Q&A with Laura Spinella, Author of FORETOLD

An interview with author Laura Spinella, author of FORETOLD. In FORETOLD, a mysterious death in a muddy swamp, missing children in different states…psychic Aubrey Ellis and her partner, investigative reporter Levi St John, have their hands full. The added strain of raising their son, who struggles with his own psychic gift, pushes life to the brink of collapse. 

Q & A

I am so glad you could join us here at Romance Junkies. To start, will you please tell us a little bit about your current project?

Foretold is Book Two in the Ghost Gift Novels, a trilogy that centers on Aubrey Ellis and the curious twists connected to her psychic gift. All Aubrey wants is normal life. In Foretold, the dead continue to beg to differ. When we left Aubrey at the end of book one, it seemed our heroine finally had a handle on her gift. She’d also found her life-partner in sleuthing reporter Levi St John—they even have a son together. In Foretold we quickly discover everything is at stake when Aubrey’s gift takes a precarious turn and the dead start predicting the future. A body mysteriously turns up in a Maine swamp, and so does Aubrey’s first love, Zeke Dublin. Levi is certain Zeke knows more about the dead body than he’s willing to admit and the ensuing tension drives the couple further apart. It’s not until Pete, Aubrey and Levi’s son, goes missing that Aubrey has to decide who stands the best chance of helping her get Pete back. The father of her son or a man who’s always know the deepest secrets tied to Aubrey’s psychic gift.  

When was the moment that you knew you had to be a writer?

I don’t think I ever had an “Ah-ha” moment about being a writer. I was always a writer. I have a much clearer sense of realizing I wanted to be an author. That didn’t occur until after I turned forty and in the middle of a Jodi Picoult novel. I was a late bloomer, but the timing was perfectly correct for me.

Who gave you the one piece of writing advice that sticks with you to this day? 

Oh gosh, I don’t think I could narrow it down to a single piece of advice. Good writing advice is like subliminal chatter. You hear it everywhere, from famous lines like Elmore Leonard’s: “Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip,” to the everyday wisdom I absorb from my local critique group. However, E. L. Doctorow’s quote probably resonates most for me because I have no hope of ever being a plotter. The quote is validation for all us true pansters: “Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlight, but you can make the whole trip that way.”

Describe the “perfect” hero. What about the “perfect” hero for you?

Is there one? The perfect hero is as individual as a fingerprint—the imprint or impression of perfect will vary that much from reader to reader. So I can only describe the “perfect” hero for me—and that changes tremendously from book to book. My male characters jump to mind (which is no dis to my female characters). But when I look back at all my male heroes, they couldn’t be more different. They truly have little in common from Beautiful Disaster’s, Flynn, to Rob in Unstrung and Levi in Ghost Gifts. I’m actually kind of proud of them in that I don’t believe I’ve written the same character twice. I imagine their common thread is being the perfect complement to their story counterpart.

What are some of your favorite pastimes? Do you have any hobbies or collections?

Hmm… if I had a hobby before I began the Ghost Gifts Novels, I’ve forgotten what it is! I do have a terrific collection of vintage postcards. They’re in a collage above my desk. They inspire me in general, but I have one in particular that turned out to be the muse behind Echo Moon, the third book in the trilogy. I firmly believe the 1917 card gave me an ethereal nudge toward the plot.

What has been your biggest adventure to date?

This—novel writing. And interestingly enough it was all executed from one room in my house. Well, that sounds kind of sad, doesn’t it? Or maybe not. Reading a book can be an incredible adventure. You can go around the world and even beyond it, right? So I think writing one book (or ten) can have the same effect.

How do you describe yourself? How would your family and friends describe you?

*Squirms and tries to deflect question not suited for introvert * I do get lost in my own head, but when you spend so much time by yourself, it’s simply a byproduct of the writing trade. In Ghost Gifts Levi has line he says about himself, “I can be social in the right situation.” Levi and I have a lot in common.

What project are you working on next? 

I just completed the edits on Echo Moon, and we’ll be finishing up the copy edits, etc. in a few weeks. I’ve had readers ask about more Ghost Gifts books, but if you say trilogy, I think that’s it. Between the Ghost Gifts Novels and Unstrung, my women’s fiction novel that also released in 2017, I honestly haven’t looked away from this computer screen in three years. So right now I’m working on taking a breather!

Title: Foretold

Author: Laura Spinella

Release Date: October 24, 2017

Publisher: Montlake Romance

A mysterious death in a muddy swamp, missing children in different states…psychic Aubrey Ellis and her partner, investigative reporter Levi St John, have their hands full. The added strain of raising their son, who struggles with his own psychic gift, pushes life to the brink of collapse.

Enter Zeke Dublin—Aubrey’s first love from her carnival past. Tensions escalate when it’s clear that the attraction between them is alive and well. But as Levi discovers disturbing clues about the body pulled from the swamp, he begins to suspect Zeke’s sudden presence is more than coincidence.

As Aubrey’s uncanny abilities take an unsettling turn, she fears that this time her own child is in danger. Who can Aubrey trust to help solve the unknowns surrounding her life—the father of her son, or a man who’s always understood the deepest secrets of her psychic gift?

Author Biography

Laura Spinella is an East Coast author, originally from Long Island, New York. She pursued her undergraduate degree in journalism at the University of Georgia. The southern locale provided the inspiration for her first novel, Beautiful Disaster, which garnered multiple awards, including a Romance Writers of America RITA nomination. She’s also lived on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and in North Carolina before relocating to Massachusetts. She and her family currently live in the Boston area, where she is always writing her next book. Ghost Gifts is Laura’s third work of romantic fiction. She also writes sensual romance under the pen name L. J. Wilson. Visit her website at www.lauraspinella.net.

Social Media Links

• Website: www.lauraspinella.net  
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraSpinellaBooks/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/spinellauthor
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4153659.Laura_Spinella

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