Laura
Formal Version
Laura Andersen has one husband, four children, and a college degree in English that she puts to non-profitable use by reading everything she can lay her hands on. Books, shoes, and travel are her fiscal downfalls, which she justifies because all three 'take you places.' She loves the ocean (but not sand), forests (but not camping), good food (but not cooking), and shopping (there is no downside.) Historical fiction offers her all the pleasure of visiting the past without the inconvenience of no electricity or indoor plumbing. After more than thirty years spent west of the Rocky Mountains, she now lives in Massachusetts with her family.
Informal Version
Childhood—I had one. A fairly idyllic one, with one younger brother and parents who have now been married nearly fifty years. I had a cat and a dog. I survived high school despite the bad 1980's hair. Met A Boy my senior year.
Young Adulthood—Got a BA in English. Dated said 'senior year' Boy. And several other boys. Lived in Haiti for a year. Worked at a doctor's office and The Corn Dog Factory (not the one with the rainbow hats, thank goodness).
Family—Married my 'senior year' Boy. Still married after twenty-one years. Had three sons and one daughter in the first ten years of marriage. Raised kids and taught piano lessons. Lived in Hong Kong two months (for internship); Seattle for five years; Utah for thirteen years; moved to Boston in 2011 (the same summer oldest graduated from high school and I sold my first book—it's a blurry few months). Have decided a household of teens is much more my style than a household of toddlers.
Travel—Not nearly enough, but way more than anyone deserves. Thanks to friends and family living abroad at various points (as well as my own passions) I've loved: London, Ireland, South Africa, Kenya, Mexico, Dubai, Oman, China, Macau, Montreal, St. Maarten, and Aruba. When The Boleyn King recently sold in Turkey, the first thing I said was, "Istanbul!"
10 Non-Book Things I Love
British Museum, corsets, Project Runway, Kate Spade, Dublin, rainy days, Joss Whedon, midnight movies, Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, my bed
10 Books I Love
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealey
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett (six books in all—yes, I know it's cheating)
