Meet Laurie Olerich

Please give a warm welcome to Laurie Olerich. When she announced the release of her debut book on an online writers' group. When I checked out Amazon's "Look Inside" feature, I was so hooked I had to buy this fascinating book.

Here's a little about Laurie.

Laurie Olerich is the author of the new Primani series. Part urban fantasy, part romance, part paranormal...Three things she can’t live without! Laurie spent most of her life in the Northeastern United States and in Western Europe. She now lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her son and Dalmatian duo, Domino and Rambo.  Desperate to escape the heat, she lives vicariously through Mica and her Primani by setting their adventures in the mountain coolness of New England and the rainy days of London. Before throwing caution to the wind and diving into a writing career, Laurie dedicated 20 years to her country by serving in the United States Air Force. Much of her time was spent around men with guns and cool toys...this explains her obsession with both. 

Now let's learn more about Laurie. What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

I am an “all in” kind of woman. When I’m writing, I’m doing little more than writing. I’ve spent ten hours a day working on a book when the story is flowing. It’s hard for me to concentrate on anything else. My brain won’t let it go. I’ve created complete scenes while driving to the store and woken up from dreams to write down plot lines. There are nights I can’t sleep because one of my characters is having issues and nags at me to finish up their scenes. Declan is especially good at that. When I have to actually work for a living, I try to write three hours a night and all weekend long. Early mornings and late at night are the best times for me though.

Have you ever stayed up all night to finish reading a book?

If a book sucks me in, my schedule is toast! I’ve spent a lot of nights with a fabulous book perched on my lap. One of my absolutely favorite books is Stormfire by Christine Monson. It’s very old now, but I still love it. I park myself on the couch, read for the whole afternoon, and then move to the bed and read some more. It’s tough to go to work with zero sleep these days so I try not to start a book on a weeknight.

What do you think makes a good story?

I have to be able to relate to the characters and their lives. Lively dialogue, action, and humor will keep me reading. The plot has to move quickly and surprise me along the way too. If I’m reading romance, it has to have a strong subplot in addition to the romantic relationship. A story is good if I can’t stop thinking about the characters when I’m not reading.

What is the best part of writing for you?

The best part of writing is sinking into the character’s mind and letting their personality explode onto the pages. I love putting them into situations just to see how they handle them. Sean is especially fun because he’s got a dark side that he tries to keep under wraps. He’s more and more unpredictable as the stories unfold across the first three books.

Where do you start when writing? Research, plotting, outline, or...?

I start with a very broad outline of a few chapters at a time. I like to have some idea of where I’m trying to take the characters before I start writing. I don’t make a detailed outline though. I can’t stick to it. When I’m tired of typing, I research and listen to music. Music stimulates ideas and many of my scenes come from lyrics that struck a chord in me.

If you could give the younger version of yourself advice what would it be? 

Snowboard more often and don’t get on the back of motorcycles with creepy guys.

Are your stories driven by plot or character? 

My stories are definitely character driven. Half the time they end up in places I hadn’t even thought of. They do what they want and I just try to keep up.

What do you hope readers take with them after reading your work? 

I created the Primani world because I wanted more excitement and romance in my own life. I read a lot, but nothing was scratching that itch so I started writing. The series is my escape into intrigue, action, and love.  I want readers to feel the wonder and magic I hope I’ve created. It would also be nice if they could laugh out loud at some of my jokes!

What two authors would we find you reading when taking a break from your own writing?

I love Diana Gabaldon and Janet Evanovich. Their females are warm, funny, and independent.

Tell us more about your debut book.

Primani is the first book in a series that crosses over urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and action/adventure. Most of the story is set in the mountains of New York and the streets of Manhattan. The characters are sexy, funny, and lethal. Primani are warriors with unique skills that humans can’t know about.  While following a loose code of conduct, they do whatever it takes to keep the world safe.  When they get assigned to guard Mica Thomas, she leads them on a rollercoaster ride of trouble. Cocky and curious, she gets in way over her head when she falls for Sean O’Cahan. In a rare moment of kindness, Sean changes her destiny forever.

Blurb/Book Description:

Mica Thomas is Sean O'Cahan's worst nightmare. Part angel, all Primani, he's a ruthless protector with unusual talents. Jaded by the weakness of humans, he takes a hands-off approach to his charges. His job's to protect her. That's all. But Mica's got other ideas. He's strong, but she's stronger. Will his one moment of weakness destroy them both?

Mica doesn’t believe in quaint notions of fate and destiny. She’s a live-in-the-moment kind of girl until she’s attacked and left for dead. When Sean and his friends appear out of thin air to rescue her, Mica knows there’s more to them than they’re saying. Secrets and lies pile up but she can’t walk away from him.

As the clock ticks, Mica is drawn deeper into the Primani world until there’s no way out.

Tick-tock. Time is running out. What happens when it does?

Short Excerpt:

It was about time to go out. Ricki and Dani were coming over to get me in a little while. I was finishing my hair and looking at my face critically. Was my nose crooked? I peered closer at my reflection. Mm, maybe it was okay. All traces of bruises were gone. The heart shape of my face was back and my lips were full from good genes instead of blood clots. I looked at my eyes for changes. Wide and tilted up at the outside, they shone dark blue in the mirror. They still had a shuttered look to them. I wasn’t quite healed. I forced a happy smile that would reach my eyes. Ugh! That’s worse. I look like a crazy person. Better to keep the smile small. I would just hope no one paid much attention to my eyes. 

A movement caught my eye in the mirror. I spun around but the room was empty. Carefully, I snatched up my hairspray and crept around the corner. If someone was in here, they would get a rude surprise. I was armed this time! But I didn’t hear anything and I didn’t really sense anyone else. I must have imagined the dark-haired man in the hall. At least it didn’t look like Scott Flynn. Maybe I needed a dog.

The party was huge. We were out in the country at Dani’s friend Angel’s house. Her parents had gone skiing and left the house to her. We were glad to keep her company…all 100 of her best friends. I hadn’t been to a party since my going away party last summer. After my mom’s funeral, I stayed with my sister until I finished school. It was horrible but my friends helped a lot. They kept me busy on the weekends and then threw a huge drunken bash for me before I left in June. It was the party to end all parties. I came very close to losing my virginity that night but was saved the trouble by the police after the neighbors complained. Marc was devastated.

It had been a long time since I had been to a party. I was ready to have some fun tonight. I kept trying to push that half-seen face from my hallway out of my head, but he kept intruding anyway. I was making my way from the pool house back inside when I saw him again.

I stopped in my tracks and stared. Whoa! 

Who are these guys? 

I’ve never seen them before. There were two ridiculously gorgeous guys standing in the shadows near a covered walkway. They were talking intently to each other and seemed to be scanning the crowd for someone. There’s no way they were partying. No possible way--they were way too intense. They reminded me of Secret Service agents, but without the suits. Instinctively, I crouched behind a snow-covered shrub and watched them. The taller one seemed to be chewing out the shorter one. The shorter one was listening and nodding his head. He looked unhappy. I couldn’t help but stare. It was him!

He had short hair and a hard face. It was too strong…too mature for a teenager. I could see his cheekbones from here. I couldn’t make out his eyes though. He looked as if he was about to kick someone’s ass or take over a small country. He stood tensely, listening to the other one. His shoulders were squared back and tugged against the t-shirt he was wearing. Taking advantage of my invisibility, I let my eyes wander over the rest of his body. Glancing down at his arms, I did a little swoon and kept going. Sadly, his good parts were hidden in the shadows. Oh, yum! He was hot. But what was he doing here? Was he really in my house earlier? That’s impossible. 

“Find her!” The wind shifted and the harsh words drifted clearly. The taller one gestured towards the house. He had the same military look to him, but he was bigger and much more intimidating. He was more bulky in the shoulders but had a lean torso and a nice butt. I imagined he had amazing abs. Yes, he was gorgeous but looked mean. There was something about the set of his jaw that said he’d take no crap from anyone. What were they doing here? A small shiver went down my back and I started to look for an exit.

“Mica! There you are! We’ve been looking for you. Come back inside. Someone found a karaoke machine.” Tyler’s voice interrupted my spying. Smiling impatiently, he reached out to grab my arm and I flinched. He held out a hand and said, “Hey, my bad. I’m sorry, dude!”

The strangers zeroed in on me like I was standing in a spotlight. Both sets of eyes pinned me to the ground and I froze like a baby deer. While Tyler babbled about karaoke, I watched them watch me. Both stared so intently that I was afraid I would burst into flames. They seemed to know me. How was that possible? Who were these guys? The big one said something to the shorter one and they started moving my direction. The big one moved like he was stalking prey. I yelped and bolted back to the house. I was striving for a dignified retreat but knocking people out of the way kind of ruined it. 

“What’s with you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Tyler skidded to a halt beside me.

I laughed shakily. “Did you see those guys?”

“What guys?”

“The two guys who were standing across from us! You didn’t see them? They were coming over to us.”

Tyler looked down his long nose and said, “Dude, I didn’t see anyone but you standing behind a bush. I think you need another beer.” He put a new beer in my hand and clinked his bottle against mine in a toast.

I stayed inside the rest of the night and kept close to my friends. I kept a lookout for the ‘secret agents.’ I didn’t see them again. Maybe I had imagined the whole thing? It seemed so real though. It was really late when it was time to go home. Ricki was pretty wasted so I was driving. I wasn’t exactly sober and my dad would kill me if he knew I was driving. But hey, I had a new philosophy: I would die when it was my turn. In the meantime, I would live life how I wanted and we’d just see how things turned out. Aric and Dani walked us to the car and helped Ricki into the backseat. Aric made sure she had a seatbelt on and asked me how I was doing.

“Oh, I’m fine. I don’t feel buzzed at all. Don’t worry about us.”

He looked dubious and told me to drive slowly because the roads were slippery. I only had to drive about 30 miles to get us home. Ricki fell asleep before we turned onto the main highway and it was unnaturally quiet. I turned on the stereo and sung disjointedly to a Lady GaGa song that I barely knew. Tapping my fingers on the steering wheel, I yawned. The miles mocked me as we crept along in the snow. I wasn’t even sure we were really moving…My feet were freezing so I turned the heater on. Before long, the car was toasty warm and so were my eyes. Blinking to stay awake, I shifted forward to lean on the steering wheel and focus better on the road. Not one of my better ideas. The woods were dark around us and the falling snow obscured everything. It was like driving in a black and white tunnel. My eyes closed and I blinked hard again. The snow was so pretty bouncing off my window. It was mesmerizing…I was drifting off to sleep when the car started to slide and abruptly stopped. The bump jolted me awake and I looked around in astonishment. I wasn’t alone. I wasn’t even driving. I was in the passenger seat.

“What the hell? How did you get here?”

Purchase Links: KINDLE   http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EWTQIX8

PRINT  http://www.amazon.com/Primani-1-Laurie-Olerich/dp/1492124842/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380070485&sr=1-1&keywords=primani

One last question, Laurie. Where can readers find you?

Please contact me at these sites. I love hearing from readers! I’m having a great time just learning how to use Twitter. It’s a hoot! 

http://www.laurieolerich.com

https://twitter.com/LaurieOlerich

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Laurie-Olerich-Author/142533492579730

http://www.laurieolerich.com/blog

Laurie, thanks for being here today and thank you for your service to our country.