Please help me welcome Author Laurie Treacy to my blog today!
Here's my interview with her:
What is your name? Do you use a pen name (if so, why?)?
Laurie Treacy. No pen name yet.
Tell me a bit about yourself:
I’m a wife, mom of three really good kids and various pets, an active reader and book blogger. Movie and music fan. I love frogs, frozen Goobers, anime and haunted places. I’m also a Whovian.
What type of genre do you write?
I love paranormal, fantasy, urban fantasy, dystopian and contemporary romance. I initially started out writing YA, but I’ve also started writing for adults. My NaNoWriMo book this year is a New Adult paranormal. I find this genre exciting.
What genre to you personally read?
I don’t have just one favourite genre. I read a lot of YA, New Adult and adult romance, urban fantasy, contemporary romance, dystopian, paranormal and thrillers. Some sexy stuff as well.
Tell me about your latest?
I’m actively writing two novels. One is a paranormal YA, Everlast, which I’m actually rewriting. My progress stalled and I realized I was missing something relevant. I discovered what it was last September during a workshop on writing characters. My Nano novel is One Drop, a New Adult paranormal about a college student obsessed with visiting an abandoned mental hospital and what happens to her there one day. She went to retrieve something she’d left behind only to discover something much more important and scary.
What sparked your passion for books and the art of a good story?
I think all the time I spent in my local libraries as a kid growing up in the Bronx really helped shape and foster my love of books. I used to devour books, sometimes one a day. There’s something incredible about getting lost in a great story.
Is there a particular book that changed or affected your life in a big way?
As a reader, the first book I ever owned was Charlotte’s Web. I felt a real affinity for Fern and her need to rescue the rump of the litter. I was forever bringing animals home. In my teens I discovered Anne Rice’s Interview With A Vampire and fell in love with Lestat, with the possibilities a vampire could be more than a monster. As a writer I was blown away by Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Children’s book were not as exciting nor was the genre so huge when I was a kid. After that I was hooked on reading YA and then discovered other great authors like Dianna Wynne Jones, Susan Cooper, and many more.
Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?
Not so much a message but simply to enjoy themselves reading.
What challenges have you faced in your writing career?
Is my work good enough? When is it truly done? Will they understand it? The usual challenges I guess.
What has been your best moment as a writer?
When I type “The End” and feel incredibly satisfied with what I have produced. Then learning my work will appear in an anthology was certainly exciting.
Who is your author idol?
I don’t have just one author idol. I read so much and I’m captivated way too much. The authors I would love to sit down with in a pub and talk over a drink would be Jane Austen, James Joyce, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Anne Rice, and Maggie Stiefvater.
Do you see yourself in any of your characters?
I think there’s a sprinkling of my essence in every character I create.
Do you feel like your dream has come true or is there much more to do?
My dream has just begun. After I’ve completed my novels I want to query agents in 2014 and see what happens.
What does your workspace look like?
In my house, I’m a bohemian. In warm weather I like to write on my porch, in colder months I seek out the best room with the most sunlight and view. I hope to have my porch renovated next year and then I can claim part of it as my own.
Have you ever had a day when you just wanted to quit?
No.
What do you do when you’re not writing?
Live, be a mom, a wife, a friend, a homeowner, yet no matter what I may be doing, there’s always a glimmer of an idea or snippet of storyline somewhere in my brain just itching to get out.
What are the most important attributes to remaining sane as a writer?
Did you have a moment when you realized you were meant to be a writer?
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Never give up. Dare to dream but in order to achieve that dream just write every day then repeat.
After this book, what is next?
I have many other books all in some state of creation. From an outline to actual chapters, my trunk of ideas is never empty.
Your website?
Your blog?
Same as above
Other websites?
Where can your book be found?
The anthologies with my stories can all be found under my name on Amazon.