A Legacy of Storytelling For Neri Lopez, authorship was more of a “third stride” than a first love. Though she grew up knowing her grandfather was a published author in Cuba in the early 1900s, Neri first pursued careers as a graphic designer and a teacher. It was only after years in the classroom and at the design desk that she fully stepped into her family legacy. Her journey shows that while our paths might twist and turn, the skills we pick up along the way—whether in education or visual design—all feed into the stories we eventually tell.

The 30-Year Wait Neri’s first book was born out of a move to Jacksonville and an anniversary trip to a powwow in South Dakota. She fell in love with the sense of community and culture, and she began writing a Native American story. However, life had other plans. Neri had triplets, the computer she wrote on died, and the paper manuscript was set aside. It sat for 30 years until a friend at school gave her the final push she needed: “You gotta get that book you were talking about and just get it out there”. Because her digital files were lost, Neri had to manually re-enter the entire story from paper copies, a journey she describes as “really cool” despite the effort.

The “Just Do It” Mindset Now, Neri publishes a new book every three to four months. When faced with the decision between traditional and self-publishing, she looked at the timeline. Approaching age 60, she didn’t want to wait three to five years for the traditional cycle to catch up with the stories floating in her head. “I just felt like… more of my life has already passed,” she explains, choosing the empowerment of owning her files and her creative agency. By self-publishing, she keeps her graphic design skills sharp, doing her own cover designs and formatting. She even adds “fun” elements like animating a sassy cat named Raven to play with page numbers as readers flip through her new clean romance, 12 Dates.

Research and Realism Despite her rapid output, Neri refuses to write “fluff”. To battle imposter syndrome, she leans into intensive research. For her series involving police officers, she doesn’t just guess at the details; she participates in ride-alongs, hides for bloodhounds to find her, and even joins hostage takeover training sessions. This commitment to reality gives her work legitimacy and helps her push through the daily “author imposter syndrome” that many writers face.

Finding Your Cheer Squad Neri’s best advice for overcoming the isolation of authorship is community. She advocates for “writing sprints”—dedicated times where authors write together online to motivate one another and bounce ideas off each other. She remembers being inspired by authors like Riley Edwards and Jamie Lewis, and she now looks forward to the day she can inspire someone else in the same way.

A Call to Action To the female author sitting on the fence, Neri has a simple message: “Just do it”. Whether your manuscript has been sitting for 30 days or 30 years, Neri believes the world needs your voice. “Once you have your first book come out and you have it in print and you’re looking at it,” she says, “it’s that sense of joy that just fills your heart”.