I’ve got a special treat (or trick) today with LRS, author of the MG fantasy Launching Sisters to WitchCamp (see my 5-star Goodreads review here). One lucky commenter will be chosen at random to receive a free copy of the book, so make sure to say hi in the comments section (this contest in now closed and a winner has been chosen). Welcome, LRS!
A Tale of Psychological Horrors and Reports, and Overgrown Nails
My brothers claim that growing up, I was an award-winning storyteller. They’ve never forgotten the tales I entertained them with about a quarter of a century ago.
Don’t be too impressed, my stories are not memorable for their genius; rather, I fed them psychological horrors. It’s kind of ironic, because though it took me until my thirties to author stories, I did major in psychology.
On a serious note, in a roundabout way, psychology is what led me to this childhood dream. Contrary to other psychotherapy interns, I appreciated writing client assessments. The danger of reports is that they can make the clients appear to be but a sum total of their issues; I embraced the challenge to portray my clients for who they really were as people.
It’s my work on characterization that fired up my dormant passion. I indulged myself, and set out to write a YA series (which is a work in progress under a different pen name). As I navigate this process, I’m constantly reminded of the extent that my psychological background influences my craft. I’ll let editors do pretty much whatever they want with my manuscripts, but I’m overprotective of my characters. For example, I’m particular that each and every piece of their dialogue should be true to them.
As a side note, I gave Launching Sisters to WitchCamp’s editor, Katie, a free hand with my characters too, as she “got” them right off the bat. I’m sure many authors can relate to the sense of pleasure / satisfaction when others grasp their characters well. To me, it’s reminiscent of the feeling mental health workers have when they sense another professional understands their client.
Launching Sisters to WitchCamp, was born during a transition period between book one and two in my YA series. I remember exactly where I was standing when the idea behind the story hit me: the bathroom sink with a nail clipper aimed at my daughter’s grotesquely long nails.
She was putting up a resistance that would impress the IRA, and I had to come up with the ultimate motivator in the few seconds I had before she’d bolt.
“If your nails get any longer, the Witches’ Camp will come for you!”
The rest is history.
Oh, and don’t worry that I’ve set out to horrify you in Launching Sisters to WitchCamp. As long as you’re no giant, goblin, or monster, you’re quite safe.
Launching Sisters to WitchCamp blurb:
Sixth-grader J.J. learns there are no easy breaks in life.
When J.J. discovers the opportunity to send his maddening sisters off to WitchCamp, he has fantasies of a delightful summer. However, J.J. and his friend are soon off on a ride they didn’t anticipate — one that lands them in a chilling mess of witch hunts and creature feasts.
With his creative ideas, J.J. utilizes their risky escapades to escape. But making deals with superhuman creatures just lands them in hotter water.
Now it’s up to J.J. to save them all from certain death by being more imaginative and daring than ever before.
Buy the book at the MuseItUp bookstore, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBooks, and other e-book retailers.
About the Author:
LRS has a master’s degree in psychology. For more than ten years she pretended to be working while she was on the floor enjoying playtime with kids.
She has lived on the eastern
When she’s not writing, she can usually be found in her kitchen, where she’s either baking (and sampling) cookies or stirring a pot. (Unfortunately, she has yet to find a magical spoon.)
To learn more about LRS and her book visit her website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed (@LaunchingSister).
And off to the comments for a chance to win a copy of Launching Sisters to WitchCamp!
Thanks for honoring me with a spot on your blog, Katie.
Love your intro! (Leave it to you to spice things up.)
BTW, there’s also a contest up on my website:
http://www.launchingsisters.com/contest.html
Or, if you don’t mind, visitors can leave a comment here, sharing a memorable anecdote of growing up with their siblings, and I’ll enter it into the contest.
Thanks again,
Loren
Happy to have you! Visitors can absolutely leave a memorable anecdote for your contest. I’d love to hear some stories.
What a great post, LRS and Katie!!!
This sounds like a delightful read. I wish you the best of luck with all!
Thanks, Mary! It’s a great book.
Thank you for taking the time during your own hectic tour schedule to come visit me!
Good luck Mary w/”Different Kind of Knight”!
Psychological Horrors… for most of us these are the only kind of horrors, please G-d, that we’ll ever know. I find it fascinating that we seek more of it in the fiction we read. Hooray for storytellers who keep the bucket filled.
Mirka, great point. Lauren Oliver and her dad spoke about why readers seek to read about fear in her vlog this week.
(this is the link: http://youtu.be/lryoM42bGrg)
Okay, I’m seriously curious now about what stories you used to tell your brothers 🙂 I love that you use your background in helping you write–sounds like it has been very useful!
Hi Meradeth, one of the stories my brother insists I told them revolves around a mentally ill criminal runaway and quite a bit of gore.
I’ll spare you the details.
I think our backgrounds usually play a significant part in our writing, but often not so overtly.
Thanks for stopping by!
I love how the idea for your book came about, Loren. I enjoyed your comments about sticking by your characters’ dialogue. So true! Good luck with Launching Sisters!
Thanks Helena! (And for your email with your own cute sibling story).
Oh dear! I just noticed I forgot to post my review and the link. Forgive me for being late on this, but it’s up now.
And thanks to everyone who’s stopped by so far and commented. A winner will be chosen some time next week.
I love the cover and the story sounds delightful.
The only story I remember is when my then 4 year old brother was making fun of me washing the dishes. I spilled water on him. He peed on me.
LOL! Thanks for stopping by, Mud!
Ha ha! Perfect example of younger siblings finding a way to stick up for themselves.
Thanks for entering, Mud!
What a great post. The cover and trailer are fabulous Loren. I had 2 other sisters and 1 brother. We were such…”hell raisers” as both my parents worked, I can’t even begin to pick a a story to tell. Great job and thanks to Katie for sharing with us all!
Thanks, Penny! Excited to have you on the blog soon. 🙂
Thanks, Penny, those compliments mean a lot to me, coming from a MG author of multiple works!
Sounds like you had a lot of drama in your life.
Best of success,
Loren
Great interview and book trailer. The book sounds fascinating.
I had five sisters and two brothers, what a madhouse.
I have a very gross memory, but funny.
I was ten years old at the time. I was sitting on my bed and the open doorway led into the living room where my sixteen year old sister was dancing around to music on the radio. I had just picked a big booger out of my nose, and with no tissue handy, I flipped it off my finger.It sailed through the open doorway like a missile and landed on my sister’s cheek. The look on her face was priceless. She glared at me with murder in her eyes and made me come get it off. I did as she asked/demanded, and I still laugh every time I think about it.
Leona, I bet if I incorporated a story like yours in a book, the editors would say it was too coincidental!
I was always jealous of girls with sisters, but reading stories like yours… well, maybe I wasn’t missing out on much!:)
Random.org has selected Helena Fairfax as the winner of Launching Sisters to WitchCamp. Congrats, Helena! And thanks to everyone who entered. 🙂