Welcome to An Indie Adventure, Laurel. Tell us, what inspired you to write your book Angel's Assassin?
Thank you so much for having me as a guest, Leslie! I'm honored to be here.
I started with Damien, the hero. He is sort of an anti-hero because he is an assassin. I usually start with characters for all of my stories and he is one of the strongest characters I have ever written. He feels that there is no redemption for him, because of the acts he has committed.
As I grew to know him better, I knew the heroine had to be someone who was bright to his dark, someone who could save him. And that was a big task!
So, I guess the answer to your question as to what inspired me to write Angel's Assassin was the need to save Damien.
What were your experiences as a child that contributed to you becoming a writer?
I started writing when was in junior high school. I remember going to family parties and always having a pen and notebook. Falling in love and the power of love have always intrigued me. Even when I was young, I would write myself as a character in a television show like Starsky and Hutch. From there, it was a natural progression to create my own characters.
It wasn't until college that I began to take writing classes and to hone my skills.
Writing can be very therapeutic and I think the reason I started writing was because my mother and father were getting a divorce. If you look at my writing, most of my characters have only one parent.
Do day-to-day life experiences influence your stories?
Absolutely. It is also about where I am in my life. For instance, when I was writing Champion of the Heart, I was raising my own children. The story centers around a heroine that cares for a group of orphans. I used some of my own experiences to make the orphans come to life.
If I were to go back and try to write my first novel, The Angel and The Prince, it wouldn't come out the same way. My writing incorporates experiences and feelings that I have at the time I am writing it.
What is the first thing you do when you begin a new book?
It's different for each book. Sometimes I delve into characters and try to get to know them. Sometimes it is based on history and a lot of research is required.
If you were a TV, film or book character, apart from one you've created, who would you be? And why?
Who would I like to be? Or who am I? I am Frankie in the Middle. That is who I am, except that I write. She watches television at night, but I write. Who would I like to be? Daenerys in Game of Thrones, simply to have a pet dragon. I think that would be really cool.
Give us a brief summary of Angel's Assassin:
Damien is an assassin, a man with no home and a tortured past. Sold into slavery as a young boy, he is trained to kill with cold calculation, without remorse. As a reward for his ruthless success, he is given a chance to earn his freedom from his cruel master. One last mission. One final person to slay…Lady Aurora of Acquitaine is the epitome of purity and goodness, beloved by all her people. She lives her life trying to atone for her mother’s cruelty by being a fair and just ruler. Secretly she fears that one day her mother’s murderer will return for her.
When Damien enters Aurora’s life, tempting her with promises of dark passion and forbidden lust, he threatens to tear her peaceful world apart with shadowy secrets of his own.
Can Aurora’s light heal Damien’s dark spirit or will his evil consume her? The eternal battle of good versus evil, love versus hate, dark versus light, all come to a shattering climax in this historical romance set in medieval England.
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Bio:
Laurel O’Donnell has won numerous awards for her works, including the Holt Medallion for A Knight of Honor, the Happily Ever After contest for Angel’s Assassin, and the Indiana’s Golden Opportunity contest for Immortal Death. The Angel and the Prince was nominated by the Romance Writers of America for their prestigious Golden Heart award.
O’Donnell lives in Illinois with her four cherished children, her beloved husband and her five cats. She finds precious time every day to escape into the medieval world and bring her characters to life in her writing.
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I hope you've gotten to know me a little better. Thanks so much to Leslie for having me as a guest! Keep reading!
Laurel, thanks for sharing some of your process.
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