I am a big fan of the Quinter Bride Series by Lauri Robinson and if you have been keeping up with the blog you know I recommended the first three books. For me the series just keeps getting better and book four, The Guardian Bride, continues that trend. Today Laui Robinson is here to answer some of my questions about the series. Laui, Welcome to Mixed Book Bag. Lets get right to the questions.
Jo: Driving to Denver down Interstate 70 I was surprised to see a sign for Quinter, Kansas. Do you have any connection to Quinter and did you use any of the actual history of Quinter, KS in the Quinter Bride series?
Lauri: That's funny, Jo. Recently a friend of mine was traveling on 1-70 and detoured into Quinter just to take a picture of the Welcome to Quinter sign and texted it to me. Though I was born in and now live in Minnesota, I 'grew up' in Southwestern Kansas. Scott City, or Nixon as it was first known, is the original setting for the Quinter Bride books, and where I resided. I've been to Quinter, as well as the Badlands, Dodge City, and many of the other places mentioned in the books. I use much of the actual area history in the stories. In Badland Bride, I elude the town of Quinter may have been named after one of the brothers, but the town was actually named by the Post Master General in Washington D.C. when the post office was incorporated, which is how many towns got their names. Quinter was first known as Me-lo-te Switch. I can't tell you exactly how I chose to use Quinter as their last name, it just came to me.
Jo: When I started the second book I thought that Fictionwise had put another book with your title. I kept reading and realized that you had mixed time travel with historical fiction. You did a small mix of the paranormal in The Guardian Bride. Both were a great mix and added new dimensions to the series. What prompted you to make that mix?
Lauri: I've actually had the wrong blurb put with my titles, so that does happen! I'm a fan of time-travel romances, and have always said if I could travel into the past it would be to Dodge City in the midst of the cattle drive days. I was excited to incorporate time-traveling within in Badland Bride.
It's one of the many perks of being an author, writing what you love. The same is true with Guardian Bride. I believe in Guardian Angles and I think we all have them, whether we ever come to recognize them or not.
The characters prompted the time-travel and paranormal aspects. For Badland Bride, I knew it would take a very unique woman to fall in love with Skeeter. As soon as I sat down to write that story, Lila in her red Mustang came to me. For Guardian Bride, I knew their father would be in this story but didn't know exactly how. My outline for that story was very different and the beginning title had been Garden Bride. Once Summer formed in my head it took the 'guardian' route and everything fell into place.
Jo: I am fascinated by the craft of writing and the different approaches authors take. How do you structure your novels and what is you typical writing day like?
Each novel takes a different route for me. Some I know the characters before I begin, some I only know the settings, or perhaps a bit of history I want to build a story around. With each one, I try to create an outline, but the story rarely pans out to coincide with the outline. Once the characters take hold, they simply 'tell' me their story, and I type, and type, and type.
Sometimes the first draft only takes a month or so to get on paper, other times its six months. The first chapter usually takes the longest, since it really is the set up for the rest of the tale to fall into place.
Shotgun Bride, the first book in the series, started out as a stand alone story, it wasn't until I sent it to my editor that the series was born. The fifth book, Wild Cat Bride will be released April 1, 2011.
I work four days a week for my local United Way, so my writing days vary. Monday-Thursday I try to get in two hours of writing each evening, if I don't have family, work, or volunteer commitments. Fridays I try to get in a full eight hours. Saturday and Sundays usually provide another four to six hours, but again it all depends on what else is going on, and a lot depends on the book. If it's really flowing, I've been known to stay up until 3 or 4am writing, and then get back up by 7am to make it to the day job. I'm lucky in the fact I can write about anywhere. In the car, in the living room, on the patio, up north at the cabin, etc. When a story is flowing, I just need my laptop and I'm set.
Thank you so much for inviting me to stop by your blog today. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity, but more than that, I appreciate you for being a reader. You are the reason I write, and I'm so glad you've enjoyed my stories.
Jo: Lauri , it was great to have you stop by today and answer my questions. I’m looking forward to Wild Cat Bride in April. It is always a little sad when a series ends. Be sure it let me know what comes after the Quinter Brides. I do think it will be hard to top Ma. The more I read the more I liked her.
Lauri: It's funny you mentioned Ma Quinter. I've loved writing the Quinter Brides books and lately have been wondering if Ma needs her own story.
Jo: Oh yes!! I would love for Ma to get her own book. She deserves her own HEA after all the work she did to get her sons married.
The Wild Rose Press published Guardian Bride by Lauri Robinson in 2010.
Lauri: It's funny you mentioned Ma Quinter. I've loved writing the Quinter Brides books and lately have been wondering if Ma needs her own story.
Jo: Oh yes!! I would love for Ma to get her own book. She deserves her own HEA after all the work she did to get her sons married.
The Wild Rose Press published Guardian Bride by Lauri Robinson in 2010.
You can purchase Guardian Bride and the other Quinter Bride books from The Wild Rose Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, and Fictionwise as ebooks. They are also available in print.
Click on the title to see my recommendation for: Shotgun Bride; Badland Bride; and Boot Hill Bride
