Today, I’m happy to introduce my friend Laura Winter, author of Star Collapsed.

Tell me about yourself. What inspired you to write?

I somewhat accidentally stumbled upon writing. I’ve spent most of my life on the softball field (I actually played professionally after my pitching career at Notre Dame). In 2018, I was going to grad school and coaching when I discovered NaNoWriMo, but it was the middle of summer. Instead of waiting for November to write my book, I decided to do a trial run to see if I could actually do it… and I wrote my book in 10 days! Absolutely no writing background, but a whole lot of determination to get better and to tell the stories that were stuck in my head. After that, I couldn’t stop.

Describe your desk / writing space.

My writing area itself is pretty much clear – keyboard in front of me, podcast/audio equipment to the left, and my planner to the right. What’s happening on the shelf above me is another story… I have about twenty notebooks and loose stickers and decorations. I swear I’m actually a minimalist (unless it comes to notebooks and shiny pens).

Do you have a writing routine or do you write when inspired?

I thrive on routine! I have set plans for when I sit down to write – whether that’s chapter notes, a plan of attack for editing, or just general writing-adjacent tasks (like social media and marketing or cover design). If you had asked me a year ago, I would have told you that I write best in the mornings (I was once an early bird), but lately I’ve been really cranking out the words after lunch and even at night!

How do you come up with the title to your books?

That one really varies. For my high fantasy Warrior Series, I tied the titles to the identity of my characters (there are 3 main characters, each with their own books), so with each new title, you can see how each character grows and changes based on the events of the series.

My YA/NA fantasy Soul Series titles come from the main conflict for my characters and that journey from forgotten memories, remembered pasts, and obscured souls. The main focus is on the good and evil of the Blue and Cold Soul, hence the Soul part of the title. We have powers based on space events like supernovas, black holes, and blue stars!

And, with my brand new Star Series (which happens to be a spin off of the Soul Series), I based the titles off of those space events! This series happens 18 years later and we get to follow Kiya, the daughter of the supernova and black hole from the Soul Series. If you’re familiar with space events, the titles of the Star Series are going to follow the life cycle of a star… starting with Star Collapsed!

What was the hardest scene for you to write? Which scene was your favorite to write?

One of the hardest scenes I’ve ever written was the big plot twist in Soul Remembered. Without giving too much away since it’s the second book in the series, I had to write that scene through my own tears because I quite literally broke my own heart in the process of writing it. It had to happen, but wow I didn’t realize it would hurt so much.

I love myself a good fight scene. I have been known to actually act out those scenes in my living room, especially if I want to make sure movements are actually possible. I have quite a few that I’ve written in the last few books, and between sword fighting (Warrior Series) and superpowered fighting (Soul and Star Series), I’m not sure I can pick just one.