1. What brought you to write this book?
My own story. The first time I ever fell in love (and it really counted). I had dedicated so much of myself to seeking outward validation that this one relationship in particular held a combustible emotional gunpowder of sorts. When everything exploded, it propelled me to make a decision about how I wanted to treat me for the rest of this life. From those hard lessons came Letters to Laura.
2. How long did it take you to write this book?
I wrote this book over the course of a few months. The editing was a different story of course, but the actual story flowed pretty easily.
3. What are you trying to achieve with this book?
World Peace. jk lol But in honesty, I'm achieving the natural human state of story. Everyone has stories, shares stories, discovers stories. I'm just sharing one of mine. As Richard Wright said in American Hunger (1977),"I would hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to tell, to march, to fight, to create a sense of hunger for life that gnaws in us all."
4. What got left out in the final draft?
Everything unnecessary. Distractions that might deter the reader from connecting or relating to the messages the letter writer was feeling.
5. Where there alternate endings you considered? If so, what were they??
No. It ends how it should — by giving prelude to a new beginning — because that's the way all stories end really.
6. What’s next for you? What are you working on now?
I have another novel that is in the third or fourth stage of editing that I will be attempting to have published by August, 2016, called We Are Enough. I like to write a few different stories at the same time. I know a lot of writers think that's incorrect, but I find it helps me to be more productive. That way, when I reach a place in a certain book that I'm working on where I begin to stagnate, I can check out of that story hotel and check into the other story hotel; get a breather from the other story line for a few chapters. Traditionally, I realize this method is not popular, and it can get out of hand if I try writing more than three at once, but I find that it works better for me. So I'm writing a few different stories right now.
7. What was the hardest part of writing this book?
Being honest. Staying honest as well. When it comes to topics like the ones you find in Letters to Laura, being honest with yourself is the hardest part.
8. What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
Just theorizing and asking questions and learning. I tend to add elements of self-discovery and inner growth in my books; every story has a message but I tend to include elements that are pretty strong teachers because I believe all writing should teach us something.
9. What is the biggest thing that people THINK they know about your subject/genre, that isn't so?
One of the genres Letters to Laura fits in is Romance because it is a story about a romantic relationship between two women. This subject genre tends to see a lot of fantasy, which can be great. I think I however, enjoy writing romances with very realistic human perspective and I try to write them from the healthiest standpoints possible. Not all Romance genre books are smut. For example, Letters to Laura. With that being said, I'm known to treat myself to a little smut now and again ;)
10. What makes your book stand out from the crowd?
Being an epistolary. And the person writing the letters is never named. She is only given little identifying labels. At first they are things she thought of herself as from Laura's perspective. As the story progresses though, you see what she begins to see of herself. I thought this was a very important tool for the reader to be able to dig deeper and relate to the story on a personal level.
11. What question do you wish that someone would ask about your book, but nobody has? Write it out here, then answer it.
I actually wish that no one would ask me questions about my book...just give me concise compliments and move along ROFL No, no. I'm just kidding. Truth is, I get a tad insecure and begin to ramble when answering questions about my writing...well about any question really. But only 6 months out of the year; I am a Gemini after all! :)
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