Guest Post with Canadian Author Laurie Wood

Welcome to the blog, Laurie! Here’s four quick questions to get to know you:

Kiwis or koalas?

Koalas! Who doesn’t love koala bears? Your fires that burned through their natural habitat a while ago were terrible and in North America, we saw plenty of coverage of them being rescued with burned paws and burns to their bodies. My kids love watching any zoo shows that feature koala bears on them. I realize they’re not as cuddly as they’re made out to be, but how they give birth and then have the joey’s crawl into their pouches to continue developing is fascinating.

Hobbits or Mad Max?

Hmm, I’d have to be honest and say Mad Max. Just for the action and chase scenes! I did enjoy The Hobbit movie, but I admit, the Lord of the Rings movies left me bored, and I never did finish the books. (maybe that’s not something I should admit?)

Books or TV?

I’ve always been a compulsive reader, but I have to admit that 2020, at the worst of the pandemic, I was bingeing TV along with everyone else. There was something about not being able to focus on small print in books, while being able to let TV shows just wash over one, that made TV more accessible in the pandemic.

Sun or snow?

Considering I live in Canada, in one of the snowiest parts of the country, you’d think it would be snow, right? I live where the temperatures are normally -30C to -40C in January. But we don’t ski or snowmobile, so we enjoy being inside on those cold days. I do love the sun but my husband isn’t one for sunny, hot holidays so I’d have to say, “neither”.

What’s something interesting or unusual about you that not everyone knows?

One thing not everyone knows about me is that back in the 1980s I was a police officer. I saw a meme on Facebook last week that said we’re as far away from 1980 now in 2021, as we were from 1939 to 1980. So, that’s a long time ago that I was a police officer! Still, it was a time of change because I was only the third woman my force had ever hired and at the time, I was the only woman actually working the streets.

Another thing people don’t know about me is that both of my adult children have Down Syndrome, and my son is also mildly autistic. My husband and I have worked with our local Down Syndrome societies over the years and with Special Olympics as they’ve grown up. We’re strong advocates for people with Down Syndrome and I have a character in my series with it.

Where are you from?

I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. That’s considered western Canada, but we’re here because my husband is in the Royal Canadian Air Force. We’re originally from Ontario, but his career has moved us all over Canada, which we’ve quite enjoyed.

What is your town or city most famous (or infamous) for?

I love living in Winnipeg, the capital city of Manitoba. The city of Winnipeg is most famous for being the exact geographical centre of North America. It’s covered in snow for about 132 days a year, BUT it has measurable sunshine for 318 days of the year.

It was the first city in the world to develop the 911 emergency number system.

It’s built around the forks of two major rivers which flow both north and south, and east and west: the Red River and the Assiniboine River, where aboriginal peoples have been meeting to trade and live out their summers for over 6000 years.

Our train station is a replica of New York’s Grand Central Station because the same architects built it. They just didn’t tell city planners it was a copy.

Our Royal Winnipeg Ballet is Canada’s oldest dance company, and the longest continuously operating ballet company in North America.

People laugh at us and call us “Winterpeg” because of our extreme cold temperatures during the winter time, but with very little snowfall (compared to eastern Canada) and so much sunshine, we prefer being cold to shovelling out our driveway three times a day.

What books are set in your city?

The Break by Katherine Vermette

In Search of April Raintree by Beatrice Mosionier

All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews

**Note these aren’t Christian books, so will have mature themes, but they were the top of the list I found.

My third book, Northern Protector, is partially set in Winnipeg.

What do you write?

I’ve published three inspirational romantic suspense novels and am working on a fourth book in that series, Heroes of the Tundra, based in Churchill, Manitoba. I’m also working on a clean, police procedural series set in Winnipeg, because this city has so much to offer with its diverse ethnicities, its history, and its geographical setting. I want to write Canadian stories set here in Canada.

Who or what are your main writing influences?

I grew up reading Daphne du Maurier, Georgette Heyer, Phillipa Gregory, Victoria Holt, and Mary Stewart–both her Gothic romances and her historical books. I love their way with romance as well as romantic suspense. They may be from a different age, but to me they had more true romance in their little finger than many authors today. Modern authors I love are Susanna Kearsley, who writes dual timeline romances, and mysteries by Elizabeth George.

As for Christian authors, Francine Rivers, of course, and Catherine Marshall, who wrote “Christy” about her mother. It was the first Christian book I ever read and was extremely impactful on my life.

Do you have any books published?

My Heroes of the Tundra series are set in the real town of Churchill, Manitoba, which sits on the southern edge of Hudson Bay in northern Canada. It’s on the border of the arctic and is called the Polar Bear Capitol of the World. I have three books published so far in that series: Northern Deception, Northern Protector, and Northern Hearts.

How long have you been writing?

I started writing in 1996 for a contest and I wrote a 112,000 word medieval historical that went back and forth with editors at Harlequin after I’d cut it down to 95,000 words, but it never sold. And I wrote three romantic suspense novels that I tried to sell to Harlequin in the early 2000s but never quite made it past the final acquisition board. I came close though! Then I took a break while my husband joined the air force and we started being posted around Canada. And then he went to Afghanistan, and that blocked me for quite a while. I tried another Harlequin contest in 2016 and went on to sell that book in 2018, which was the start of my Heroes of the Tundra series.

What inspired you to start writing?

I was always good at writing in high school and college and I wanted to be a writer, but I needed to work and support myself first. So, I didn’t really do it until my kids were six and four and I was at home with them and had the time to pick it up and get serious. Plus, the internet was opening up by then and writers groups were more accessible, so that was a tremendous help.

What’s your favourite part of the writing process?

Coming up with my characters because that’s always where I start. I’ll get an idea for a particular character and the story goes from there. In that sense, I’m a pantser because characters are always the first part of the creative process. I can’t start writing until I know everything about them.

What’s your biggest writing challenge?

Getting over the dreaded stage of “this whole thing sucks tomatoes and I’m a lousy writer” which everyone goes through with each book. It’s about three-fourths of the way through for me, and once I’ve got past the “black moment” and can see my way to the ending, then the writing goes faster. I’ll put it away and then read it over again in a couple of day and realize it doesn’t suck tomatoes and everything will be fine. But I’ve done it with every book I’ve written, even the unsold ones.

How does your faith impact your writing?

I resisted writing “Christian” fiction for years, and then suddenly, after my long hiatus, that’s where I got published. I think I simply got old enough and had been through enough bad life experiences that God was able to smack me on the head and say, “I’ve given you more than enough material to use, start writing the stories I’m giving you and get on with it.”

Not that I’ve been in every situation my heroes and heroines have been in, but family members or friends have been, and so I think I can bring a depth to my characters that perhaps isn’t always found in inspirational fiction. I hope so, anyway.

I’d like to think that I portray ordinary people, who happen to be Christians, and that a non-Christian could pick up one of my books and read it and think, “I didn’t realize Christians went through that, or felt that way”, and then I’ve done my job. I’ve hopefully entertained with a great romance and suspense but also demonstrated that Christians have issues–sometimes terrible issues–in their lives and their faith gets them through it.

Finally, where’s the best place to find you online?

You can find me online at several places, and you can sign up for my newsletter at my website. I also have a private readers group on my Author Facebook page and I always respond to anyone who emails or reaches out to my via my contact form. I love hearing from my readers! I’m working on two new books for 2022 and am excited to be bringing them out this year/2023.

Thank you so much for having me here today!

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