Today, I'm pleased to introduce you to a very sweet author friend, Laurean Brooks. I had the pleasure to meet her two years ago at KenTen Writers' Retreat, and we've kept in touch ever since. Her stories are fun and full of easy-to-love characters. Read on to get to know her better and hear about her newest book, which sounds delightful! Laurean, how long have you been writing and what inspired you to first get started? Amy, first of all I want to thank you for taking the time to interview me. I’m honored to be your guest. To answer your question, I’ve been writing since 5th grade, but first had essays published in our local Hometown magazine in December 2002. It was six years later before I finished my first book, Journey To Forgiveness. This book will always be close to my heart because it’s based on my parents’ lives during the Great Depression. A romance with plenty of angst, but also plenty of humor. I'm always interested when I notice another author has a similar work listed on her resume. We were both legal assistants (although I only did it for two years). Has your work history influenced your writing? Do you tend to write a lot of characters who have jobs you've had in the past? Any examples? I only worked as a legal assistant two years, also. Four attorneys in four years. They kept downsizing, and guess who was let go. Yeah, me. I think I was too friendly for the job. LOL. Anyway, I decided to take the computer lessons I’d had in college and try my hand as a writer. It has always been my dream. My heroine in To Trust Her Heart is a legal assistant. I was able to use my experience to develop her. And believe me, Amanda’s nemesis was not far from what I was exposed to. I don’t think I could work in an office environment for long. I’ve noticed a lot of conflict among the ladies who are coworkers. And each one tries to get you to take her side. Most of my working years was spent in a garment factory. I loved the people, but hated the grueling work on a production line sewing machine. I was eventually promoted to Quality Control, but then I grieved because I was the bad guy who sent imperfect work back to the other workers. Probably I was hated as much as Matthew, the tax collector. LOL. I know you're a pet person with two dogs and a cat (who also goes on walks with you sometimes). Do you have a favorite animal or a preference, or do you tend to love all pets equally? I used to think I was solely a dog person, due to a bad experience with a couple of attack cats a couple of decades ago. But that changed when I found an abandoned kitten in a ditch while on a morning walk in July 2011. We thought it was a female and named it Sassy. He was 8 months old before I discovered she was a he. Sassy disappeared after 18 months, but we adopted another kitten in 2013. Tux is the apple of my husband’s eye. I love him too, but I love our dogs Spence and Leo, equally. Wouldn’t take a home in Georgia (as the saying goes), for any of my fur babies. Spence stays on guard for anything or anyone that might be on the premises. Leo helps bark, but mostly he’s a charmer. Both are well-behaved and adorable. Congratulations on your newest release. Can you tell us a bit about it? Half-Price Bride is an inspirational mail-order bride Western Romance about Emily Hammons, who answers an ad from a dentist to get away from a chaotic home situation. She travels from Memphis to Abilene, Texas to find her intended (a dentist) repeating his vows with another woman. The bride at the altar changes her mind and flees the church, knocking Emily off the porch and into the arms of a handsome cowboy. With a sprained ankle and only four quarters in her purse, she’s in a fix. Cowboy, Clint, feels responsible for her accident. He’s come for the doctor because his ma’s sick. Doc is attending the wedding. Since Emily has no place to go, Clint takes her to his ranch, telling her the doctor will look at her ankle after treating his ma. Along the way, Clint voices his negative opinion of mail-order brides. Then and there, Emily decides she will never reveal that she came to town in answer to the dentist’s ad. When the doctor suggests that Clint find someone to care for his ma, Emily volunteers because she is out of options. She learns that the mule-faced dentist she had agreed to marry, has also sent for two other women—as He must marry within 60 days or lose his his inheritance. Trouble is, the first bride fled. Emily is sure he will be searching for her next since he suspects she’s in town. Clint’s ranch should provide a good place to hide from the dentist. Or will it? And how will Clint react when he discovers Emily, the woman he’s fallen in love with, has kept a big secret from him? Oooh! That sounds so good! What are you working on now? If you're like me, you're always brimming with new ideas. Anything simmering for future publication? At this time it should be okay to let the secret out of the bag. We were asked to wait until early August for the reveal. I have signed up to write a book in a series called Matchmaker’s Mix-Up, and am so excited to be a part of it. So far, 19 authors are involved. We will each write our own book in the series. One book per month will be released from this August until May 2022. Mine is due out in May 2021. The stories will be set in the spring of 1870 around a mishap that occurred. An elderly woman runs a matchmaking business to send brides to men out west. Each applicant must fill out a questionnaire. One day her cat jumps up on the desk and topples the box, scattering the files across the floor. The sight of it causes the woman to have a stroke. She must now entreat her teenage granddaughter to match up the men with brides. The granddaughter tries to match up the files correctly, but instead sends all the brides to all the wrong grooms. Every groom gets exactly opposite of what he asked for. But, he decides in the end, she’s exactly what he wanted. Can you imagine the mishaps and the humor involved? I can’t wait to get deeper into my story. Oh my! Congratulations, and I can't wait to hear more about those. They sound like fun. To wrap up, can you tell us a fact about yourself that not many people know? Although I’m a people person, and there was a time I had to force myself to stay home, today it’s hard to nudge myself away from my computer. I prefer to be involved in writer-related things than to get out and shop, or even take a vacation. Can you believe that? Mostly, I don’t like leaving my babies (my pets) in someone else’s care. I worry about them. My heart is in my writing. Another story and its characters are always pressing me to be written. Stifling those characters in my head is like trying to get an ADD child to calm down Also, I’m an avid researcher and student of natural supplements. The diseases and disorders that can be prevented, helped, or even cured, fascinates me. Thanks so much to Laurean for stopping by today and chatting. Be sure to keep reading to learn more about her new book and to find links where you can continue to follow her. Half-Price Bride To escape a contentious relationship, Emily Hammons answers a mail-order bride ad from a dentist in Abilene. Arriving a day late, she is shocked to find him exchanging vows with another woman. Handsome rancher, Clint McCall came to town to fetch the doctor, but Doc is attending a wedding. As he waits outside the church, the bride tears out, slamming a pretty brunette into him. Clint tries to steady her, but loses his balance, becoming a cushion for her fall. With an injured foot and an empty purse, Emily accepts Clint’s offer to care for his ailing mother. Clint has arguments to back his opinion of mail-order brides. His mother suffered years of abuse at the hand of an angry man when she answered an ad. With no relatives in Abilene, why did Emily travel more than 600 miles from Memphis? Clint feels she is hiding something. The dentist in on the hunt for his “other” bride. Will he find Emily? Will Clint’s love be strong enough to endure Emily’s secret, or will it destroy them? Available here. Laurean Brooks enjoys writing heartwarming Christian romance with leap-off-the-page characters.
Her stories address life's deeper issues, but doses of humor lighten the load. Ms. Brooks' books are chocked full of intrigue, romance, and witty dialogue, enhanced by spunky heroines who are no strangers to the taste of their own shoe leather, and those chivalrous heroes who rescue their ladies from distress. Laurean's fifth-grade teacher was the first to encourage her to hone her writing. Once, after Laurean read a book report to the class and her classmates scrambled to be the next in line to read that book, Mrs. Mary Brann announced, “Someday, Laurean will become an author.” Laurean guarded those words in her heart. Decades later, her elusive dream became reality when Pelican Book Group requested Journey To Forgiveness. To date, Ms. Brooks has five full-length books in print, plus four novella ebooks. All are available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, for purchase and download. You can interact with Laurean on Facebook, FB messenger, or by email. She loves to interact with readers and friends.
6 Comments
8/4/2020 02:13:26 pm
I loved this book so much. Laurean is a great storyteller. I felt I was beside Emily through the whole book. Good job, Laurie!
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Laurean Brooks
8/4/2020 02:53:11 pm
Thank you, Kathy. I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed "Half-Price Bride." It was a joy to develop Emily and Clint, and especially Clint's cantankerous, outspoken mother.
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Scott Rezer
8/4/2020 03:55:26 pm
A excellent interview, Laurean! Always interesting to hear an author talk about themselves and their writing.
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Laurean Brooks
8/4/2020 09:47:26 pm
Thank you for dropping by, Scott, and reading the interview. Amy is a great interviewer. She came up with some interesting questions.
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8/5/2020 01:31:08 pm
Thank you Amy, for having a wonderful lady, Laurie. Like you I had the privilege of meeting Laurie face to face at a book signing.
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Laurean Brooks
8/5/2020 09:12:20 pm
Larry, it's always wonderful to hear from a talented writer like you. Thank you for dropping by and leaving a comment. It means a lot to me. And meeting you and Danielle, and Celia, in Paducah, was awesome.
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This is a place for me to tell you about what I'm writing, talk about the process or where some of my ideas came from, or even have other authors come in and talk about their books.
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