Today I welcome Laurean Brooks, a Christian historical fiction writer, to my blog.
Laurean, what has your writing journey been like?
It has been an ongoing process which, in a way, seems like half that time. My first essays were published in the local Hometown Magazine in 2002 and 2003. When the first one was published I was bitren by the writing bug. Over the next two years, I added twenty more essays relating humorous family incidents from personal experience.
I spent months submitting these to various magazines. None were accepted. I didn’t give up because I was told to “expect nine rejections for every submission.” I quit submitting after the tenth try. But, I still have the story collection in a velcro-enclosed binder.
In January 2004, I started my first book, my mother’s story, Journey To Forgiveness. It took two years to finish due to long hours at an exhausting job plus other duties. After waiting two months, White Rose Publishing accepted my submission in August of 2007. After ten months of edits and a several more months of waiting, it was released in January 2009.
I know you live in a rural setting. How does this complicate things for a writer, if at all?
It doesn’t complicate things for me. I take nature walks with my dogs to inspire me––through fields, down to the pond, and into the woods. Many times titles and story ideas are spurred while I’m surrounded by the sounds of nature. Sometimes I sit on a log near a creek, and take it all in.
What are your strategies for writing a book from start to finish?
I set a mental goal to have a book written from start to finish in twelve weeks. That worked for two books, but last year it fell through. Partly because I slowed down on writing to market my current release. Besides the book marketing, my mother’s illness and eventual death, plus that of my sister-in-law, threw me for a loop. I’m now two-thirds of the way through the manuscript of my WIP (Work In Progress.)
Tell us about Journey to Forgiveness.
Here is the blurb:
It’s 1938, and times are hard. The Great Depression strikes the South, forcing many residents to sell their farms. When her abusive father deserts and boll weevils infest her family’s cotton crop, Jenny Largent must move to Chicago to find work to support her family
At the Kankakee depot, Jenny confronts Austin Brady, a handsome blond stranger, after he runs off with her vanity case. She retrieves her case but is shocked when the thief takes the pulpit in her aunt’s church to coerce the congregation to give to his so-called “worthy cause.”
Earlier that year, tornadoes struck a small Illinois town, leaving it in ruins. Austin Brady pleads for money from the church to rebuild the town. When he asks for volunteers to join a twelve-day mission trip to the stricken area, Jenny signs up. But only to expose Austin. When she has proof, the world will know the truth.
When Austin lifts a large roll of money from the mission strongbox, Jenny has the evidence. So why doesn’t she report him? Has this charming man with the periwinkle eyes mesmerized her?
Jenny still bears the emotional scars inflicted by her father, making it difficult to trust men. She’s vowed never to lose her heart. But is it too late? Does she have the courage to trust Austin? Will Jenny obey God’s nudging to reconcile with her estranged father?
Will she ask Austin the tough questions that will ultimately make or break their relationship?
What inspired you to write this book?
My mother’s story. It is based on true accounts from her life. (All my stories are faith-based dealing with emotional issues the hero/heroine must overcome.)My grandfather was a violent man. He beat my mother and my grandmother time and again, to the point they were relieved when he deserted the family. My mother told us time and again how he took a razor strap to her and made bloody welts on her legs. Note: I don’t go into detail about the beatings. I wanted to keep the story realistic but added plenty of humor to keep it lighthearted. Journey to Forgiveness will make you both cry and laugh.
How do you develop your characters?
With Journey to Forgiveness, I patterned the main characters after my parents. My dad enjoyed pranks while my mother was mostly serious. I don’t think she knew how to take his sense of humor. Regarding characters for other books, I come up with opposite personalities for the hero and heroine to make for conflict and add interest to the stories. I might pair a sullen hero with an effervescent heroine. Or vice versa. Regardless, the characters soon take on a life of their own. They act in ways I had not planned.
Writers are also readers. What are some of your favorites that you could read over and over?
I don’t believe I’ve ever read the same book twice, except children’s stories. I enjoyed titles by Victoria Holt during my twenties and thirties. On The Night Of The Seventh Moon was one of my favorites. As a teen I devoured every Emilie Loring title I could find at the library. Only a couple of years ago did I discover Ms. Loring had died a decade before I began reading her books. Her sons found twenty completed manuscripts in a box after she died and submitted two per year to her publisher until all were published.
Which author, dead or alive, would you most like to meet and have dinner with? I know, I ended a question with a preposition, but it sounded too weird to say “with whom you like to have dinner?” LOL.
I agree that putting the question another way sounds “weird.” Victoria Holt would be an interesting character to meet. I would ask her how she came up with plots, characters, and story ideas—how she managed to make her characters incredibly believable. The books I read were written in first person. I may try that someday, because it seems easier for the readers to imagine themselves as the main characters when written in first person.
I like historicals set in the U.S. in the 1800s, and that is the era I would like to go back to in a time travel machine, although only for a short stay. Do you have a favorite time period and/or place?
I’ve always been a fan of the Alpha male cowboy—Cheyenne Bodie, The Virginian, Laramie, Bonanza, and more. I would love to travel back to the mid to late 1800s, preferably to Texas, and live on a ranch, for possibly a month. Although, I would want to be assured I could come back to the present, if or whenever I desired.
What other books have you had published, and what would you like to share about projects in the works right now?
My current work is a second mail order bride story set in Abilene, Texas, whereas my previous book, Not What He Ordered was set in Buffalo Gap, nineteen miles south of Abilene.
My current work: Forced to leave her family home by a domineering sister-in-law, my Tennessee-born heroine answers a mail order bride ad from a dentist in Abilene. When she arrives one day late, she is shocked to find her intended at the church exchanging wedding vows with another woman.
I hope to have the first draft finished this spring.
Please list below how we can purchase your books and stay connected.
You can find all my books at this link.
https://www.amazon.com/Laurean-Brooks/s?page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3ALaurean%20Brooks
Thanks, Laurean, for being part of my Thursday blog. Best wishes with your writing,
Thank you, Pam, for being a wonderful blog host. I truly enjoyed this interview, and wish you the best with your writing.
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