Author Lori Armstrong would love to celebrate her recent signing with publishing powerhouse Simon & Schuster.

But she's too busy writing two new books.

The Rapid City writer got the news in late November that Simon & Schuster had signed her to a two-book hardcover deal. The first book with Simon & Schuster, tentatively titled "Ritual Sacrifices," is finished. Armstrong expects it to be in bookstores by winter 2009.

She will begin work on the second in the new series next year.

In the meantime, Armstrong is plugging away on her fourth book in her Julie Collins mystery series and on a new erotic romance, which she writes under the pen name Lorelei James.

Armstrong has made her way through the world of genre fiction in the past seven years with little advance knowledge of the business, but plenty of passion for telling stories.

Always an avid reader, Armstrong didn't consider herself a writer until she read the acclaimed book, "She's Come Undone" in 2000.

"I hated it," she said. "I thought, 'Why is this book getting all the press?'"

Instead of finding another book to read, Armstrong started to write. "I had no idea; I just know that I wanted to do it," she said.

From the genesis of her writing career, Armstrong recognized that genre fiction was the place for her. Genre fiction describes fictional works written to fit into specific categories, such as westerns, romances or mysteries.

"It's actually got a story to it," she said. "I like a beginning, middle and an end."

Armstrong wrote four books from 2000 to 2002, none of which moved beyond her own desk. "They were basically writing exercises," she said.

But in 2002, she wrote "Blood Ties," the first book she would eventually have published. The first in what would become a series, "Blood Ties" was published in 2005 and centers around a tough-talking, hard-drinking detective named Julie Collins. The series is set in western South Dakota and is published by Medallion Press.

Two more Julie Collins books followed: "Hallowed Ground" and "Shallow Grave," which was released in November. Armstrong is finishing the fourth in the series, "Snow Blind," which has a Jan. 1 deadline and will hit the shelves in October.

"Hallowed Ground" was awarded the 2007 Willa Cather Literary Award for Best Softcover Fiction by Women Writing the West.

At the same time that Armstrong's mystery writing career was taking off, she began dabbling in erotic romance under the pseudonym Lorelei James. She has published five books as James.

That venue has proven as fulfilling and successful as her mystery books, Armstrong said. Most of Armstrong's fan mail comes to Lorelei James.

From the start, Armstrong said she wanted to explore just why it was socially acceptable to write about violence but not acceptable to write about sex.

She decided to see just how far she was willing to the push the line in her romance novels. "To see where my boundaries are … and apparently I have none," she said with a laugh.

The mother of three daughters, ages 18, 15 and 11, Armstrong hasn't allowed them to read her romances. The older two are allowed to read the Julie Collins mysteries.

She laughs when romance readers tell her, "Oh, I was blushing through the whole thing," but says most of her fans for those books are older women. She also points out that 55 percent of all books sold are romances.

After proving herself as a genre writer with the Julie Collins series and the romances, Armstrong signed with a New York agent in 2005.

Seeing even more potential in her mystery work, he asked Armstrong to write a new series, similar to the Julie Collins books.

Armstrong struggled to find a new life for a new character, finally creating Mercy Gunderson, an Army sniper. A chance meeting with a real military sniper gave Armstrong plenty of material and details about military sniper life.

In "Ritual Sacrifices," Mercy returns home to her family's South Dakota ranch and is quickly plunged into a gruesome mystery.

Armstrong admits that the literary world "really looks down on genre fiction," but she isn't bothered by it. She knows genre fiction is the type of book she enjoys reading and the type of book others enjoy. As for her, "I don't read anything on the Oprah pick list," she said.

For now, reading for enjoyment has been put on the back burner until both of her new books are finished. Nowadays, Armstrong writes from morning to night. It's a hectic but rewarding schedule.

"When I'm under a deadline, I write constantly," she said. "My poor family."

Once the two books are complete, Armstrong hopes to stop and celebrate the Simon & Schuster signing, if only for a moment or two. But she's not promising anything.

"I'd like to say I will slow down," she said. "But I've worked so hard to get to this point. … I have more ideas than I have time."

If you go

What: Rapid City author Lori Armstrong signs her books

When: 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 22

Where: Borders Books, Rapid City

Contact Lynn Taylor Rick at 394-8414 or lynn.taylorrick@rapidcityjournal.com.