Ramblings From This Chick: Interview with Author Lauren Layne and Giveaway

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Interview with Author Lauren Layne and Giveaway

Meet Lauren Layne, author of Broken.

Lauren Layne graduated from Santa Clara University with a B.S. in political science that she has yet to put to good use. After dabbling in an e-commerce career in Seattle and Southern California, Layne moved to New York City, where she now writes full-time. She lives with her husband and their plus-size pomeranian in a tiny Manhattan studio.

Fine Lauren at:

| Site | Facebook | Twitter |

First off, can you tell us a bit about you?
Absolutely; I’m a thirty-something fulltime author who lives in Washington state with her husband and fluffy dog. I’m an early bird, a sometimes runner, and a happy hour enthusiast!

Did you always want to be a writer?
Pretty much, although it took me a few years (20) to get up the guts to try it. My only regret is not doing it sooner!

What kind of writer are you? Panster or Plotter?
Plotter, for sure. Sometimes the first three chapters flow without any sort of plan while I get a feel for the characters, but after that, I like to have a pretty precise idea of where I’m going. Not only does it require less rework later, but it enables me to write much more quickly.

Where do your ideas come from?
This probably sounds wretchedly uncreative, but I like to put my own spin on classics (both new and old). Beauty and the Beast, girl-next-door, unrequired love, etc.

A la Twitter style, can you describe your book (or series) in 140 characters or less.
Broken is a Beauty & the Beast story about a guy who’s scarred on the outside, a girl who thinks she’s ugly on the inside, and the love that heals them both.

What are some of your favorite kinds of stories to read?
You know, I used to read all romance all the time. Lots of Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Lisa Kleypas. And while I still adore those authors, I read non-fictional almost exclusively now. I feel healthier when I’m learning something. Plus, reading a romance while I’m trying to write my own tends to mess with my head.

Do you have a favorite book and if so what is it?
Ooh, just one? Can I go by genre? Classic = Great Expectations, Romance = Perfect by Judith McNaught, Non-fiction = The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt, Misc: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (not for the politics so much as for the motivation to try and live a GREAT life instead of a mediocre one)

What are the scenes that are the hardest for you to write?
The sex scenes! Partially because I’m always paranoid I already used a certain phrase/description in some prior sex scene or book, and partially because I can’t help but think, “My mother will read this.” And it paralyzes me!

If you could have dinner with any three authors, who would you choose and why?
Kristan Higgins (I just know she’d be a hoot!), Walter Issacson (my favorite biographer) and Nora Roberts (how do you do it woman, HOW!)

Last question, are you working on anything right now?
Two books, actually! They’re due two weeks apart, so I’m trying to make steady progress on both:
Crushed, which is new adult, and actually the follow-up to Broken

The Trouble with Love, which is the fourth, and likely last in my Stiletto series

Lauren Layne’s New Adult novel tells the story of a girl with secrets, a guy with scars, and a love that could save them both... or destroy them.

When Olivia Middleton abandons the glamour of Park Avenue for a remote, coastal town in Maine, everyone assumes she’s being the kind do-gooder she’s always been. But Olivia has a secret: helping an injured war veteran reenter society isn’t about charity—it’s about penance. Only, Olivia’s client isn’t the grateful elderly man she’s expecting. Instead, he’s a brooding twenty-four-year-old who has no intention of being Olivia’s path to redemption . . . and whose smoldering gaze and forbidden touch might be her undoing.

Paul Langdon doesn’t need a mirror to show him he’s no longer the hotshot quarterback he was before the war. He knows he’s ugly—inside and out. He’ll do anything to stay in self-imposed exile, even accept his father’s ultimatum that Paul tolerate the newest caretaker for three months or lose his inheritance. But Paul doesn’t count on the beautiful twenty-two-year-old who makes him long for things that he can never have. And the more she slips past his defenses, the more keeping his distance is impossible.

Now Paul and Olivia have to decide: Will they help each other heal? Or are they forever broken?

Purchase: | Amazon | B&N | iTunes |