Defeating Adversity Through Writing 

Lori Keesey

She’s written for daily newspapers and trade publications and her freelance work has appeared in regional and trade magazines, specifically those specializing in space exploration. Yes, Lori was a space junkie, and worked for NASA in public outreach for nearly 20 years.

She calls herself and “accidental entrepreneur” and started the “Accidental Blogger” to help build an author platform, where she shares stories of overcoming adversity. She knows a thing or two, unfortunately, about that subject, as she faced her own tragedy when she lost her 33 year old son.

Lori Keesey considers herself among the lucky. Recently retired, Lori enjoyed a 40-plus-year career as a writer and now has time to pursue her childhood dream of writing fictional characters who make a difference. She is launching her first novel, “Always Think of Me” in April of 2024.

I read you worked for nearly 20 years with NASA in public outreach. I’ve been an avid space nut since about the age of 3. One of my earliest memories is watching Scott Carpenter on the first American suborbital flight in 1962.  In fact, I just returned from a trip to south Texas where I visited Stargate, where Elon Musk is launching his rockets.  So I have to be careful and not let our conversation today start to take on a flight all its own…

Let’s start with what motivated you to begin the “Accidental Blogger.”  Was it a way to deal with your son’s death?

How did your Faith help you deal with everything at that time?

Does tragedy tend to challenge or change someone’s belief in God?

I read that you came to the realization that he belonged to God his whole life, and was just “on loan to you” until his mission was completed. How did you come to that realization?

I read that you came to the realization that tragedy comes in different forms our entire life. Can you explain for us what you mean by that?

You also said that you measure time differently now. You reference pre and post tragedy. Do you find others use the same time measure after their experiences?

People react differently when they experience some sort of tragedy. Some are angry, others sad. Still some have regret. Are all of these just moving through the different stages of grief differently or are they truly dealing with it in different manners?

You also interviewed John Carter Cash about dealing with his addiction and, I guess you could say, how it runs in the family. What was the one thing you took from that interview that still sticks in your mind today?

Let’s shift to a discussion about your book, “Always Think of Me.”  Why did you write this book and why publish now?

I know it’s supposed to be published soon… April (2024), correct?

This is a novel. Can you give us a brief synopsis of the book?

I’m not going to ask “who” inspired this story – but does it have some reality included that affected you in some way?

When will it be available for sale?

I have one more question for you that came out of the research I was doing to get ready for our interview today… Can you share with us a little bit about an interview you did with a publicity shy multimillionaire who shared his reasoning for his relentless pursuit of wealth. What were the reasons he shared with you in that interview?...