Talkshow Thursday: Meet Author Laurie Wood
Linda: Thanks for joining me today. Congratulations
on your recent release Northern
Deception. It is the first in a series which is exciting news. Where did
you find your inspiration for this story?
Laurie: Thanks
for having me, Linda. I started writing Northern
Deception for a contest that stipulated they wanted stories about Canadian
heroes. I immediately thought of making him a Royal Canadian Mounted Police
officer—or a “Mountie”—as they’re more commonly known but thought that would be
too overdone by others entering the contest. So, I thought, “what’s more iconic
than our Mountie’s? Our Arctic, and polar bears, and snow.
Our Winnipeg Zoo has
a polar bear exhibit that takes in orphaned polar bears from Churchill,
Manitoba area which lies on the 58th parallel which is our
sub-arctic boundary. It is level with Juneau, Alaska and Inverness, Scotland.
Once I visited our Zoo and started researching Churchill and the bears, I knew
I could make a great story out of the place. And so, my hero, Lukas Tanner, wilderness
tour guide, was developed from there.
LM: What is your
favorite part of the writing process?
Laurie: Doing the
research for the book! I love deep diving in to all the bits and pieces to make
the story come alive and give it authenticity. I’m a bit of a nerd that way.
And then I can start fleshing out my outline once I knew I’ve got enough facts
to put the pieces together. When I first entered the contest, I’d written the
first chapter and a short synopsis which was all that was required. However, I hadn’t
done a spec of research. Then when they requested the full manuscript, and I
started researching what I’d written, I discovered to my horror that I’d
written a ton of things that couldn’t take place in that environment. I’ll
never make that mistake again! And while I was able to change things around
without any ill effects, it was a major lesson to learn.
LM: Lots of
research goes into writing a book. Did you unearth a particularly interesting
tidbit you just knew had to be
included in the story?
Laurie: Everything
I learned about polar bears was fascinating. I really knew nothing about them before I started this book, other than they live in the northern arctic and not
in Antarctica. They have eyesight comparable to humans and hearing that’s superior
to humans. They can run at an easy speed of 25 miles per hour. They’ve been
clocked via satellite collars swimming for 100 miles without stopping. They can
pull a 150-pound seal out of a hole in the ice with one paw and they can tear
the door off a truck or its windshield off if they want to get inside, although
that is rare. And unlike a black bear or a grizzly bear, if they get you down
on the ground, don’t play dead. You need to fight back because they will kill
you.
LM: What is one
thing you wish you knew how to do?
Laurie: I wish I
knew how to ballroom dance. I’ve pestered my husband for years (we’ve been
married thirty-years) to take lessons but he finds reasons every year not to do
it. I’d settle for learning how to do a simple two-step at this point!
LM: Some
quickies:
Favorite color: Purple
Favorite food:
Chinese Dim Sum
Favorite time of year:
Fall. I love it when the really hot weather is over, and you can go out
without sweating and carrying a jug of water with you everywhere. We get
extreme cold and extreme heat where I live. So, that period when you can enjoy
the sun and still wear summer clothes before the snow hits is my favourite time
of year.
LM: You live in a
beautiful area of Canada, an area many people visit. If money were no object where
would you vacation?
Laurie: I’ve
been briefly to Scotland when my husband graduated with his MBA from
Heriot-Watt University, so I’d like to go back to Scotland and do a full tour
of it. My grandparents were from there, so I want to see Edinburgh again, and
Inverness and the Highlands. I spin wool into yarn and knit so I’d love to
travel around and buy up some wool to bring home.
LM: What is your
next project?
Laurie: I’m working on Book 2 in the series which
carries on a few months after the ending of Northern
Deception. It’s the story of Ben Koper, who is the RCMP officer in Book 1,
who’s mauled by the polar bear but saved by the female Natural Resources
officer who tranquilizes the bear with a heavy dose of Tramadol. We’ll get to
see Churchill, Manitoba in the summer months this time around. And I also have
an historical book in the works.
LM: Where can
folks find you on the web?
Laurie:
Website: https://www.lauriewoodauthor.com and you can sign up for my newsletter there.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LaurieJeanWood
Book Blurb:
Reunions
can be deadly.
After
a savage attack in university, Kira Summers fled to the safety of northern
Canada and her work as a polar bear scientist. But when her whistleblower
brother dies in a mysterious car crash, she must return home to bury him and
pack his belongings. Unaware she’s carrying explosive evidence someone’s
willing to kill for, she has no choice but to rely on the one person she never
thought she’d see again.
Lukas
Tanner, a widowed single father of a special needs toddler, moved to Churchill
five years ago. As the proud owner of Guiding Star Enterprises, a wilderness
tour company, he and his daughter lead a simple life. But when Kira comes
crashing back into his world, he realizes God has other plans. Now, Lukas and
Kira must confront a merciless killer as their past and present collide in a
deadly race—a race they must win if they have any hope of a future together.
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