Writing Wednesday: Chatting with author Laura Critchfield

Today I'm chatting with debut author Laura Critchfield, who writes as L. A. McGinnis. She has a new book out, Shadows of Ghosts (on my list to read next because I LOVE the title!) and stopped by to share a little about herself and her passion for books.

Welcome, Laura! Tell us a little about yourself and your passion for books.

I grew up with a library that consisted mostly of my parents’ old college books, so Faulkner, O’Neill, Proust, Dostoyevsky, all before I was 13.  Plus, I had this weird fascination with Norse mythology that started at about 6 or 7.  Once I started babysitting, I discovered this wonderful, forbidden genre called…romance.  So during my teens-mostly Kathleen Woodiwiss- I think Shanna was my very first, after that it was pretty much whatever I could sneak into the house.  During college, it was Old English and Shakespeare, then I didn’t read much for the next fifteen years, until I picked up a copy of Diana Gabaldon’s “Outlander”.  I’d been writing YA for about three years at that point, and switched gears to romance, then changed over a year later from contemporary to paranormal.  These days I can usually be found reading J.R. Ward’s latest, and Karen M. Moning’s Fever series.

What's your favorite part of being an author?

Having the ability to become someone else, or in this book, several someones.  I love exploring all of these different parts of my own psyche from the relative safety of my keyboard, especially the mind of the bad guy.  Why is he doing what he’s doing, who made him that way?  When he gets his revenge, will that really give him the resolution that he’s seeking?  I think in many ways, it’s what we’re all looking for, although we probably like to imagine ourselves as the good guy.

What's your approach to writing? Do you plot or go with the flow?

I am a total pantser.  I’ve found that sitting down with a loose idea of who the characters are, a vague backstory and maybe a setting is all I need to flesh out the character’s relationships.  Once I get the basic storyline down in the first draft, I go back in the next few edits and flesh out subplots and secondary storylines.  It gives the writing a fresher feel than if I had tried to outline everything from the get-go. Not that I’d actually know how to do that.

 

If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why?

I would love to go back in time. Like way, way back. I think fifteen hundreds would be fascinating, but only for a little while because I’m not actually sure I‘d survive very long. But it would be so interesting to see how day to day life was eked out by these people who lived, optimistically, 30 years on average, and in that period of time grew up, married and raised a family.

Tell us about your new release!

Shadows of Ghosts came about when I started playing with the dual concepts of the loss of childhood innocence and how strength is forged from pain.  My main character, Logan, has this great opportunity fall into her lap, and a chance to escape from her small town existence where she has been living as the local pariah.

Settling into Charleston, SC, it doesn’t take long for her to discover that she’s part of a bigger conspiracy, and once she meets Ian Grant, she realizes that finally, she’s found the partner she’s been looking for.  Just when everything she’d ever dreamed of seemed close enough to touch, it comes as no real surprise to her to watch it all slip away.

But sometimes, love springs from the darkness, friendships are forged from the dust, and family can be found in the most unlikely of places.  The fairytale might not always be made of moonbeams and stars, but sometimes it’s enough to know it’s yours.   

Wow, that sounds so very cool - I'm looking forward to reading this book! Okay, you’re casting the movie version of your novel – who would you choose for the main characters? We’re talking dream cast.

Logan Dean -- Blake Lively

Ian Grant -- David Gandy

Robert Fulmer -- Matt Bomer

Jonathon Fox -- Jason Isaacs

Lazarus -- Mads Mikkelsen

Kimberly Gibson – Jennifer Lawrence

Bartholemew Duncan -- Rufus Sewell

Jessica Medford – Emma Stone

What an interesting cast! Now I'm really looking forward to reading your story. Where can readers find your book and where can they find you online?

The Wild Rose Press: https://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/all-titles/5297-shadows-of-ghosts.html

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Ghosts-L-McGinnis-ebook/dp/B0752T367C

Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shadows-of-ghosts-la-mcginnis/1127065560?ean=2940158879586

ITunes:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/shadows-of-ghosts/id1275823723?mt=11

Kobo:  https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/shadows-of-ghosts-1

About the Book:

Driving to South Carolina to claim an inheritance from a total stranger didn’t figure into Logan Dean’s long term plans. But she'd be a fool to pass up an opportunity, and her mother didn’t raise any fools. Now she's a pawn in a vampire war and fighting to stay alive. Thankfully, she’s discovered an ally in mysterious Ian Grant. As her feelings for Ian grow, Logan comes to realize if she wants the love she deserves, she's going to have to fight the demons of her past.

For over a hundred years, cynical Ian Grant swore to never love another woman. But from the first time he saw Logan, he knew an ancient part of his history had come back to haunt him, and the one thing he doesn't want becomes the one thing he has to have.

Two irreconcilable lives, five hundred years of history, and all they have to do to live happily ever after is defeat the evil that threatens to tear them apart.

About the Author:
Laura is a graduate of Kent State University, and has been writing since 2007. She belongs to both the RWA and the NEORWA and has attended the Sanibel Island Writers Conference, as well as the NEORWA Writer’s Conference, and participates in their yearly writing retreat.



Stalk Find Laura here:

my website: https://lamcginnis.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lamcginnis.darkparanormal/?modal=media_composer

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LAMcGinnis1520

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/l.a.mcginnis/

Thanks for being my guest today, Laura! Best of luck with this new release, and your new career as a published author!