Life & Work with L.C. Mortimer of Olathe

Today we’d like to introduce you to L.C. Mortimer.

Hi, L.C. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi everyone! I’m so excited to be here to talk about books and diversity in publishing. I’m L.C. Mortimer, and I write sci-fi, dystopian, horror, and fantasy books. I was lucky enough to be one of those kids who always knew I wanted to be a writer. I spent my childhood in Kansas, hanging out on my parent’s farm and writing stories about kids who went on adventures and always found their way back home. After college, my husband – who was in the Air Force – and I moved around for several years before settling back in Kansas, but even while we were gone, my love of my home state was never far from my heart. Most of my books feature Kansas. “Just Another Day in the Zombie Apocalypse” is a long story about four survivors who live in a fictional town in Kansas and have to find ways to survive. The “Stay Dead” series features an older protagonist who is in her 70s and wants to get home to Kansas City so she can see her grandkids again. I’m working on a new series that takes place in Kansas once again. I love that our state is so versatile with so many different places – cities, small towns, farmland – that it’s easy to take a group of characters and throw them into a beautiful adventure. My books feature characters who are as diverse as we are. One need I especially saw in books is the need for representation of foster kids or children with unique family situations. My parents provided foster care in Kansas for 17 years. During that time, I saw the lack of availability of books that feature characters who are specifically in foster care or who have a non-traditional family unit. This inspired me to start writing characters who may not have a mom and a dad. In “Hybrid Academy,” Max is raised by her grandmother. In “Shifter Falls Academy,” the heroine doesn’t know who her parents are. Of course, “Zombie Survival for Foster Kids,” one of my newest books, features a main character who lives with his foster mother and wants to be reunited with his dad.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been relatively smooth so far?
Any journey worth taking has bumps. For me, one of the biggest challenges was pushing past the idea that my stories needed to feature the traditional sort of characters who were expected. When my grandmother told me, “I never seem to find books with characters older than 20,” I knew I had to write her a story. That was how Greta from the “Stay Dead” series was born. Greta is in her 70s but an apocalypse survivor who knows how to fight and go after what she wants. The other big challenge for me was practical. When I started writing to become a published author, I was the mom of two young kids and the wife of a military man. Moving from place to place meant there wasn’t a lot of physical or emotional support because we were so far from family. I’m lucky to have family members who are my biggest supporters, but when I was far away, I had to dig deep and decide if I wanted this. It was! This meant I wrote when my kids were napping, while we were at the park, and late at night after they went to sleep. My first book took nearly a year to write and was a labor of love.

Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a professional writer focusing on urban fantasy and paranormal space. I love to write stories with relatable characters, although you might expect something else from a storybook hero. For example, instead of writing strong, challenging, and muscular characters, I like writing characters with disabilities, characters who are overlooked, or characters who may not have the easiest lives. Writing means having the chance to create stories that people of all ages can relate to. When I decided to write “Zombie Survival for Foster Kids,” I wanted to write a story where kids in foster care could pick up the novel and go, “Hey, I see me here. I never see books with characters like me, but this one is.” That book isn’t an adoption fairytale, either. The main character is a child who has lived in the foster care system and made the most of it. It’s a story about a teenager struggling but fighting for what he wants. I don’t want to give too many spoilers, but it does have a happy ending.

How do you think about luck?
I believe in luck, but it involves a willingness to be open to possibilities and opportunities. My business has grown through hard work, determination, and a refusal to give up. When I first told people, “I’m going to write zombie stories for teenagers,” plenty of people thought I was ridiculous, but I refused to give up. I’m stubborn that way. On the flip side, there are moments where I’ve felt lucky or blessed to have met certain people or had experiences that have pushed me as a writer. One of my favorite moments in my career was meeting another author who believed I could do it. Having another writer who thought I could succeed encouraged me to dig deeper and push myself harder. That feels like a lucky moment.

Pricing:

• Zombie Survival for Foster Kids – $7.99
• Hybrid Academy: Year One – $12.99
• Shifter Falls Academy – Year One – $12.99
• Just Another Day in the Zombie Apocalypse – $19.99
• Wild Undead (Stay Dead #1) – $9.99

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lcmortimer.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorlcmortimer
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorlcmortmer
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/l-c-mortimer-1710062a5/