Today I welcome my friend, author Lucy Naylor Kubash, to my blog. Lucy is the author of novels, short stories, and a pet column. (If you love pictures of cute cats and dogs, check out her Amazon Author Page.) Her latest book, The Haunting of Laurel Cove, released yesterday, and I been waiting a long time to read it!! Welcome, Lucy. Tell us about The Haunting of Laurel Cove.
Blurb:
Shattered dreams, family secrets, rekindled love. Which is the biggest threat to life and sanity to a broken woman trying to heal?
When Jane Stuart returns to the Smoky Mountains and the house she inherited from her grandmother with the hope to heal from a brutal mugging, she finds herself obsessed with a local legend involving a witch and a mysterious cabin.
Upon reconnecting with an old boyfriend now turned handsome environmentalist, she finds herself rekindling her attraction to Brendan McGarren and is drawn into his battle to keep Laurel Cove from becoming a rich man’s playground. As she begins to uncover family secrets pertaining to the witch and the cabin, Jane questions her own sanity. Then the threats begin. Can she trust Brendan?
Will the search for the truth cost Jane her life?
What was the first seed of an idea you had for your book? How did it develop?
The seed for a story set near the Great Smoky Mountains was first planted while on a trip to the Smokies a number of years ago. I was enchanted by the mists and the mysterious valleys and rugged peaks, and I knew I had to write about them. I’m truly not sure where the characters came from, but I soon had to tell the tale of Jane Stuart, Brendan McGarren, Cissy Oliver, and Sheridan O’Malley. It took a while for the Haunting of Laurel Cove to come to fruition, but now I’m happy to announce it is a December 6 release from my publisher, The Wild Rose Press.
How has writing this book changed you?
What I learned from writing this book is not to give up on a story you believe in. As I mentioned, I wrote the first version of it a long time ago. The manuscript made the rounds of a few publishers and won an honorable mention in a contest but ended up in a drawer for more years than I care to say. I had other stories and novels published in the meantime, but when Covid came about I decided to take this story out and rewrite it, one more time. I guess that time was the charm. The editor at The Wild Rose Press did not ask for any revisions, and I only needed to do a few “clean-up” changes. So lesson learned. Time spent revising and editing before submitting is time well spent. I just wouldn’t recommend waiting that many years.
How do your characters influence your writing? Do you have disagreements with them?
For me a story always starts with the characters, and I become very invested in them. Sometimes they don’t want to behave and prefer to go off on their own. I’ve learned to follow along and hope we don’t write ourselves into a corner. I have to say that rarely happens, although I have had to rethink a character when they want to do their own thing. It is part of the fun of writing, the discovery of who these people are and what they want.
What books have influenced you as a writer?
I am first and foremost an avid reader. Some books that influenced me to want to write were the ones I read as a young person. Books like Little Women, Black Beauty, The Lad a Dog series, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and A Lantern in Her Hand. I graduated to reading romantic mysteries by Victoria Holt and Phyllis Whitney. They were all excellent books that led me to want to write my own stories. My first published piece was a short story in Woman’s World magazine. I went on to write a number of short stories for them, and they are now available in collections on Amazon.
What are you currently working on?
Currently, I’m working on a trilogy of contemporary western romances I’m calling the North Star Legacy. It is about the McCord family, who lives on a ranch near the Grand Teton mountains of Wyoming. Can you tell I love the mountains?
What would you tell aspiring writers today?
Do not give up. Believe in yourself and your work. There are many options available to writers today, but you have to be willing to put in the time and effort. Never stop learning and accept criticism, if it will make your writing better. Always turn out the very best writing you can.
About the Author:
Lucy Naylor Kubash has had a lifelong love of reading and has been writing for as long as she can remember. She is published in short fiction and novel length contemporary romance, as well as nonfiction, having written a column called The Pet Corner for twenty years. She is a member of Michigan Romance Writers, Grand Rapids Region Writers Group, Romance Writers Online, and Women Writing the West. She loves anything to do with the American West, mountains and beaches anywhere, and traveling whenever possible. When not writing she likes to spend time with her family and pets.
The Haunting of Laurel Cove is available here:
Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/2y72ha6r
Barnes and Noble: https://tinyurl.com/4yechr3c
iBooks https://iBooks.com
Kobo https://KOBO.com
If are a library patron, please ask your local library to order The Haunting of Laurel Cove.
ISBN: 978-1-2092-4551-2
Visit my Amazon Author Page:
www.amazon.com/author/lucynaylorkubash
Look for me here;
Congratulations on the release! Best wishes for its success.
Thanks, Patty, and for helping me get the word out. 😉
Lucy, congratulations on your newest release. I just finished it. Like 5 minutes ago. I loved it! The atmosphere, as well as the characters, made me keep reading. You are so right about writing a story you love. It’s obvious how much you love this book.
Thank you, Diane. I’m so glad you enjoyed the book. It really was one of those “books of the heart.”
Thank you for having me here today, Betty. This is such a lovely blog, and I’m pleased to be your guest.
I’m so glad you visited today, Lucy. And I’m so glad you wrote this book!