For many women, creativity is something that quietly waits in the background while life moves forward with careers, responsibilities, motherhood, and loss. Dreams are often postponed in favor of practicality, leaving passions tucked away for “someday.” For author Lori Keesey, that dream was storytelling.
Long before she worked with journalists or helped explain complex technology at NASA, Keesey was simply a little girl captivated by books, imagination, and the emotional power of stories. She remembers devouring novels about adventures, animals, and distant places, losing herself in fictional worlds that felt larger than life. When a first-grade teacher recognized her talent for writing and shared it with her mother, something shifted permanently. A creative spark had been lit.
That passion would remain with her through every chapter of her life.
Although Keesey built a successful career in journalism, communications, and public outreach, fiction writing remained a deeply personal dream she carried quietly for years. Her professional background taught her discipline, precision, and the ability to communicate clearly under pressure. Yet fiction offered something entirely different: freedom.
After decades of writing within the boundaries of facts and deadlines, stepping into fiction felt liberating. For the first time, she could invent worlds, shape emotional journeys, and explore the deeper truths that facts alone sometimes cannot fully express.
But the story that finally pushed her toward becoming a novelist came from profound heartbreak.
In 2018, Keesey’s life changed forever after the tragic loss of her firstborn son in a swimming accident. The grief was overwhelming, forcing her into questions no parent ever wants to ask. Why do unimaginable losses happen? How does someone survive pain that feels impossible to carry? And how can life continue after everything changes in an instant?
For Keesey, writing became more than creativity. It became survival.
Out of that grief emerged her debut novel, Always Think of Me, a story deeply rooted in themes of healing, purpose, forgiveness, and resilience. While fictional, the emotional truths within the novel were shaped by her personal journey through loss and faith.
The novel is scheduled for release on June 9th, introducing readers to a powerful story that explores how hope can survive even the deepest heartbreak.
Women’s Journal readers may especially connect with Keesey’s honesty about grief and transformation because so many women are conditioned to appear strong even during their most painful seasons. Society often praises women for holding everything together, yet rarely gives them space to fully process heartbreak. Keesey’s story challenges that expectation by showing how vulnerability itself can become a source of strength.
Her approach to storytelling is grounded in emotional authenticity. Rather than avoiding pain, she writes directly from the memories of hardship, resilience, and the quiet determination required to rebuild life after tragedy. She believes readers connect most deeply with characters who reflect the complexities of real human emotion.
That emotional depth is part of what has made her work resonate so strongly with audiences. Readers have described her writing as powerful, compassionate, and unforgettable because it speaks to universal experiences of love, loss, and hope.
Keesey also believes authenticity matters just as much in life as it does in fiction. Inspired by literary characters like Scout Finch, she admires people who remain unapologetically themselves, even when the world pressures them to conform. That same spirit appears throughout her work: characters who struggle, question, heal, and ultimately find the courage to keep moving forward.
Now, with her sequel Second Chance Highway, Keesey continues exploring the emotional themes that define her storytelling. Mission, forgiveness, faith, and purpose remain central to her work, offering readers stories that are both deeply personal and universally relatable.
Perhaps one of the most inspiring aspects of Keesey’s journey is that she pursued her creative dream later in life, after years of wondering if the timing was right. Today, she encourages other women not to wait endlessly for perfect conditions before pursuing the things that matter most to them.
Her advice is simple but powerful: take the leap before regret has a chance to settle in.
Looking back, Lori Keesey believes the little girl who once wrote stories about puppies in a hatbox would be proud she never completely abandoned her dream. And for women still holding onto creative ambitions of their own, her story serves as a reminder that it is never too late to begin again.
The novel is scheduled for release on June 9th, introducing readers to a powerful story that explores how hope can survive even the deepest heartbreak.
