Spotlight On... Laura Browning

Please help me in welcoming author Laura Browning to the keyboard. Welcome, Laura, can you tell us a little about yourself?

Thanks for having me. First, I have to admit I’m a procrastinator. I finished my first (awful) romance when I was sixteen and living as an exchange student in a little attic room in Switzerland. I wrote it in a spiral notebook and gave it to my mom for Christmas. She’s been after me ever since to “publish something.” I don’t think she envisioned waiting more than thirty years for that to happen.

In the meantime, I worked in television news for more than twenty years before starting another career as an English teacher.

My husband was the one who finally gave me the proverbial kick in my procrastinating rear end when he looked at me and said, “You’re like a woodcutter who chops down trees, stacks the wood, and then lets it rot. Either send something to a publisher or quit hogging the computer.”

Isn’t love grand?


I love it! Tell us about THE SILKIE’S CALL and where we can find it.

The roots of this story actually lie in a ballad and a poem. Years ago, I heard Joan Baez sing a sad song about a Silkie – a man on land and a seal on the sea. It ends badly. The poem that inspired me is Poe’s “Annabel Lee”, which also ends badly. Since I’m all about HEA, I started melding some of the concepts and came up with the idea of a romance between a Silkie boy and a human girl. Their childhood romance ends in tragedy, and THE SILKIE’S CALL is the story of their chance to get it right. One of the things that makes this story unique is the heroine is partially paralyzed.

The book is available both in print and digital format from The Wild Rose Press.

Read an Excerpt


Describe your writing in three words.

Strong, sexy, caring


How did you start writing?

Well, I mentioned the bad gothic in the spiral notebook, but really and truly it started when I was four or five. I would make up my own bedtime stories after lights out. Usually, I inserted myself into some fairy tale. Sometimes I was the heroine rescued by the handsome prince, but just as often I was a warrior goddess who came in and smashed all the bad guys.


Why did you choose your genre?

Cough…genre? THE SILKIE’S CALL is considered paranormal, and I like the fun of being able to create a world and stretch believability, but in my woodpile, I’ve got a few contemporaries, several vampires, and a couple of historicals still waiting to get out. The seals just swam to the top first.


Do you ever become attached to your characters and have a hard time letting them go?

Yes. I do. By the time I finish a manuscript, I feel like those characters are personal friends. If they don’t feel that way to me, then I know I’m not done. Something’s not right. I’ll give you a for instance. The villain in THE SILKIE’S CALL wouldn’t turn loose. I don’t think he was happy about being the bad guy, so I ended up giving him his own story. The Wild Rose Press has also picked up THE SILKIE’S SALVATION which will come out next year.


Congratulations. Do you have any 'must haves' with you while you're writing?

Coffee and noise. Too many years working in a newsroom I guess. I can even write while carrying on a conversation. It drives my family crazy.


What are three things you wish you’d known before you began your writing career?

I wish I’d met my husband earlier so he could kick me in the butt sooner. I wish I’d been smart enough to hook up with my wonderful Heart of Carolina Romance Writers RWA Chapter sooner. I wish I’d known how much fun I would have!


Where can we find you on the web?

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Laura-Browning-Romance-Author/104008212970079?ref=sgm

My website (still under construction):  http://www.laurabrowningbooks.com/

My blog:  http://www.laurabrowningbooks.blogspot.com/


Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?

Is the interest in vampires still out there? I have some really hunky guys lurking around in the dark.


Thanks for visiting with me today, Laura.