Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve lived in and around Chicago all my life. I studied English Literature at the University of Chicago and worked in bookstores before losing my soul to the corporate world and retiring. I have since wrested back my soul and live with my delightful husband in downtown Chicago along with our eight very special plants, with whom I commune regularly. My newest plant, Basie, sends greetings to earthlings everywhere.
I’ve written eight books. I write my PTSD books with a pen name, due to the personal nature of the material.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I recently published PTSD: Frozen in Time (Adventures in Releasing Buried Energy).
I took PTSD meds for twenty-five years. Then they slowly but surely stopped working and all my symptoms came back. I also lost my job, so I didn’t have the kind of insurance that would pay for traditional therapy anymore–which was actually okay. After decades of talk-therapy, I had nothing more to say.
So I tried all sorts of non-traditional, inexpensive methods of healing and detail my adventures and experiences in my book. From shamans and energy healers to mindful meditation and Trauma Release Exercises, it all helped.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
When I’m writing, I rub the top of my head a lot. Kind of like the Buddha belly, only hairier.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Betty Smith, Victor Hugo and Edith Wharton for fiction.
Primo Levi and Patti Smith for essays and memoirs.
Peter Levine for PTSD.
So many more.
What are you working on now?
A trilogy. It’s a psychological thriller set against the backdrop of the swinging sixties and seventies in the affluent suburb of Winnetka, Illinois.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I follow the example of successful authors who share their experience on KBoards Writer’s Café. At least once a week, someone shares their promotion line-up with results.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Do the very best you can with each book. Then on to the next.
Be patient. When you do break out, you’ll have a great backlist.
You must promote your books. When I worked in bookstores, customers generally picked up only what was displayed on the front tables, unless they were looking for a specific title. Make your books visible with promotions.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
To thine own self be true.
What are you reading now?
I’m rereading In an Unspoken Voice by Peter Levine.
What’s next for you as a writer?
After I finish my trilogy, I’m publishing a short-read called Once There Were Bookstores in Chicago. There still are, of course, but there used to be a lot more of them. When I’d walk to the train to go to school in Hyde Park, there was a bookstore on every block of Michigan Avenue. This story also details my baffled, painful experience of life with PTSD, when there was no such term. The bookstores were my haven.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Les Miserables
Jane Eyre
Just Kids
Author Websites and Profiles
Ann E. Laurie Website
Ann E. Laurie Amazon Profile
Hey Ann,
Love your earthlings introduction. We have two things in common; I lived in Chicago for 6 years and am a plant lover. I lived in the downtown area off Ohio Street and fondly referred to downtown as cement city. Hence, the reason I started patio plants.
You have chosen a subject to write about that most people don’t want to admit that it exist. But, PTSD is real!! I spent many years working with patients who had PTSD. Keep telling your story. The message will touch many lives, young and old.
I was not familiar with K Boards Writer’s Cafe. Thanks for sharing.
Gracie Bradford, Author
Lady Bird: Shawn’s Sixth Sense