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Life After News has some big updates, and this episode is a perfect example of why. You never really know where this road leads until you look up and realize someone took a local TV segment, turned it into a digital brand, and then turned that into a full-blown cookbook.

Lora McLaughlin Peterson is back, and she’s pulling back the curtain on what it really takes to get a cookbook from idea to your kitchen counter. Spoiler: it’s not “throw some recipes together and send it to a printer.” It’s a year-and-a-half grind, recipe testing, precision measurements, outside editors, photo shoots that feel like movie production, and a full marketing rollout leading to publication.

Plus: another former Life After News guest makes a major announcement. Byron Lane is launching a new project inspired by Carrie Fisher’s iconic advice: take your broken heart and make art.

In this episode

🍳 Lora McLaughlin Peterson: LORIFIED: The Cookbook

Lora shares the wild behind-the-scenes reality of cookbook publishing, including:

• How the book deal came together through a network of supportive women in publishing
• Why she had to develop a 100-recipe proposal before anyone could even bid
• The slow, meticulous pace of publishing compared to the newsroom “right now” mindset
• What it’s like having an outside tester recreate your recipes (and ask, “Wait… what is orange fluff supposed to be?”)
• Why “measure with your heart” does not fly in a cookbook
• The full-on production process: food stylist, set stylist, photographer, studio days, and shooting at her house
• Her approach: approachable meals, recognizable ingredients, minimal fuss, and giving people time back

📸 A cookbook where every recipe has a photo

Lora insists on zero guesswork. Every recipe gets a picture, so you know exactly what you’re aiming for.

🎁 Holiday sanity tips from Lora

For anyone spiraling two days before Christmas:

• Use gift bags. Stop trying to make wrapping your personality.
• Don’t cook everything from scratch.
• Make the one or two things your family truly cares about and outsource the rest (Costco/Sam’s/deli trays are not cheating).

🎄 Lora’s traditions

• Red velvet pancakes on Christmas morning
• Prime rib (smoked on the Weber) as a once-a-year holiday flex
• One gift on Christmas Eve
• A full house, chaotic energy, and leaning into the “realness” of it

Major Life After News update: Byron’s announcement

Byron shares a new creative pivot rooted in something Carrie Fisher told him—and everyone—over and over:
 “Take your broken heart and go make art.”

He’s launching a project called Byrontology, designed for people who are creative (or existentially exhausted) and want to turn rejection, despair, and career heartbreak into meaning and momentum—with some humor along the way.

Links & where to follow

Pre-order LORIFIED: The Cookbook

• Go to lorafied.com and hit the pre-order button
• Available through major retailers (Walmart, Target, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and more)

Follow Lora

• Instagram + TikTok: @lorafied
• Watch for recipe rollouts starting in the months leading up to the book launch

Byron / Byrontology

• Find Byrontology via Byron’s link in profile (as mentioned in the episode)

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Let Life After News inspire your next chapter. Because leaving the news doesn’t mean the story’s over—it means a new one’s just beginning.