With: Laverty Sparks
We’ve all been asked this question as we progress through time: What do you want to be when you grow up? No matter who asked, no matter what stage of life I was in, I always had the same answer: to be a published author. Armed with that infatuation, I never faltered or changed my goal.
Writing has been my gift, curse, and craving.
Throughout my working career, I always wrote in some
form or another on the side. My journey has taken me through poems, short
stories, song lyrics, and journaling. As luck would have it, before my early retirement
a few years ago, I landed the one perfect job that impacted me the most. A gig
as a radio copywriter, a dream job! I was able to combine my passion with my profession!
However, the economy tanked and I was
forced out.
But I persevered. Since I left the working world in
2009, I’ve published five books (three contemporary romances, and two nostalgic
short story collections). The accomplishments were far from easy as life
continued to make its presence known. And, being a panster doesn’t help matters.
All in all, it’s my lifestyle, writing or not. Flitting here, flitting there, I
get the job done; in the meantime, cramming in every spare minute I can for the
important projects. True, there are times when the creative fires burn down,
but they seem to leave a clean ash to be rekindled for the next time.
I lean heavily on the influence of my life-long love
of nostalgia and incorporate it into all my works. Inspiration continues to
come from visual and auditory resources. It’s not uncommon for me to watch a vintage
YouTube video or VHS tape (yes! I still use a VCR player!) to get my juices
flowing or listen to a song that conjures up emotions and memories.
And as I shift more into being a seasoned romance
author for those later-in-life audiences, I haven’t neglected the patterns that
have been instilled. I’m one who still likes to get dressed up (even leaving
the house momentarily), minds her manners (and business!), and watches black
& white movies/shows. I still use a landline phone and desktop computer,
consult my grandmother’s cookbook, wash dishes by hand after cooking at home, iron
when necessary, and do my own housework and shopping. I even return library
books on time, place grocery carts back in appropriate stalls, wait my turn in
line, listen respectfully, sympathize and empathize. To this day, I don’t use a
GPS (I believe in maps!) and don't own an e-reader (even though I publish
digitally). I’ll forever choose to hold a book in my hand. In any case, you’ll find these nostalgic
factors incorporated into my stories.
As far as my published novels, I’ve been asked if the
stories are partly non-fiction. Well, I’ll let you decide after reading them! Nonetheless,
I’ll be the first to admit I’m far from perfect. I’ve been divorced, participated
in a secret love affair, left jobs and a marriage unannounced, drank when
driving, lived with regrets, drove over the speed limit, have cheated on a
school test, have been arrested. But I’ve used these lessons to pass on some of
these flaws onto my characters.
Back to the matter at hand. On the whole, I’m living
testament to following a dream. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been, working at a passion I’ve never deviated from
no matter how many times I reinvent myself. There are no time limits, only infinite
zero hours.
Aside from writing, I frequently indulge in casino
gambling, add to my beach bucket list, and support my husband’s passion for the
late rocker Jimi Hendrix. In my mind, my spouse is considered one of the rock
legend’s biggest fans.
So…the question remains: What do I want to do when I’m
MORE grown up? How will I embrace the future? What possibilities are left to
me? WRITING! What else?
Please enjoy my recently published contemporary romance
novels of LEATHER HORIZONS and PRIVATE PURSUITS. My next work THE MINK WRAP IN
THE ATTIC will be out in December.
"The Comfort Zone bar was a den of has-beens,
wannabes, and those caught in-between. Misty Briscoe often wondered which
category she fit into. She knew one thing for certain. Campbell Colter would
never approve of her being here. Never! Not that she required his
approval." An excerpt from LEATHER HORIZONS.
“The images of war stayed deep inside him. And the
past had a way of bringing up the rear. Was he a body without a spirit? Or
simply a spirit lost within a body? He knew in all actuality his soul was
deformed. Perhaps his service to his country had killed a lot more of him than
he realized. For now, instead of combatting the good fight, he’d fight for what
was left. Because the best battles are the ones never fought.” An excerpt from
PRIVATE PURSUITS.
Website: https://laurelsparkswriting.com
Twitter: @Sparkswriting
Amazon:
amazon.com/author/lavertysparks
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