Friday - Laura Strickland is Visiting and talking about writing

 

 

What Were You Before

Day 1

 

1. What were you before you became an author? Did this influence your choices as a writer?

Before I was a writer, I was a reader, and this has influenced me enormously. Being fortunate enough to have an older sister who loved to read and who took me weekly to our local library, I learned at a young age to enter that world the author had created for me and become lost in a story. There was only one problem—when a story I loved came to an end, I wanted more, longed for more, and imagined more. By third grade, I figured out that if I wrote the story, it could go on for as long as I chose.

A little of all the stories I loved and the beautiful words that went into them became part of me and encouraged me to form ideas and worlds of my own. At a very fundamental level, we are what we read!

 

2. Are you genre specific or general? I don’t mean major genres but subdivisions of romance, mystery or paranormal.

I tend to be what I call a genre-hopper. I’ve written a variety of major and subdivisions of various genres, such as Western, Victorian, Highlander, Viking, Steampunk (all subdivisions of Historical Romance) and Contemporary/Rom Com. I think I do this because I begin feeling stifled if I write the same genre over and over again. Then the words don’t flow, so I begin something fresh. My latest release is an American Historical Romance, also a division of the Historical Romance genre.

 

 

3. What is your latest release?

My latest release is an American Historical, Slow Train to Nowhere: Sean. This is the first in a series of four books telling the stories of five children who came west on the orphan train in 1860, and ended up in the fictional town of Clabber Mills, Indiana. The stories take place when the children are grown, and show how they deal with the scars left by loss and separation, and of course find hope for their futures. Here’s the blurb:

When Sean Hussey returns to the town where he lived as a boy, it’s with revenge on his mind. He’s made a success of himself out west and intends to get even with the farmer under whose thumb he once suffered. He’ll show mercy only to the others who shared his fate in days gone by, especially sweet Jenny whose memory he still cherishes.

Sarah Rupert hasn’t had it easy growing up as a girl from the orphan train, and as a survivor of shocking abuse. Since the death of her husband, she’s had to support her young son by dubious means. When Sean Hussey comes back into her life it’s a miracle, because he’s the boy she always wanted for her own. Trouble is, Sean just may be in love with another woman.

 

 

 

4. What are you working on now?

I am currently working on a Historical Romance series set in the ancient Celtic world, which is one of my favorite places to be. I’ve delved way back to Ireland in the first century AD for the first book. The other four will be set in various ages of historical Scotland.

 

5. Does your reading choices influence your choice of a writing career?

Absolutely. I love to read far and wide, everything from Historical Fiction to Romantic Suspense, to Urban Fiction, to Mystery, to Young Adult. I even enjoy a good biography from time to time. What I’m reading at any given time depends on the mood I’m in. Since I love to write far and wide also, I do believe there’s a connection.

 

 

6. Where can we find you?

Author Web site: www.laurastricklandbooks.com

Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000002632317

Author Amazon page:  http://www.amazon.com/Laura-Strickland/e/B001KHSACW/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Author Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/760146.Laura_Strickland

Author Twitter:

Laura Strickland Author @LauraSt05038951

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/laurastricklandauthor/

BookBub author page https://www.bookbub.com/authors/laura-strickland

donalee moulton is visiting and talking about Panster or Plotter #BWLAuthor #MFRWAuthor #Panster #Plotter #Writing

 

Day 1

 

1.    Are you a panster or a plotter or perhaps a bit of both?

 

On the spectrum from panster to plotter, I lean left. When I was writing my first mystery Hung Out to Die, I had brief backstories for the main characters. I had an outline of the plot, I knew who the killer was, and why they had committed the crime. Then I dove in.

 

Writing my second book, Conflagration!, was a slightly different process. I may have leaned a little more to the right. The book is a historical mystery and follows the trial of an enslaved Black women accused of arson in Montreal in 1734. The level of detail in court transcripts and the timelines set by the trial process meant I had a detailed blueprint for the book before I even began.

 

2.    Which comes first - characters or plot for you?

 

Characters arrive first. Riel Brava, the main character in Hung Out to Die, appeared out of a lavender cloud of bubble bath one night while I was soaking in the tub. He was not fully formed but tangible enough that I wrote down my ideas before I even moisturized.

 

Marie-Joseph Angélique, the enslaved Black woman at the heart of Conflagration!, was portrayed in some detail in court transcripts. My fictional court reporter, Philippe Archambeau, and other characters emerged as the writing progressed.

 

3. What are you working on now? Is this a book in a current series or something totally new?

 

I have two books in progress. They are part of a new mystery series with new characters. The three main characters meet in a yoga studio and come together to catch a thief. I loved Riel Brava, but he was very much a surprise. Not what I would have picked as a main character emanating from my imagination. The next books, Bind and Melt, sound and feel a little bit more like me. That said, it’s always good to be taken outside your comfort zone.

4.            Do you have some kind of object or place that figures in most of your books? I use gems a lot, hospitals and caves.

 

It varies from book to book, but food seems to weave its way into my writing uninvited. Riel is a coffee aficionado. I do not know how that happened. I am a tea drinker. Riel also had his first – and second – donair in Hung Out to Die. I have never had one.

 

Food is the foundation for a friendship that springs up between Philippe and the local jailer in Conflagration!. Lunch becomes a means to extract information, then it becomes much more.

 

5. Do you write every day or just when the spirit hits?

 

I am not a marathon writer. I am a sprinter. I can’t sit and write for hours at a time. I break up my writing by taking a yoga class, soaking up some sunshine, checking email, doing some paid work. I do try to write 1,000 fictional words a day. Some days I achieve this. We don’t need to talk about the other days.

 

6. Where can we find you?

 

The best place to find me – and to reach out – is my website, donaleemoulton.com.

 

7. Who are your favorite authors? What about a book you’ve enjoyed?

 

I relish reading. I was a judge in the Crime Writers of Canada’s Awards of Excellence last year, and I got to dive into more than 40 fabulous – and very diverse – books that kept me on my toes and my eyes glued to the page. When I was younger and I was discovering the wonder and wow of the mystery genre, I devoured authors like Tony Hillerman, Martha Grimes, Ruth Rendell. More recently I have discovered writers like Richard Osman. And Delia Owens’s Where the Crawdads Sing was nothing short of joyous.

 

Day 2:

 

BUY INFORMATION:

 

Website: donaleemoulton.com 

 

Amazon Author URL: amazon.com/author/donaleemoulton