Lori Foster

I think it's very important to support those who can't help themselves - children, animals - and especially to do so in your own neighborhood.

We tend to think of human trafficking as a foreign issue, not something that could happen here in our own back yards. But it's a fast-growing problem in the United States, in every area, with no real defined demographic.

I remember the first time I spoke to an editor. I thought I'd be sick, I was so nervous. The first time I spoke to a large group at a conference, I had the jitters for days beforehand.

The men I write can be intense, quiet, outspoken and outrageous, deadly or fun... but I would never waste time on a hero who wasn't honorable, who didn't protect those who couldn't protect themselves, who didn't value children and pets, who wasn't independent and unselfish.

There are plenty of secondary characters that I had always hoped to write, but I don't know if it will ever happen. The way contracts work, if you leave one publishing house for another, the characters tend to stay with the previous publishing house.

The charity work is just a part of what I do. Like... I make time to clean my house, to care for my pets, to visit my extended family, because those things are important to me. Same with helping others.

Thanks to social media like Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads, I can easily reach out to so many people. Being a writer gives me the added bonus of a targeted audience: readers, who enjoy targeted 'prizes' for participation in fundraisers - books and other neat promo items.

Now, and in the future, my focus is entirely on pets and children. I'm not a person who can turn a blind eye to injustice against them.