fuonlyknew

School teacher
Laura Anderson is new to Marietta, Montana, and has never—until now—been
reprimanded for encouraging a child to read. It doesn’t help that
sweet Luke’s father is the handsome cowboy with the amber eyes that she met in
Grey’s Saloon, or that she’s wildly attracted to him.

Sparks keep flying as their paths keep crossing, but Hayden is determined not to give in to
his incomprehensible need to have, hold, and protect Laura from any type of
harm. He’s the one who’ll hurt her if he lets her stray too close. He’s not ready to admit his feelings or commit to sharing his life with her.

Even if love comes tumbling in.

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Amazon * B&N * Apple * Google * Kobo * Bookbub * Goodreads

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Pen or type writer or computer?

I plan my stories with a pencil but once I start writing, it’s on my computer.

 

What made you want to become an author and do you feel it was the right decision?

I’ve always love writing essays while at school but I grew up in a small town where people like authors were from another planet! If it hadn’t been for a competition in a magazine looking for romance stories I don’t think I ever would’ve had the guts to try and send anything to a publisher. Now, of course, I can’t imagine any way of life.

 

A day in the life of the author? 

I get up around seven in the morning, do all the usual chores and try to get in front of my computer by nine except for those days I do online Pilates classes when I only start at ten. I work until lunch time, make sure hubby has something to eat and then I write until about four when it’s time to think about dinner. I try not to write on weekends, but when deadlines are looming, I’ll write on Saturdays. I have also found I need about four weeks a year away from the computer to recharge.

 

Advice they would give new authors? 

Reading books on how to write or attending workshops about writing is all well and good but if you want to be writer, you have to sit down and write. Write your story, not anyone else’s.

 

What are they currently reading? 

I have just finished reading Midnight at the Blackbird Café and loved it. A beautiful story about family, loss, grief, regrets, forgiveness and second chances.

I have a stack of TNR and next is Still life by Louise Penny – a murder mystery.

 

What is your writing process? For instance do you do an outline first? Do you do the chapters first? 

I find inspiration in different kind of things. Sometimes an article I’ve read, something I’ve heard or something that has happened to me. Creating the characters is usually the first step for me. What do they look like? (I have a Pinterest board for inspiration) and then comes the interesting part – who are they, where do they come from, what are their quirks and flaws and what do they want, why can’t they get it?

I usually send the publisher a proposal outlining the story and that is what I use. I don’t plan chapters, though. I have find as I write, I get to know the characters better and they usually tell me what they want to do next.

 

What are common traps for aspiring writers?

Don’t try and mimic someone else’s writing. Write your own story. You’re going to be someone’s favorite author!

 

Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

Readers of romance novels have very definite expectations of any romance the pick up (as a study by Janice Radway has shown) and you as a writer has to deliver what they are looking for – a handsome hero, gorgeous heroine and a happy ending but it is also the duty of the author to find different and exciting ways to do that – for me, this is the fun part.

 

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Writing, like most things in life, is a process. It takes as long as it takes. Some stories bleed from your fingers on to the page, others is like giving birth – a long, and painful process. It doesn’t help to try and force it, though, you’ll only frustrate yourself. Trust the process, is one of my favorite mantras.

 

What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?

The way men and women think, is different so writing from a man’s perspective can be challenging but I learn a lot from my husband, two sons and three grandsons! Men don’t think so much about the things that keep us women awake at night ☺

 

How long on average does it take you to write a book?

It depends on the story. I try to write two thousand words a day and I love those weeks I have nothing else going on and can just write. I have written a story in three weeks, but it usually takes me anything from four to six weeks.

 

Do you believe in writer’s block?

It hasn’t happened to me, yet. I do sometimes get stuck, but that is usually when something is wrong – there isn’t enough conflict or reason for a conflict, or I sometimes I need to change a name!

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