Before long, I figured out how to query other publications with suggestions for future features, and by the time we moved back to Baltimore (a year and a half later), my ‘clip book’ included articles written for a dozen or so local, regional, and national publications.Ī few editors, unfortunately, altered salient facts in some pieces, something that did not sit well with me. When my husband’s job took us from Baltimore to Richmond, I showed my ‘clip book’ to the editor of the local paper, and to my delight, she made assignments, too.

Those articles, read by the editors of other area periodicals, resulted in additional assignments. That feedback inspired the editor to make assignments for articles that appeared in numerous other sections of the paper. I started writing decades ago, in response to an invitation in the Baltimore Sun’s “Sunday Magazine” section-observations on motherhood, marriage, life in our Baltimore suburb-that inspired positive feedback on the Letters to the Editor page, written for fun, not money. She loves hearing from her readers, and answers every letter-personally. She and her husband split their time between a home in the Baltimore suburbs and a cabin in the Allegheny Mountains, where she continues to hone her “identify the critter tracks” skills. At last count, more than seventeen million copies of Loree's books were in circulation, and by year-end 2021, she'll have 133 books on the shelves. Her stories have earned thousands of five-star reviews, 100+ industry and 'Readers' Choice' awards, and seven book-to-movie options. Now and then, she blows the dust from her six-string to croon a tune or two for the 'grandorables,' but mostly, she writes (and writes). Once upon a time, USA Today best-selling author Loree Lough sang for her supper, performing before packed audiences throughout the US and Canada.

A Man of Honor by Loree Lough