Hello, readers! Thanks for taking the time to join me today at Coffee Time Romance. I’m romance author Laura M. Baird, excited to share a bit about myself, my writing journey, and my books.
I’ve had an interesting journey toward achieving my dream of becoming a published author. I’ve always had a love of reading, being one of those kids who looked forward to the book fair. And I can remember embellishing stories by writing in my books (a fact that didn’t please my mother at the time). After encouragement from my 4th grade teacher with my poetry and short stories, I began writing more and more, little by little over the years, and when my mom actually introduced me to romance, in the form of Nora Roberts, I was hooked and became a voracious reader. It was after reading her book, Montana Sky, that I felt as if I wanted to do what she did – write a moving story with sensual romance and a bit of intrigue. Tap into my imagination and create a world in which readers could get lost.
I never thought to write for publication until later in life… but I’ll get to that… because after trying college yet not knowing what I wanted to do, I joined the U.S. Army. I needed direction and my time in service gave me that and so much more. I met my husband (of over thirty years now) while serving, we had two sons, and after separating from the Army I returned to college to become a dental hygienist. While raising our children and working, I ‘dabbled’ in writing, and even had a naive attempt at self-publishing a novel I wrote in my mid-twenties. Boy, how the publishing industry has changed since then!
Over the years I continued to write and save stories, but it wasn’t until 2016 when I attended my first writers conference that I told myself, “I’m going to do this!” The conference inspired a story I wrote for my first NaNoWriMo, (which was later published); and since my first publication in 2017 (at the age of fifty!) I’ve had the fortune to have 22 romances published! The industry continues to evolve and I continue to learn and adapt, but my love of writing romance has not faded one bit. I’m even more eager to produce stories readers will simply love! Whether they read for a true escape or if they can identify with the story line, subject, or characters, I want to bring them enjoyment… a reason to pick up my books!
So after twenty-one years as a dental hygienist, I’ve now been afforded the opportunity to retire from dedicated, full-time work (filling in at my discretion) and can concentrate on my author career. And I have no plans on slowing down! I’ll detail more about my writing and my books, so look for more posts throughout the day.
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