To celebrate independent Christian authors and the different genres in fiction with the Indie e-Con 2018, please join me in welcoming author Laurie Lucking to the blog!
Hi everyone! Thank you so much to Kimia Wood for hosting me today, and to Kendra E. Ardnek for organizing the 2018 Indie e-Con – I’m thrilled to be a part of it!
I’m Laurie Lucking, and my writing journey really started with reading. I’ve always adored books, but after creative writing assignments in school went poorly, I decided I wasn’t cut out to be a writer. Instead, I continued reading voraciously and eventually went to law school. But after working as an attorney for several years, my husband and I had our first child, and I became a stay-at-home mom.
After a few months at home with our infant, I found myself in desperate need of a project. The thought “You could write a book” just wouldn’t go away, no matter how many times I reminded myself I wasn’t good at creative writing. So, glancing over my shoulder to make sure no one was watching, I dug out my laptop, opened a blank Word document, and wrote a scene. And LOVED it! Getting to write the story I wanted, at whatever pace I was comfortable with, was such a different experience from school, and soon I couldn’t type fast enough to spill out the characters and landscapes crowding my head.
After many months, those scenes became a young adult fantasy novel, complete with thousands of weasel words, tons of mid-scene point of view changes, and creative dialogue tags a-plenty. But I figured it might be publishable, considering I was a relatively intelligent person and had read a lot of books. (You have my permission to laugh all you want – believe me, I know better now!) I went through several re-writes as rejections trickled in with little nuggets of feedback, but eventually I determined it wasn’t meant to be. I set that manuscript aside with a heavy heart, but fortunately by then a new story was brewing.
This time around, I had more going for me. I had a wonderful critique group, was meeting monthly with a group of writers, and had attended several writing conferences. The new manuscript still needed many rounds of revisions, but my voice was starting to develop and I was breaking far less writing “rules” than before. But while I was continuing to write young adult fantasy, this story had a Christian thread to it, which I knew would limit my publishing options. Thankfully, I learned of a conference called Realm Makers, which is specifically geared toward Christian writers of speculative fiction. I was able to attend in July, 2016, and pitched my story to several agents and editors. One editor clearly connected with my story right away, and soon she was considering my full manuscript. In early 2017, I signed a contract with Love2ReadLove2Write Publishing, a small publisher focusing on Christian and clean speculative fiction. And I couldn’t be happier! My debut novel, Common, released this past February, and in March I published a short story titled “Threshold” in the Mythical Doorways anthology put together by the Fellowship of Fantasy. I also have several other stories in the works, including at least two more books in my “Tales of the Mystics” series.
My author brand has become “Fantasy Adventure, Fairy Tale Romance,” which I think describes my writing very well. I love taking inspiration from fairy tales and other classic stories, and everything I write has a blend of fantasy and clean romance. If you want to know more, check out my website, www.laurielucking.com. Also, if you enjoy young adult fantasy and/or science fiction, make sure to stop by my group blog, www.landsuncharted.com. Thanks for reading!
Thank you for stopping by, Mrs. Laurie, and for reminding us all that we don’t start out knowing it all! (And it’s okay to learn as you go!) 😉
Guess what? I’m next on the scavenger trail! Find my post here, courtesy of Kyle Robert Shultz!
For the rest of the scavenger hunt, find the full list of participating blogs right here, or visit this link to start from the beginning!
Don’t forget to enter the Scavenger Hunt giveaway, where you could win:
Ace Carroway 2-Book Set
3 random ebooks from Indie e-Con authors
Cover Design by Alea Harper
Bookshelf Necklace donated by Rachel Rossano
(Please note that the Ace Carroway Paperbacks and the Bookshelf necklace are US only.)
Thanks for sharing your publishing journey! I’m so glad that you didn’t give up with the first manuscript and you kept on writing. What an inspiration to other writers. ❤️
I enjoyed hearing about your writing journey; thanks for sharing!