Novel published!
November 2022—Lori’s Young Adult novel Topping the Willow, recommended for ages 15+, is now available on Amazon as a paperback and ebook! Bookstores may also purchase it through IngramSpark. At a launch party on November 4 in NC, Lori read aloud from two key scenes. The novel has already garnered five-star reviews, including one from Readers’ Favorite. Meanwhile, the TTW screenplay of the same name (aka “Something Bigger”) is still under consideration by several Christian producers, and Lori and her husband are preparing to share their faith with small groups of young people. To receive quarterly updates and (always) some humor, please email Lori@loricloster.com with “YES” in the Subject line.
Pandemic Progress …
February 2022 — Lori’s story “Baby Effie’s Mummy” is a Quarterfinalist in the Screencraft Cinematic Short Story Competition. Semi-finalists will be announced this month. Meanwhile, an editor who loved her YA novel several years ago encouraged her to resubmit. If that’s a no, she will likely move toward publishing independently. Lastly, an online course with writer/director/producer Chris Dowling (“Blue Miracle”) has brought several new screenwriting friends and much exchanging of tips on how to get produced. Stay tuned! To receive quarterly updates, please email Lori@loricloster.com with “YES” in the Subject line.
A New Screenplay Title, Yet More Recognition, and a “Recommend”!
May 2021—SOMETHING BIGGER, the renamed feature screenplay originally known as TOPPING THE WILLOW, received a coveted “Recommend” from Extreme Screenwriting! Story analyst Barb Doyon featured the revised work in her January 2021 Extreme Screenwriting newsletter. The screenplay was also named a Quarterfinalist in the 2020 We Screenplay feature contest in the Faith category and is currently entered in two more contests. (The novel took 4th Place in the Off the Beaten Path contest mentioned below.) The pandemic notwithstanding, Lori is preparing to resume querying potential producers as she settles into her new home in coastal North Carolina. More to come … and to receive periodic updates, for now please just email her directly at Lori@loricloster.com.
Another Recognition …
April 2020—Lori’s YA novel Topping the Willow has just been named a semi-finalist in the First Annual Serious Writer Contest. Finalists will be announced in May, as will the winners of the Off the Beaten Path contest, for which the novel is a finalist. (See below.) TTW award mentions now total five, including the two Kairos Prize recognitions for the screenplay. The search for a producer has begun, even amidst the upheaval of the coronavirus pandemic. Sign up for the newsletter to be kept in the loop!
Two Steps Ahead
February 2020—Lori’s writing has recently been recognized in two contests: After making it through two rounds, her YA novel Topping the Willow is now a finalist in the Off the Beaten Path contest being run by Mt. Zion Ridge Publishers. Winners will be announced at the annual conference in May. Also, her story collection Riding the Elephant was named a semi-finalist for the 2019 Eludia Award administered by Hidden Arts. Lori is still submitting individual stories to literary magazines. Stay tuned!
Book, Film, TV?
An Agent for the Novel
July 2018—Lori is pleased to announce that she has signed a contract for representation by a literary agent. Hope Bolinger, a junior agent with Cyle Young Literary Elite (C.Y.L.E.), will soon present Topping the Willow to potential publishers. Anyone interested in updates is welcome to sign up below for Lori’s upcoming quarterly newsletter.
An ACFW Genesis Semi-Finalist
May 2017—Topping the Willow was named a Semi-Finalist in the American Christian Fiction Writers’ 2017 Genesis Contest! The category is Young Adult. Lori has tweaked the novel based on judges’ feedback and is now seeking an agent.
Topping the Willow by Lori Closter is an original Young Adult novel and a teen/family screenplay that was named a Finalist for the 2015 Kairos Prize, a major faith-based screenwriting competition administered by Movieguide and the Templeton Foundation. The logline: “While driving through Vermont with her atheist family, Brittany Warner, 14, pitches a tantrum that causes a crash and plunges her mother into a coma and herself into despair, guilt and finally, with the help of local Christians, grace.”
This inspiring, redemptive story for young adults and those who care about them is positioned for a sequel or to be part of a trilogy, or even a TV series. Author Lori Closter is currently seeking representation for both the novel and screenplay.
Want to be kept informed? Email Lori@loricloster.com with YES in the subject line to be subscribed to her quarterly newsletter.