I’ve had Laura’s books on the blog before and will be providing my review of Shadow Slayer on Friday, but I haven’t had the opportunity to have Laura herself on here! I’m excited to say that she’s here! YAY!!! She’s a real hoot and I hope you enjoy her interview!
How would you describe your book in 20 words or less without using the blurb?
Roxie discovers she’s the Shadow Slayer, the one human who can save Earth from the shadow onslaught. But, Roxie can’t even kill a spider.
Oh, I can kill spiders! Oh, yes I can. Where would you live if you could live anywhere in the world?
I would love to live in castle high atop a beautiful flowering hillside meadow, in a warm climate by the ocean. I’m not sure if it exists, but I can always visit it in my mind. Ideally the castle isn’t drafty and has a pool 
I hear castles are pretty drafty. LOL! What started you on your journey to be a writer?
When I was a kid, I loved telling and hearing stories around our dinner table. My father worked all over the world and always had something fascinating to tell us about his adventures. In high school, I loved telling my mom stories about my adventures as a waitress at Marshall Field’s over the late night supper she’d kept warm for me. But I never thought about writing my stories down until one day, when I was hiking with a friend in a national park close to our home. While we were hiking I thought my husband had died in a biking accident. I saw all the emergency vehicles heading in the direction where he went riding and I took off running — FAST. Good news? The cyclist who died wasn’t my husband. Bad news? I ended up breaking my foot because I ran so hard. Long story short, we found out I’m a mutant. I have one extra bone in each of my feet and it was this extra bone that dislodged in my left foot. So, over a period of time I had to wear three non-walking casts to heal my broken foot. I couldn’t work my job and I had to sit and heal. I listened to a lot of Anaheim Angels baseball (they won the World Series that year , and painted my laundry room, and when I was really, really bored I picked up a pen and a piece of paper and wrote my first short story.
*chuckle* OMW! Do you listen to music while writing?
Yes. I can’t write without music. In fact sometimes, when I have a problem and I can’t figure it out I speak in music. I know that sounds weird, but sometimes I can’t put things into words so I find the right video that says what I’m feeling and use it to say what I need to say.
Anyway, I have a playlist for the music that inspires the Shadow Series. If you want to have a listen click here.
Saweet! Checking it out now! Are you a plotter or a pantzer?
Pantzer.
MAH!! Crazy person! LOL! What was your favorite scene?
I have a few favorites in Shadow Slayer, but one of my favorite ones to write was the scene in the ice cream parlor when Roxie and Drew kiss for the first time. There’s something so romantic and innocent about that kiss.
Oohhhhhhh…the first kiss. There is something just very fantastmic about those. I will say, that’s one of MY favorite scenes as well! Where do you get your inspiration?
I got inspiration for 13 on Halloween (Shadow Series #1) while I was walking the foggy streets of Pacific Grove, CA. There was something about the fog that took me to an almost-dream state where Roxie started telling me her story. I was walking the same streets where John Steinbeck and Joseph Campbell strolled while penning some of their classics. So I guess I felt a kind of camaraderie with the greats during that time of inspiration and I almost felt a literary presence guiding my thoughts and ideas for the series.
Spooky and delicious! What are your favorite books and authors?
Well, it’s a varied list and pretty long so I’ll give you my top five. ‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS was the only story my mom had time to read aloud to us kids and she always read it to us on Christmas Eve just as Santa was leaving our presents WINNIE THE POOH, because it’s really the only story I can recall loving when I was very young. I have vivid memories of Mrs. Anderson my second grade teacher reading the story aloud to us in second grade. THE INDIAN IN THE CUPBOARD by Lynn Reid Banks, not only because it’s a great read aloud book and that it was a book my daughters and I read aloud together, but we also went to see the movie after we’d read the book and I saw the light bulbs go off when my girls realized how books really are better than the movies that are made of them. JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH by Roald Dahl. And ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE by Gabriel García Márquez because I love his writing and magical realism. My book Winnemucca, a small-town fairy tale is a magical realism tale about a girl who awakens to her own intuition on an enchanted road trip where her feet ask her questions she doesn’t want to hear.
LOL! Those are all very good! Do you prefer Twitter or Facebook?
Twitter! @Laurawriting
Morning person or night owl?
Night owl!
*fistbump* Are you reading or writing something else at the moment?
I am working on writing an historical novel set in Indonesia in WWII, it’s based on my family’s real-life story about how they survived the war and it examines the cost of survival and the risks people take to be free.
Sounds lovely! Thank you, Laura, for stopping by! It was wonderful having you here! Let’s talk a little bit more about your book!
Shadows will do anything to become human. You see their influence everyday. You say things you don’t mean or do things that aren’t like you. You look, different. Friends you’ve known forever suddenly never call.
Awwww…you are hilarious! Thanks for the fabulous interview questions:) I’m thrilled to be interviewed on your wonderful blog. Thanks for helping to spread the word about Shadow Slayer. *waves*
It was a real joy and treat to have you here, Laura!! Thanks for stopping by!
Just stopping by to show some love. Great books! I can’t wait to see what else you will have in store for fans and readers!
Veronica
Thanks for stopping by, Veronica! I must say, I’m now a huge fan! *grin*