About the Author
C.J. Laurence writes steamy romance, dark fantasy, and supernatural fiction with a twist. Fascinated by the mysterious and the mythical, she crafts stories that blur the line between reality and the unknown.
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Q&A
Which author did you aspire to be when you were growing up? I had 3 go to authors during my younger years – Terry Pratchett, L.J. Smith (and her Nightworld Series specifically), and a rather unknown author called Samantha Alexander who wrote a teen horse series called Riders. I absolutely lived off these authors all throughout my teenage years.
What is it that most inspires you to keep writing? I have this burning need to share my stories. I think about quitting at least once a month because it’s hard work, balancing writing alongside boring adult things like work and house chores but these little voices in my head keep pushing me to keep going to ‘just’ write one more scene and then I lose myself back in the world and keep going. And am then eternally grateful I didn’t give up LOL (until the next time!)
Are you still learning as a writer? Of course, absolutely! I’m always learning different ways to restructure my sentences, or finding new ways to work around problems. I used to be 100% pantster, no plotting at all. Now I’m about 75% pantster, 25% plotter, so I am definitely learning and having the structure actually helps me write and finish drafts quicker. I’m hoping to make this more 50/50.
What is the greatest lesson any writer can learn? There is always more to learn! There is always some way to hone your craft and make the next story more enjoyable, for you and the reader.
What are the biggest challenges you face as a writer? Time and the dreaded writer’s block LOL I don’t have enough time to get all my stories out into the world! I have a board at home with all my series and standalones planned out and I literally have enough to keep me going for about 20 years haha! Writer’s block can sometimes hit really hard and it can be challenging to try and work around it but each time it hits is becoming shorter and shorter that it stays, which is great.
How do you think our relationship with literature has been impacted by modern times? That’s an interesting one. I think modern times has ruined it in the sense that the language from a hundred years ago has changed remarkably. We now have much more slang and less ‘pretty’ words that can become romantic, flowery prose. The invention of the internet has also given way to the obvious issues at present which takes away from the hard work and dedication that authors put into their worlds. It’s quite sad.
What are you looking forward to most about Pascify? Meeting readers who are totally into the paranormal and fantasy genres. Generic author events find a mixed bag but Pascify will give such a narrowed viewpoint of what readers love, I can’t wait!
What is one thing people might not know about you? I am old enough to remember listening to Peter Andre’s Mysterious Girl on tape hahahaha!!
What trip is top of your bucket list? Egypt! I am a massive Ancient Egypt fan. When The Mummy came out in 1999, I watched it every weekend, religiously. And when the sequel soon followed, I watched them both back to back, every Saturday night. Yes, I can repeat the movies word for word haha! I really want to visit Egypt because I adore history and that is obviously full of it. I am hoping to visit Luxor first as that’s supposed to be one huge open air museum pretty much. A sideline motive for visiting is I have an Ancient Egyptian UF series planned…so watch this space! (book 1 already started!)
If you woke up today in your favourite place (fictional or real), where would that be? Hamunaptra LOL Seti’s place, City of the Dead (yes, I am picturing Brendan Fraser’s face whilst I type this!). Or Mystic Falls or The French Quarter. I mean, if I wake up somewhere fictional, then the fictional characters would be there, right?!
If you could choose any other profession, what would that be? A full time writer. I currently spend my days working in the transport industry but I want to give that up to become a full time writer. Then I might stand half a chance of getting all these stories done before my end LOL!
Is there a particular genre or type of non-fiction that you most enjoy reading? Yes! Psychological thrillers and speculative fiction. Specifically, anything by John Marrs. Honestly, the guy is a God in my mind. The stories he thinks up are just on another level. If you haven’t read anything by him, I recommend starting with The Good Samaritan or The One.
What is the best piece of advice you were ever given? As a writer? If it doesn’t move the story forwards, cut it out. When I applied this to my first draft of my first book, I cut it from 135,000 words to 65,000. I know when I read, if I read something too descriptive or too wordy, it’s an automatic DNF for me so keeping this in mind for me has helped me keep my stories on a fine balance between descriptive enough to set the world but not too much to bore the reader (I hope haha!)
PASCIFY 