The back of the T-shirt, and my three-word self-description
About Elisa Lorello
Photo courtesy of Yellowstone Valley Woman
"I write to find out what I know."
If I had to describe myself in three words, I’d choose these:
Abstract
Idealist
Romantic
OK, I stole that from the back of a Duran Duran concert T-shirt (Big Thing, 1988-89), but only because after one look I said, “Ohmigod, that is so me.”
If there’s an underlying question in each of my books that embodies their characters’ struggles and successes, it’s this: Are you living authentically?
It’s a question I ask myself, and it draws me to stories in which characters seek a sense of home, be it in their workplace or career, relationships, residence, and/or, most importantly, in their own skin.
It just so happens that for me, writing love stories and romantic comedies--you'll find these marketed as Women's Fiction--are a fun vehicle for that. But it also turned out to be the underlying theme in my memoir as well.
It’s also why I apply the term “Romance Rhetoric”--originally coined by scholar Peter Elbow in an email exchange with me--to my books. It may not be a market-recognized genre category, but it perfectly encapsulates both my approach to story as well as the story itself. Rhetoric as “the subject that encompasses all other subjects” and “the art and skill of using language to communicate and/or persuade,” coupled with love, sex, and/or romance as the catalyst. Books that you want to take to bed.
Put in simpler terms, it’s as if Nora Ephron and Aaron Sorkin had a love child. And Judy Blume was her great aunt.
It turned out that a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in writing and rhetoric (both earned at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth) was the perfect combination to create characters with behavior-driven motivation and dialogue that not only advances the story, but also serves as a means of discourse.
Working in retail and as a manicurist in my early twenties in New York, going to college in my mid-late twenties in Massachusetts, and teaching writing at the university level throughout my thirties in North Carolina turned out to be what Nora Ephron called “grist”; a well of memories, experiences, and idealism to draw from. So did being the youngest of seven children from Long Island, as well as a bonafide Generation X-er and a lifelong Duran Duran fan. Add to that getting married in 2016 and moving two years later from Montana to Maine, and back to Montana in 2020.
The one common denominator: I wrote about all of it.
And the more I wrote, the more I found out what I knew. About me. About the world. About what matters to me.
Because even though I wasn’t always a novelist, I’ve been a writer—and a teacher—all my life. Be it in private diaries and journals, class essays, term papers, master’s thesis, speeches, testimonials, eulogies, personal essays, blog posts, status updates, tweets, novels, memoir… I can’t remember a time when I didn’t write, didn’t learn, didn’t teach. Memory, plus experience, plus imagination.
And it was all abstract, idealist, and romantic.
It’s what makes me authentically me, I think. And it’s what I hope for you when you read my work: that you’ll discover—and live—your own three words.
If I had to describe myself in three words, I’d choose these:
Abstract
Idealist
Romantic
OK, I stole that from the back of a Duran Duran concert T-shirt (Big Thing, 1988-89), but only because after one look I said, “Ohmigod, that is so me.”
If there’s an underlying question in each of my books that embodies their characters’ struggles and successes, it’s this: Are you living authentically?
It’s a question I ask myself, and it draws me to stories in which characters seek a sense of home, be it in their workplace or career, relationships, residence, and/or, most importantly, in their own skin.
It just so happens that for me, writing love stories and romantic comedies--you'll find these marketed as Women's Fiction--are a fun vehicle for that. But it also turned out to be the underlying theme in my memoir as well.
It’s also why I apply the term “Romance Rhetoric”--originally coined by scholar Peter Elbow in an email exchange with me--to my books. It may not be a market-recognized genre category, but it perfectly encapsulates both my approach to story as well as the story itself. Rhetoric as “the subject that encompasses all other subjects” and “the art and skill of using language to communicate and/or persuade,” coupled with love, sex, and/or romance as the catalyst. Books that you want to take to bed.
Put in simpler terms, it’s as if Nora Ephron and Aaron Sorkin had a love child. And Judy Blume was her great aunt.
It turned out that a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in writing and rhetoric (both earned at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth) was the perfect combination to create characters with behavior-driven motivation and dialogue that not only advances the story, but also serves as a means of discourse.
Working in retail and as a manicurist in my early twenties in New York, going to college in my mid-late twenties in Massachusetts, and teaching writing at the university level throughout my thirties in North Carolina turned out to be what Nora Ephron called “grist”; a well of memories, experiences, and idealism to draw from. So did being the youngest of seven children from Long Island, as well as a bonafide Generation X-er and a lifelong Duran Duran fan. Add to that getting married in 2016 and moving two years later from Montana to Maine, and back to Montana in 2020.
The one common denominator: I wrote about all of it.
And the more I wrote, the more I found out what I knew. About me. About the world. About what matters to me.
Because even though I wasn’t always a novelist, I’ve been a writer—and a teacher—all my life. Be it in private diaries and journals, class essays, term papers, master’s thesis, speeches, testimonials, eulogies, personal essays, blog posts, status updates, tweets, novels, memoir… I can’t remember a time when I didn’t write, didn’t learn, didn’t teach. Memory, plus experience, plus imagination.
And it was all abstract, idealist, and romantic.
It’s what makes me authentically me, I think. And it’s what I hope for you when you read my work: that you’ll discover—and live—your own three words.
Me in 1989, sporting my Duran Duran T-shirt. That's my hand-me-down 1970 Plymouth Valiant.
It was as old as I was.
Features and appearances
In addition to guest posts on Jane Friedman‘s "5 On" and countless other blogs, and speaking appearances at libraries and schools in various states, I have been featured in:
In addition to guest posts on Jane Friedman‘s "5 On" and countless other blogs, and speaking appearances at libraries and schools in various states, I have been featured in:
- the Montana Quarterly magazine
- the Rachael Ray Every Day magazine
- the Charlotte Observer
- the Writer's Digest online
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Banner and wedding photos by Lennon Photo
A few of my favorite things (aside from writing and my husband):
Reading
Walking
Spending time with friends and/or family
All things Duran Duran.
Baked goods
Spatz
The beach
Reading
Walking
Spending time with friends and/or family
All things Duran Duran.
Baked goods
Spatz
The beach
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