Hello everyone! It’s so great to be back in the studio. I’ve been really busy in my down time. I’m nearly finished with writing JOSHUA’S HOPE, an inspirational romantic suspense, and I’m so excited about this project. But I’m not going to waste any time talking about myself today. Instead I have invited a very special guest to join me. She’s a multi-published author and a really fun person to talk to. Please put your hands together for a warm welcome to…
LARRIANE WILLS!
**Carol Ann steps aside and Larriane walks on stage. The audience applauds loudly, and from the seats comes a chant of … “Larriane, Larriane, Larriane!”**
CAROL ANN: Hi Larriane. Welcome to the blog studio. I see the audience is very happy to see you. By the way, I’m glad to see you wearing jeans.
**Carol Ann looks down at her denim clad legs and grins**
LARRIANE: I’m always in jeans. Even in the summer, I don't wear shorts because it's been so long since the sun has seen my legs they look like the underside of a fish's belly, white that is to say, not scaly.
CAROL ANN: I hear you, sister!
LARRIANE: It isn't that I don't like dresses you understand, it's just that jeans are so much more convenient and comfortable and where I live casual is the name of the game. I bought all kinds of 'dress up clothes' in anticipation of needed them when I contracted my first book. I've come to understand, I would be over dressed. Okay, I admit it, putting on a bra is 'dressing up' for me. I've never been so over-endowed that my chest took on a life of it's own if I had to run or jump and I hate a bra. I think my cousin said it best where they're concerned, God may have created breast, but some MAN invented the bra.
**Larriane looks at the audience and pushes out her chest.**
As you can see, I’m dressed up today.
**Audience laughter**
CAROL ANN: Thanks for clarifying that. **small laugh** So, tell me about the book you brought with you.
**Carol Ann holds up the book and the camera pans in**
LARRIANE: Looking Glass Portal is my latest release from Swimming Kangaroo Books. Portal is a science fiction with suspense and comedy. It’s received two reviews so far, one reader and one professional. The reader said ‘it had a sense of wonder in spades’ and the reviewer said it should be on film. I certainly have no problem with visualizing it on film, but then I see all of the characters, humanoid, alien humans, alien creatures, and bio-mechanical beings in my head. Oh, yes, there’s even a Pegasus. A theory of one of the characters is that like minds are connected over even the vastness of space, what are legends on one world are thoughts received from a planet where they do exist. Garrett, a modern day cowboy, has to decide if he’s crazy, living in some rubber room in mental ward or if it is all real after he’s attacked by a primitive humanoid and taken aboard a research vessel. He can either stop treating it as some warped joke of his mind or get serious before he ends up dead. The suspense begins when he discovers all the others were taken as specimens to be studied and when he’s well enough to be given his own quarters in the hunters section. He manages to upset just about everything and everyone and ends up making himself a target for murder. I have no idea where the story came from. It just did. A like mind maybe, somewhere across a vast distance. Being a fan of science fiction I’m sure had something to do with it also.
CAROL ANN: I was perusing your website yesterday and I noticed that you write fantasy, sci if, and romance. Do you have a favorite genre and why?
LARIANNE: Romance in any time or place is my favorite. Portal is unusual for me in that it isn’t one, although when I started it I had a romance in mind. I’m not saying there isn’t some romance in it. I can’t seem to get totally away from it, but it just isn’t the main thrust of the story. I thought of something I decided was better that made the story more interesting.
CAROL ANN: What does the word romance mean to you?
LARIANNE: A man and woman falling in love, over coming any obstacles thrown in their path and living happily every after. I don’t necessarily equate things like candle light and soft music to the word. For me it’s more a look or touch, support and comfort when it’s needed, sweet words and thoughtful gestures.
CAROL ANN: Where do you get your ideas and how what process do you go through before actually writing the story?
LARRIANE: **Larriane pushes her long auburn locks away from her face** My ideas come from everywhere and anywhere. Maybe something I read will spark something off, or watch in a movie, or even see. Many times it’s just a single sentence that pops up when I’m trying to go to sleep. I get that ‘ummm, that sounds interesting’ thought and build from there, going forward and backward until the story is complete. As to how long it takes, that depends on how many distractions are going on and whether it’s a piece I need to do some research on. Sometimes I’ll start about the same time the idea comes to me. Others it may bounce around in my head for a week or two before I start putting it down.
CAROL ANN: I always find it interesting to learn where other authors get their ideas, but I’ve found that we all have similar experiences. How about sharing a peek at a day in your life?
LARRIANE: In a writing day it starts with computer first, checking my emails, maybe a bit of TV before my shower, and then to writing. When I’m trying to be domestic (or think of it) I might start a load of clothes in the washer before I sit down, either with a notebook for first drafts or a laptop for any after. Hunger or thirst might drive me into a break and I might remember to put the clothes in the dryer but don’t take any bets on it. Once the story gets flowing not much interrupts me. I do have to stop for dinner. Hubby is very tolerant over things like having to go to the dryer to find clean clothes, but he always wants his dinner. After dinner and clean up, it’s back to writing until I can’t keep my eyes open or concentrate any longer.
CAROL ANN: You are lucky to have such an understanding hubby. Treating writing as if it were a job away from home is difficult without having that kind of support.
**Larriane smiles a secret kind of smile.**
CAROL ANN: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose and why?
LARRIANE: I’m pretty content where I am (Arizona). My family is in this area, and I’m comfortable with familiar surroundings like the local stores. New and strange places are exciting to visit, but I hate relocating and readjusting.
CAROL ANN: I’d love to visit Arizona. In fact, I’d love to visit a lot of states. It’s my dream to one day visit each one. But back to you. If you are feeling down, who can make you smile?
LARRIANE: Just about anybody. I hate for anyone to see that I’m down so just talking to someone makes me come up.
CAROL ANN: If you received an inheritance of a remote private tropical island, what would you do with it? Move, sell, or something else?
LARRIANE: Off the top of my head I’d say use it for a vacation retreat. Remote and private does have its draw backs on a permanent basis, but it would be nice to have a get away.
CAROL ANN: I like to ask questions that give the audience a glimpse of the person behind the “author.” So many times we are looked at as celebrities, when we are just like every other woman in the world. We have families, and sometimes jobs other than our writing, kids, and even funny collections. Larriane, do you have any collections?
LARRIANE: **huge laugh** Funny, you should ask that. I’ve tried, reaaaaally hard to stop collecting. After a while you just plain run out of room. My mother started me on dolls, a friend on beanie babies, I’m a sucker for Stars Wars stuff, and books, old and new. And that is just to name a few. Please don’t get me started on anything else.
CAROL ANN: How many books do you read in a month?
That depends on what I’m doing. If I’m in limbo between writing, I read a bunch. That’s my writing substitute. I might read 6-8, one right after another, before I start off writing again. It seems to re-charge me in some way. On a regular basis, especially now that I’ve started publishing and promoting, which takes so much of my time, 1 or two a week.
CAROL ANN: Who is your favorite author?
LARRIANE: I have a lot of favorite authors and read in a lot of genres, romance, suspense, crime, mystery, historical, contemporary, science fiction, pretty much what I’ve found the day I go shopping. I’ve also started reading ebooks by authors I’ve met on line.
CAROL ANN: Well, nuts. Some guy is pulling his ear. That means we’re running out of time. I have to ask you one more question. Answer quickly. Do you believe the pen is mightier than the sword?
LARRIANE: I’m going to do a little converting here, pen to words and sword to violence. It’s the words that lead to the violence. How many children listen to words from their parents that condemn a race and breed hate that lead to violence? How many leaders in the past have used words for the same purpose? For that matter, how many times has the written word been corrupted to suit or excuse horrendous acts? Just think of the books written hundreds of years ago and the affect they still have on us. The swords used then are long gone, the swingers of those swords long ago turned to dust, but the words, sworn to be accurate and true despite the many translations and interpretations still dominate the thinking of nations with those nations still at war. It’s rather ironic that you asked this question in that some of these issues are part of the plot of my first book, The Knowing, also released by Swimming Kangaroo Books. The waste of lives and the uselessness of hatred is something I’m sure is on everyone’s mind these days. We can’t get away from it unless we shut ourselves up, never look at a paper, never turn on a tv or radio, and it boggles the mind, mine anyway, that the basis of it started with written words from so long ago.
CAROL ANN: **laughs** And, that my friends in the studio, was the “quick” answer. **Carol Ann turns to Larriane.** Thank you so much for joining me today and allowing all of us to know more about you. Your book sounds intriguing. In fact, I’d love to continue our conversation over lunch. I know a great Mexican restaurant and I know you like Mexican as much as I do.
**Larriane stands and Carol Ann has to look up to meet her eyes. They laugh and walk off stage. The curtain closes and the show closes with Larriane’s website information**
WWW.LARRIANE.COM
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