Lloyd Lofthouse

Lloyd is the author of My Splendid Concubine, historical fiction based on a real love story. My Splendid Concubine won an honorable mention in fiction from the 2008 London Book Festival and an honorable mention in general fiction from the 2009 San Francisco Book Festival.

After serving in the United States Marine Corps and fighting... more »

Lloyd is the author of My Splendid Concubine, historical fiction based on a real love story. My Splendid Concubine won an honorable mention in fiction from the 2008 London Book Festival and an honorable mention in general fiction from the 2009 San Francisco Book Festival.

After serving in the United States Marine Corps and fighting in Vietnam, Lloyd earned a BA in journalism. Eventually, he ended in the classroom teaching English literature and journalism. During thirty years in education, he had a few part time jobs to make ends meet.

One job was a maitre d at the Red Onion, a Southern California nightclub. He started writing his first manuscript in 1968. He says that ‘close’ only counts in the game of horse shoes, but ‘close’ helps in writing too. Most of the novel-length manuscripts he wrote during the last four decades made it by the readers and ended in an agent or editor’s hands.

Opening an encouraging, personal rejection slip signed by an editor or agent kept the fires lit. Working days as a teacher and nights at jobs like the one at the Red Onion made writing a challenge. However, getting up at three in the morning to squeeze in an hour or two helped. Along the way, he took writing workshops for seven years out of UCLA and started a MFA at Cal Poly, Pomona that he completed at another university. « less