Meet Laurisa White Reyes
Laurisa White Reyes is the former Senior Editor of award-winning Middle Shelf Magazine and the founder of Skyrocket Press. Author of 17 books, she also currently teaches English Composition at College of the Canyons in Southern California. Visit her website at: www.LaurisaWhiteReyes.com
FAVORITE COLOR: Purple
FAVORITE FOODS: Chocolate (See's Blueberry Truffle & anything Godiva) and Sushi
FAVORITE BOOKS: Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.
FAVORITE MOVIES: All the Harry Potter films! But I also love Gone With The Wind, Wuthering Heights, My Best Friend’s Wedding, The Color Purple, While You Were Sleeping...too many to mention them all.
FAVORITE VACATION: Disneyland, CA and the beach.
HOBBIES (other than writing): Family History, Ancient History, Digital Scrapbooking
HOW DID YOU DECIDE TO BECOME A WRITER?
I wrote my first poem on a scrap of poster board when I was 5. As a kid, I was always writing poetry and plays. I think I was about fourteen when I knew I wanted to be an author someday. I set a goal to publish my first novel by the time I was thirty. After college I wrote freelance articles, was a magazine staff writer and newspaper editorialist, and worked as a book editor. I overshot my original goal by thirteen years, but I'm glad to be finally writing fiction.
WHAT BOOKS MOST INFLUENCED YOU GROWING UP?
My favorite series for years was the TRIXIE BELDEN MYSTERIES. I still have the entire set of books in a box in my garage. Some of my other favorites included ROBINSON CRUSOE, OF MICE AND MEN, GONE WITH THE WIND, WUTHERING HEIGHTS and ROOTS. Heavy duty stuff for a kid, I know, but I loved them. Still do. As an adult I learned more about writing from Dan Brown (THE DAVINCI CODE, ANGELS & DEMONS) than anyone else. He is a master of suspense, every chapter a cliffhanger so that you just can’t put his books down. Period. And I love how he weaves multiple points of view together until they all collide at the end. I wish I could write like that.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THE ROCK OF IVANORE?
I’ve always enjoyed reading to my kids at night before they go to bed. When my oldest son was about 8 years old, he asked me to make up a story instead of read one. So I told him about an enchanter’s apprentice who botched his spells. Each night my son would tell me what he wanted to hear that night, whether it was dragons, or magic, or sword fighting, and I’d weave it into the story. Eventually I started writing it down. A year later I had a completed manuscript.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR YOUNG WRITERS?
I always tell young writers to finish what you start. It isn’t easy, of course. Writers tend to want to make every word perfect. But then you get bogged down and end up with a bunch of incomplete manuscripts. Don’t worry so much about perfection. Get through it. Get to the end of the story. You can revise it later.