I struggled with reading as a child. I discovered once I was in college that I had undiagnosed dyslexia, but somehow I was able to fight through it. In third grade, I found Janette Oke's Candian West Series at our school library. Up to that point, I struggled to read basic children's books, but when I picked up the first book and fell in love with the cover, something snapped in my brain. I gobbled up the whole book in a few days. Then I checked out the rest of the books and read through them as well. I learned later than I somehow discovered how to read in chunks of text rather than word-by-word. Some people with dyslexia overcome it this way, and it is the same technique speed readers use. Whatever happened, I still remember how inspired I was, and I haven't stopped reading since.

Reading! I read, then write, then read some more. I do have a family who drags me into reality periodically for the sake of my mental health. I used to have more hobbies, but they have been getting pretty dusty the last few years.

Everything!!! I have a blog, www.laraswanderings.wordpress.com, and I review books. Any casual visitor will see a large variety of genres. I especially enjoy fairy tales and historical fiction with a love story. I don't read romance, because I like the love story to be secondary and catch the reader by surprise. I am a child at heart, so I want my books clean as well. I love any good book I can get my hands on.

My latest book is called the Shadow of the Gryphon. My first book, Gryphendale, is a stand-alone book. When I first published it, I had people asking for a sequel. I wasn't sure if I would write any more books since that first one took me ten years to write. After some traumatic events in my life, I felt the need to write again. The Shadow of the Gryphon popped out in less than a month. It took me a while to edit it, but the story just came as one whole as the first in a trilogy. Two of the main characters, Timothy and Nathaniel, are twins named after my twin sons who died 30 mins after being born prematurely. It was my way of healing and saying I will never forget them. It is a fun lighthearted book full of hope which is how I deal with life.

My next project is to limit myself to a few projects at a time! I am currently editing The Gryphon's Handmaiden which is the sequel to The Shadow of the Gryphon. The final book in that trilogy, The Gryphon of Stone is half written. I am also editing a stand-alone novel, The Secrets of Cinnamon Cinderguard. I have ideas and notes for at least five other books, but I refuse to start them until I finish with these. Then I have short stories, blog posts, and articles that I continually write. I just stay busy, but that makes me happy.

My original career was as a professional graphic designer. I loved books and wanted to make books for a living. Because of my struggle with dyslexia, I didn't think I could ever be a writer. Coming up with images and stories was always easy, but writing was hard for me. The cover design comes intuitively to me, and I obtained a college degree in it. I "see" my stories before I write them, so I just pick one of my metal images and work with it.

Writing books is a huge accomplishment for me just by itself. I was told that I couldn't do it because of my struggles with dyslexia, but I lived in a world of stories. I invented stories to tell my brother and cousins and orchestrated pretend play continually growing up. I came up with plays, adventures, and games on the spot. There has never been a time that I wasn't inventing some sort of imaginary world. I am a natural daydreamer and writing is my happy place. I never run out of ideas, and everyday I am excited about my next project. To produce books that people love and enjoy has been a dream come true.

I have a journal in which I write and draw ideas. All my books percolate for a while until I have a solid mental foundation of what I want to write. Then I create an outline before plunging in and writing my first draft as fast as I can. Ideas full best when I don't stop to edit at that point. Often my outline changes as I write, but I still use it to keep my focus on the direction of the book. After I have my first draft, I run through it over and over again editing it until I am sick and tired of the story. This often takes five or six drafts. Finally, I let it rest for perhaps a month while I work on something else. I run through it a last time before sending it to beta readers and editors.

My desk is everywhere. I have a laptop that I move around the house. Then I write ideas in a journal and on scraps of paper that I am constantly searching for. Perhaps one day I will have a real desk, but I just can't get motivated to pursue that.

My original job was as a graphic designer for a small publisher. After my experience there, I found myself thinking, "I can do that." My YA fantasy fiction books didn't fit with the dystopian trend of the time, so I wasn't getting much response from agents or publishers. I just put my skills to good use and launched my book myself. I don't regret it for a moment. I learned so much, and I found an audience who enjoyed my stories. It has been a dream come true to be a writer and without going indie I would still be sitting around doubting myself.