Writer Wednesday: Lauryn April

I first met Lauryn April after discovering her book Into the Deep on Goodreads. Into the Deep is the story of a girl who develops an unusual ability and is forced to protect her school from being blown to pieces by an angry teen. I liked it so much that I *may* have stalked her on Twitter. Now we're on a group blog together. It's funny how things sometimes happen in strange ways.

Where did the idea of Into the Deep come from?

Initially it was inspired by an episode of Buffy titled “Earshot”, and some notes I’d written in Abnormal Psychology.

Have you personally ever experienced something that could only be explained as paranormal?

Oh yeah. When I was a kid I lived in this old farmhouse with my mom and sister, and I swear the place was haunted. I have a few stories, but one really good one. I doubt anyone will believe this but I swear it’s true. When I was about twelve I was having a slumber party with one of my girlfriends and we fell asleep on the couches in the living room. In the corner of the room was a fluorescent bulb from the closet that had died. We'd set it aside planning to buy a replacement the next day. In the middle of the night my friend and I woke up to the bulb glowing. Dead, not plugged in to anything, just sitting there, glowing. We stared at it for the longest time watching the light pulse and flicker. I think we even picked it up and carried it into another room to see if it would stop, but it didn't. By the next morning it stopped glowing and I've never seen anything like that since.

Favorite songs on your writing playlist?

Oddly enough, I often write in silence, but when I do listen to music and write I have a playlist on Youtube with some really chill, moodly kind of stuff. “Breath Me” by Sia, “Use Somebody” cover by Laura Jensen, and “Always” by Saliva are some of my favorites on it.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’ve recently finished the first draft of “Hidden Beneath” which is the sequel to my debut novel “Into the Deep” and I’m in the process of re-reading, making changes and getting it ready for beta readers.

Do you plan to stick to the paranormal genre, or do you think you will venture out to other areas?

I think I’ll stick to the paranormal. I’ve written some contemporary short stories in the past, but I just like monsters so much more. Everyone has their demons, when I write I just like to make those demons a little more literal.

What’s the best thing about being self-published?

Having total control, and not just with writing what I want, but with choosing what I publish next and when to have it out. I tend to be really scatterbrained and I jump from one project to the next. I have, I think, twelve books that I’ve started writing. Some are no more than sheets of notes, others are 10, 20, 30 thousand words in. So, half the time I don’t even know which one I’m going to finish next.

Hardest?

The work. I’m not just a writer, but a publisher, cover artist, promoter, ect… I do hire an editor, but other than that I do it all, even the formatting for both the paperback and e-books. It can be a lot, especially with trying to finish a BA in Psych and working part time.

Favorite scary movie?

I love scary movies, so I don’t think I could pick just one, but at the top of my list would have to be “The Silence of the Lambs”, “The Lost Boys”, and the director’s cut of “Alien”.

If you could spend a day with any celebrity/author, who would you choose?

Either Stephen King or Joss Whedon, but probably Joss Whedon because I think Stephen King would be a little too intimidating.

What are some of your favorite books?

“The Talisman” by Stephen King, “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins, and “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte. I’m also really into the Lux series by Jennifer Armentrout at the moment.

Ways to follow Lauryn: Twitter, Goodreads, her website

Where to find her book: Amazon, Barnes & Noble 

Lauryn is from a small town about thirty minutes outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She started writing in high school but never thought seriously about being a writer until college where she spent some time working for the school newspaper. Currently she lives in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where she’s studying Psychology and lives with her boyfriend and two dogs. In August of 2012 Lauryn published her first novel, INTO THE DEEP, which looks at the intricacies of the adolescent mind and explores how teenagers deal with feelings of loneliness and judgment. She continues to write in the YA and NA Paranormal Romance genre, and when she’s not writing she likes to spend her time out on Lake Winnebago, snowmobiling, or just hanging out at home watching movies.