
Lori Berhon's Blog

Ink…well…

The NYC summer is in full swing and with warm-weather acres of flesh on parade, the streets and subways are a gallery of the tattooist’s art.

When I was a kid, spotting a tattoo on a NY beach usually meant you’d come across a Hell’s Angel, a Holocaust survivor or someone who spent most of his time at sea. Like so much else in the years between the Surgeon General’s Report and vaping, this changed.

Lori is Currently Reading

Lori Berhon is currently reading

Written in My Own Heart's Blood (Outlander, #8)

by Diana Gabaldon (Goodreads Author)

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Aug 03, 2017 12:03PM

Quotes by Lori Berhon (?)

“The Gong lived in the Pit. It made a loud, brassy "nnnnnnngggggggggg" that set everyone's teeth on edge. Any deal over 50K per annum, the salesman got to take a whack at it, so that the whole company would know he’d landed a big fish.”
― Lori Berhon, Under the Bus

2 likes

“You scrape yourself out of bed, exhausted from all you tried to do over the weekend, from trying to waste not so much as a quarter of an hour of the two days allotted for your real life. The life you were supposed to have is lived in tiny slices of time between each night’s dinner and sleep, and in those two precious days you pay for by working the other five for someone else’s dreams.”
― Lori Berhon, Under the Bus

1 likes

“had been Ashok’s idea that Edie vet the “American” names the Switchboard team had adopted as part of their “cultural training,” a practice that began just in time to prevent one “Randy Stallion” from picking up the overnight Switchboard line”
― Lori Berhon, Under the Bus

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Lori’s Quotes

“The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

1201 likes

“The consolation of imaginary things is not imaginary consolation.”
― Roger Scruton

101 likes

“Depression is boring, I think
and I would do better to make
some soup and light up the cave.”
― Anne Sexton

tags: depression

236 likes

“You don't mind? Life is in the minding.”
― Tom Stoppard

6 likes

“You never have to change anything you get up in the middle of the night to write.”
― Saul Bellow