About Laura Ranger:
Laura Ranger is a natural storyteller. She has been turning all of life into stories since she was young. This mother of one, grandmother of three began writing her fictitious stories down to the delight of her family and friends. She’s been writing her tales for over twenty years. She became a published author when she put one of her short stories in a Christmas anthology in support of feeding children around the world, entitled Eight ‘Til Christmas. Once she saw one of her stories in print, she will tell you she can’t stop.
In addition to Deception, she co-authored Rogue. Currently, Laura’s fully ensconsed in writing a novel on good versus evil, Royalty. She’s been working on a series called Lessons, which she envisions parents reading with their children. She discovered while writing the series, the lessons addressed throughout the story speak to both children and adults. Additionally, She has numerous ideas for additional novels and adding more all the time, it’s just a matter of completing each in turn. Laura will tell you, “God blessed me with a natural gift of storytelling; it is up to me to use that gift to the best of my ability.”
She now co-owns Foundations, LLC publishing with her fiance, Steve Soderquist and no longer has extra time on her hands.
What inspires you to write?
I’m inspired by things and people around me, my history, news stories, conversations, and sometimes a dream. My most recent book, Deception came from my history. I had been lied to repeatedly, I took some of those and spun an fictional story from them.
Tell us about your writing process.
I had resisted becoming a planner and refused to do outlines. A few years back I participated in NaNoWriMo the month of November and that all changed. I followed their guidelines, made an outline and was shocked to see how quickly I wrote 100k in words for my story. I’m hooked. I resisted because I wanted my characters to have their voice. I found they’re still very vocal, just better directed. I use Word, break my story into 3 Acts, then jot 10 chapters for each, title the chapter and add any thoughts or notes, I end up shuffling them around, dropping or adding, and in the end make it my concordance too. As I give someone a name or add a location, I add that to my outline under whichever chapter I’m doing. When a chapter is complete, I just go back and strike through that chapter name. It keeps me from writers block.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
My characters talk all the time. I have to block them out if I’m not writing. I do listen to them as I’m writing. I have to ask them questions when I’m not clear. So, I do both, talk to and listen to my characters. I do hope this is normal. 🙂
What advice would you give other writers?
Just do it. Set aside your writing time. During that time do NOT go on social media. Set a timer if you easily lose track of time while writing, so you can be immersed in your story. Do whatever it takes to write every day. Hone your craft. Learn. And research! As a writer, we can’t know it all, so it’s imperative we research what we don’t know to make our story realistic. I may never have been to Paris, but I need my readers believe I have been and know what I’m talking about. It doesn’t have to be real, it does have to be realistic.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I was clueless on what I was doing, so knew I had to have a publisher. I researched and submitted to several. I landed a contract. About the time my 3rd book was to be released, my fiance, who is also an author, and I decided to start our own publishing company. We were each with different publishers and neither of us were given any assistance in marketing and how to do it. We decided to do it differently. So, our company assigns a Marketing Manager to every author to teach them how to promote them and their work.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
There are some people who have become very good at self-publishing and I think that’s great. There are SO many more who have no idea what they’re doing and it shows. I do see there will always be a need for traditional publishers because too many self-published works aren’t worth the space on an eReader. What I love is those who have taken the time to learn how to format and self-publish, have the resources now to do that instead of being dependent on finding a traditional publisher.
What genres do you write?: I predominately write suspense/thriller. Some of my stories can be considered a bit of horror. I’m currently writing an angels vs. demons that is definitely paranormal thriller.
What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Laura Ranger Home Page Link
Link To Laura Ranger Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
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All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
