Guest Post - Laurie Brown

Thank you for the lovely review. It’s so gratifying to know all the hard work has been worthwhile.
And writing is hard work. Sure everyone can write, a memo, a letter, a school paper. But to put together four hundred manuscript pages (and have them flow and make sense) takes many hours with just the writer and the computer. Then there’s hours of re-write. And editing. And… you get the picture. I think it would be impossible to do if it weren’t a labor of love. I fall in love with my heroes and want to be my heroine’s best friend. I get caught up in the moment of the plot as if it was happening all around me.

I was working on one book and was near the end where there was a wedding. I had spent so much time with those characters that tears were literally pouring down my cheeks as I typed toward the emotional I dos. My teenage son saw me and came over to awkwardly pat my shoulder. “It’s gonna be alright,” he said. I nodded and tried to explain that I was crying because it was so beautiful, that the characters finally got the happy ending they so desperately deserved. He just shook his head and walked away muttering under his breath something about hoping crazy wasn’t a genetic condition. I didn’t bother with a retort because I was already back into the scene and there was still more to write.

Spending so many hours with a book is one of the reasons I like to add a little humor to my work. I have to for my own sanity. Don’t look to me to write anything dark and angst-y. Not that there’s anything wrong with that kind of book, it’s just that can’t seem to do dark. Maybe because I’d rather laugh than cry. (Unless there’s a wedding.) Although after reading the same passages four or five times I’m never sure anymore if it’s really as amusing as I first thought it was. That’s why I’m always glad to hear readers say they laughed out loud at a particular line of dialogue or a scene.

In my latest release What Would Jane Austen Do? I sent a modern heroine back in time to 1814 to meet the real Jane Austen. Eleanor has to cope with Regency society, lack of plumbing, and corsets, all without chocolate. She also attends a ball, prevents a duel, helps solve a mystery for two ghosts, and meets the sexy rake, Lord Shermont. I hope it’s as fun to read as it was to write.

Whatever type of books you like, happy reading,
Laurie Brown