Interview with Author LaRae Parry

My guest today is LaRae Parry.  Hello!  Welcome to Writing in the Modern Age!  It’s such a pleasure to have you here.

Can you tell us a little bit about your book? When did it come out? Where can we get it?   




http://www.amazon.com/The-Danish-Pastry-LaRae-Parry/dp/1493646141The Danish Pastry is one of my latest books that I dared let the public read. It is the result of my learning to read again therapy. I learned to read again in 2011. It was released in 2012. It’s available on Amazon. 

Is there anything that prompted your latest book? Something that inspired you?


As part of my therapy to learn to read, I wrote. To this day, I can write better than I can read—which sort of proves how whacky I am. I wanted to write a simple romance that my grandchildren could read. I based the book on my actual Danish ancestry and most of the characters are based on some of my dearest Internet/Avon friends. No kidding.  Wanting to create a fun-to-read romance was my inspiration.

Great!  So, when did you know you wanted to write?  Or has it always been a pastime of yours?


I came down with the umbilical urge to write, tell stories, tell stories to get people in trouble—not viciously or anything, but fun trouble. However, I’m the one that always ended up in trouble—some stories were just too unbelievable, I guess. 'Twas fun though.


When I became a mother of young children, I’d make up bedtime stories. I had the best time doing that—although the stories never put my children to sleep. I guess I was too animated.  
Do you have any favorite authors?

I have a lot of favorite authors. The one I like the very most is J. D. Salinger.
 
Do you write in a specific place?  Time of day?

Yes. I have my own office. It’s so cute, decorated with all things Hobby Lobby.  I write everyday while my husband is at work. When he comes home, I spend my evenings with him. Ahhhh . . . 'tis a great life.

Are there any words you'd like to impart to fellow writers?  Any advice?    

Yes. I’d tell my fellow authors to write, write, write—even if they never get published—it’s so therapeutic. I’d tell them to never give up—the first ten years are the hardest.   

Here is the blurb for The Danish Pastry 

What do you get when a runaway princess lands in the arms of a playboy who is haunted by a ghost at the hotel where he works? A whole lot of trouble. Leslee Larsen, a innocent from Denmark, gets more than she bargains for when she meets Dax, California’s biggest and slickest playboy at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego. Is it just a coincidence that she looks just like the ghost that haunts the famous hotel? Has Dax, the master manipulator and playboy fallen in love with the princess or the ghost? He may never know because Leslee has packed up and left for Denmark feeling that she had been conned like so many of the other women Dax has known in his past.
 
Here is an excerpt. 

As Dax came closer, her heart fluttered. He stood so close she could feel his breath, the heat of his body, the magnetism of his soul. She froze, torn by royal principles, if she could she’d will her royalty away.
He stepped even closer. She stepped back—up against the wall—with nowhere else to go.
Dax leaned over and whispered in her ear, “May I kiss you?”
The princess peeped, “You may,” then offered a quivering hand, expecting him to kiss it as he bowed before her. Instead, he took her hand and wrapped it around his waist. She gulped.
Gently pulling her head to his, she felt his lips touch her cheek like a whisper. He moved his mouth over hers, gently, devouring her softness, leaving her lips burning with fire. Her first kiss . . . what a doozy. She wanted more. But, that was all she could handle for one day.
She pulled away and mumbled under her breath, “I’m not in Denmark anymore.”
 

Author Bio

I was born with a loose screw. I'm not kidding, I was. It has gotten me into trouble and out of trouble, so I can't complain about being a little daft.
I was also born with an umbilical urge to write - or - tell stories - made up ones. That got me into a lot of trouble, and out of trouble, so, I can't complain. :)
In 1991, I became a VERY famous artist. Okay, I might have lied about the very famous part. I drew, painted, and wrote painting instructions for a publisher. I had 13 painting books published - which is weird, because I never considered myself an artist. I was a faux artist, I guess.
Then in 2005, a simple medical procedure went terribly wrong that landed me in the ICU on life-support because of respiratory and multiple organ failure. Even though I beat the odds and survived, docs said my brain crashed (like how a computer crashes) and needed to be rebooted.
The good news was I had a brain. The bad news was it wasn't working. I had to relearn how to walk, go upstairs, comb my hair, etc. Forget about reading.
In 2010, I learned how to read and write again. The Danish Pastry is the result of my learning to read therapy. Writing became a sort of therapy for me to help me deal with living a new life with a disability. I never did get my faux artistic skills back, but that's okay. I didn't have them to begin with. ;)
So now I'm doing what I've always wanted to do . . . write—tell stories, make-up stories and enjoy little fantasy lands I have always loved. I'd love to take you on one of my journeys . . . if you'd like. 
 

Links:

   

Books:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Danish-Pastry-LaRae-Parry/dp/1493646141

http://www.amazon.com/Hubba-Santa-Claus-LaRae-Parry-ebook/dp/B00HARTWS2/ref=la_B00DDTGREI_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398709975&sr=1-4
http://www.amazon.com/Journal-Crazy-Lady-LaRae-Parry-ebook/dp/B00E7W9HGA/ref=la_B00DDTGREI_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398709975&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Crud-Another-Journal-Crazy-Lady-ebook/dp/B00GCVZC36/ref=la_B00DDTGREI_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398709975&sr=1-2
http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Moonlight-Romance-Collection-Paranormal/dp/1482300389/ref=la_B00DDTGREI_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398709975&sr=1-7
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Under-Snowfall-Francisco-Duarte-ebook/dp/B00AWDSWEQ/ref=la_B00DDTGREI_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398709975&sr=1-6
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Under-Mistletoe-LaRae-Parry-ebook/dp/B00AWDOM36/ref=la_B00DDTGREI_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398709975&sr=1-5

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