May 12, 2018

More author questions – Lauraine Henderson



How much do you write each day?

Even though I have a great deal of flexibility in my day-to-day responsibilities (my children are all grown and moved away), I don’t always write every day. I like to have a little bit of an external push, so I usually participate in NaNoWriMo in November. Otherwise, I write when the housework is done, the bills are paid, my schoolwork is done (I’m currently enrolled on online university) and my teeny little day job is completed. I can’t seem to write if I have anything hanging over my head. That being said, I spend most of my day at my desk and often, writing becomes part of it. And when I do write, time sometimes gets away from me. My husband is supportive, but I try not to write at night so I can spend time with him.

How do you promote your books?

This is an area I am still learning about. I started a blog which I rarely post to. *grimace* I’m considering a website, but it is a little of a vicious cycle of not wanting to spend money until I make money and not being able to make money until I do some marketing which means spending money.

There are two things I have done for sure: I create bookmarks of my book covers with Vistaprint.com which I give away whenever it seems appropriate and I pay for a book tour and Facebook party with Singing Librarian Books because it brings in reviews and provides a little more exposure.

I have also joined two groups: ANWA (American Night Writers Association) and LDStorymakers Guild which allow me to post my books on their website.

My most recent project was published in partnership with BooksYouCanTrust.com, who took care of all up-front costs and when those costs are reimbursed, we will share the subsequent royalties. Since they have spent a bit of time and energy getting my book to press, so to speak, they will be promoting it as well. As readers see this new project, they will be directed to Amazon, where my others books are available for sale.

I am currently considering using Amazon’s book deals and offering one of my books free for a day to see what kind of response I’ll get. This was recommended at the most recent writer’s conference I attended.

What kind of research do you do?

There’s an old saying of ‘write what you know.’ So far, I have taken that to heart. My first novel, The Triple-Date Dare, took place on the Oregon coast (a place I know well), the main characters were a fledgling author and a policeman (my cousin is retired police), and the story involved three dates, two of which I took from personal experiences.

My third book, Building a Life, takes place during a house building project. My husband has been a general contractor for 30 years and has built for our family eight houses. Needless to say, I had easy access to a pretty dependable resource if I couldn’t remember something from my own experience. The main character also plays soccer, a sport my son excelled at and I integrated his experiences on the field into the story.

My current work-in-progress involves an elderly person suffering a stroke. I didn’t have any close personal experience, so I admit, I just Googled the recovery time and process of a stroke. Google gave me enough information for this supporting character. The story also involves small fires at a campground, which I took from family experiences, as well as a sailing adventure during a freak storm, also from family history.

Since most of my stories are about relationships, I try to use snippets of things I know about other people (without giving away anything personal) or imagine myself in someone else’s shoes, which is a little harder. I pay attention at meetings, gatherings, and parties and listen to others’ personal stories which I then make notes of (with permission) for use in a future story. Using personal stories is my best resource and because I’m older (almost 60), I have lots of years to draw from!

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