Ask the Author: Laurie Marr Wasmund
Answered Questions (6)
Laurie Marr Wasmund
I'm not big on inspiration. I'm of the "it's 9:00 a.m. and I have until 12:00 p.m. to write, so let's get going" school. I will work and rework a scene again and again until I have included all the elements and feelings that I want in it. I also rely on an instinctive sense to know when the scene is "done." If it stays in my mind after I think I've finished it and won't let me move on to other projects/scenes/ideas, then I know something is missing. I'll go through it as many times as I need to feel that sense of closure.
Laurie Marr Wasmund
The best thing about being a writer is meeting the people who read my books. I love going to a book club where I'm asked questions about my work. I like talking about the history that is behind my works--about the Ludlow Massacre of 1914 and World War I in America and other events--because I find that I usually can offer something new that the person hasn't heard before. It doesn't all end up in the book!
Laurie Marr Wasmund
The White Winter Trilogy grew out of my first novel, My Heart Lies Here. Although it does not have any repeat characters, I discovered when I researched the Ludlow Massacre and beyond that many of the "good guys" in the Colorado National Guard and Trinidad community were also "good guys" during the 1920s, when the KKK ruled Colorado. I kept reading and researching just to see whose name popped up again. I found my personal historical hero, Phillip Van Cise, through that research.
Laurie Marr Wasmund
Once, after I complained to a very wise friend that I was getting nowhere, he told me, "Write another half-million words and see where it takes you." At the time, I think I probably wanted to kill him, but he was right. Most professional authors use the "butt in the chair" technique. Set a schedule and stick to it. Mine is to work from 9 a.m. to noon, then to take a couple of hours to eat and talk to the dog and relax. I pick up again around 2 and work until 4, when my husband comes home from work.
Laurie Marr Wasmund
I am continuing to write the books in the White Winter Trilogy. To Do Kindness is next. It deals with the months between January and November, 1918 and ends shortly after the Armistice in November.
Laurie Marr Wasmund
For long term writer's block, I play Tetris or do a jigsaw puzzle. Both require logic, but they lack words or use of language. I can let my mind roam over all the possibilities for my characters and their relationships, no matter how silly or trivial. Usually, something provocative or fresh comes from it.
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