Traitor Release Day!!! Welcoming My Second Book into the World

YOU GUYS!!!!! We finally made it! Traitor is here!!! I'm SO grateful for and encouraged by the enthusiasm you've all shown for this book, and it means the world to me that you've been willing to wait THREE YEARS for Traitor after the release of Common. The journey has been long and challenging, but so worth it!

Releasing my second full-length novel into the world has me sifting through such a flurry of emotions. Relief (it's finally here!), shock (wait, it's April 27th already?!?), and satisfaction (I did have more than one book in me after all!) are definitely among them. Also a fair amount of trepidation. When Common released, there was some fear of the unknown, but it was easily overcome by the rush of being a first-time author. 

This time, I know what to fear. I know what it's like to see negative reviews with the sinking feeling that a reader didn't understand or connect with my story. I know what it's like to watch Amazon rankings take a nose-dive and to lose momentum while everyone around me seems to be progressing faster and farther. I know what it's like to wonder whether I truly have the strength and creative energy to produce another quality book. Then there are the worries that the fans of Common might be disappointed by this next installment!

But despite the fears and anxieties, I'm grinning. In fact, I've been grinning for weeks. Because I also know the amazing experiences that await me - that are already in progress - due to this new book release. Reaching new readers who will connect with my characters and eagerly join in their adventures. Having friends and neighbors share that they enjoyed my book or passed it on to a friend or niece or co-worker. Discovering the themes and connections readers find in my words that I didn't even intend. Signing books for family members, friends, and strangers, renewing my awe that this dream really did come true.

How perfect that Princess Penelope's story in Traitor corresponds so well with all these mixed feelings! She's definitely a little sadder and wiser than shy, innocent Leah from Common. But the mistakes in her past set her up for an even deeper, richer path as she moves forward toward hope and redemption, learning that it's never too late to find her own happily-ever-after. I hope you love her story!! Make sure to check out the other stops on the blog tour for lots of behind-the-scenes looks at the characters, setting, and writing process, plus some sneak peeks at what's coming next in the Tales of the Mystics! Not to mention some reviews that have absolutely made my heart melt :) Thank you so much for celebrating with me today, friends!!

Traitor Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, 19th, “Redeeming a ‘Villain’ in Traitor” Laura A. Grace, www.lauraagrace.com

Tuesday, 20th, “Connecting Companion Novels in the Tales of the Mystics” Pam Halter,

www.pamhalter.com/fairiesfantasyfaith

Wednesday, 21st, “Visual Post: Characters of Traitor” Anne Wheeler, www.anne-wheeler.com/blog

Thursday, 22nd, “Integrating a New Language and Culture into Traitor” J.M. Hackamn, www.jmhackman.com

Friday, 23rd, “Author Interview with Laurie Lucking: Traitor Blog Tour” Riella Cristobal,

www.booksandeverydaylife.home.blog

Saturday, 24th, “Interview with Traitor Author Laurie Lucking” Amelia Nichole, www.amelianichole.com

Sunday, 25th, “Review of Traitor” Breny Maurtua, www.brenyandbooks.home.blog

Monday, 26th, “Dive-in Review: Traitor” Cathrine Bonham, www.cobonham.com

Monday, 26th, “Review of Traitor” Laurin Boyle, www.laurinboyle.wordpress.com

Tuesday, 27th, “Welcoming My Second Book into the World” Laurie Lucking, www.laurielucking.com

Wednesday, 28th, “Visual Post: Traitor Storyworld” Jenelle Schmidt, www.jenelleschmidt.com

Thursday, 29th, “Celebrate Laurie Lucking’s New Release Traitor Tonight” Michele Israel Harper,

www.MicheleIsraelHarper.com

Friday, 30th, “What’s Coming Next in the Tales of the Mystics” Peter Adler, www.arsilverberry.com/blog

ENCIRCLED IS HERE!!!

It's here!! Encircled is finally here!!!!! The third published book with my words in it, and the first in which I played a significant role in the publishing process (beyond just the writing, of course!). What began with my critique group getting excited about a contest for fairy tale retellings and my vision of a modern-day Snow White character encountering a dryad prince on her strolls in the forest has turned into a gorgeous, real-life book! (For more behind-the-scenes details on how my Snow White retelling, "Edged in Silver," came about, make sure to check out my guest post on Kandi J. Wyatt's blog!)

Despite having an amazing critique group and loving the idea of putting together our own anthology of fairy tale retellings, I'll admit there were many points along this journey when I thought it was never going to happen. When several members of our group who initially started on stories had to back out. When we tried to wrap our minds around the amount of investment and work it would take to publish a high-quality product ourselves. When we faced list after list of difficult questions we had to agree on in order to move forward.

But we did it! I can honestly say that despite all the challenges and hard work, it's been a wonderful experience. Our group has really bonded through the process and worked through every disagreement with respect and good humor. Each member has given generously of her own talents and specialties to make this a true team effort, from editing to formatting to marketing. And I think all our efforts have made the reward of seeing our dream become a reality that much greater. (And seriously, isn't it gorgeous??) In fact, there may even be talk of another Ever Afters anthology in the future... :)

I hope you've enjoyed following the posts in the Encircled Blog Tour so far, I know I have! The tour wraps up on April 18th, so we still have a few days to go! (See this post to get the full schedule - I've been trying to update the links as each post goes live.) And did you hear about the giveaway?? The Ever Afters have teamed up with the Just-Us League to host an epic giveaway celebrating their fairy tale anthologies releasing in April! Enter below for a chance to win one of FOUR sets of prizes!

Grand Prize (U.S. residents only)

• Two paperbacks (Fractured Ever After and Encircled)
• Book cozy
• Slipper ornament
• 3D-printed bookmark (pick one design)
• Set of four signed illustration prints

First Prize (U.S. residents only)

• Two paperbacks (Fractured Ever After and Encircled)
• “Fairy tales do come true” charm bracelet
• 3D-printed bookmark (pick one design)
• Set of four signed illustration prints

Second Prize (international)

• Two ebooks (Fractured Ever After and Encircled)
• 3D-printed bookmark (pick one design)
• Set of four signed illustration prints

Third Prize (international)

• Two ebooks (Fractured Ever After and Encircled)
• Choice of 3D-printed bookmark (pick one design) *or* set of four signed illustration prints

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Here's a little more about the Just-Us League's newest anthology, Fractured Ever After:

Old classics are fractured into exciting new tales in this international collection of magic, mystery, and adventure.

Some heroes go searching for their happily ever after: a dragon cocoon hunter explores the dangerous woods for his sleeping beauty; a prince forces a perfect romance on an unsuspecting maiden; and when a girl leaves town, she must quickly decide to trust—or be wary of—a new stranger.

Destiny is thrust upon others: a disconnected emperor struggles to retain his title; a frog prince leaves his pond in search of answers; and after Rapunzel is rescued, a new quest is awarded to her savior.

Whether it is destiny or choice, all actions have consequences: sibling rivalry pushes one little piggy to extremes and a princess must choose to follow her heart or step up as future queen.

Prepare for an adventure as these eight fantastic fairy tales transport you to places beyond your imagination.

Fractured Ever After is the Just-Us League’s seventh anthology, an illustrated collection of fractured fairy tales. It can be preordered here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q5H39GH.

Thanks so much to everyone who has helped spread the word about Encircled through the cover reveal, blog tour, Instagram photo challenge, and in so many other ways! We're so very grateful, and we hope you love our stories!!

Mythical Doorways Blog Tour and Facebook Party!

Mythical Doorways is here!!! Hooray! It released on March 27th, and now is available for FREE on Amazon! The first reviews are starting to roll in, and I've been thrilled by the response to "Threshold" so far! One reviewer said, "This story is quite remarkable. It's a poignant, moving coming-of-age tale with a fantasy twist." And here's how another reviewer described it: "The feels!!! This story was SO good, and that ending was SO worth every minute of not knowing which decision Heidi would make!" *Cue giant grin accompanied by happy dancing*

The blog tour celebrating the release of Mythical Doorways wraps up today! Check out the full schedule of posts here. And TONIGHT, we're finishing up the celebration with a Facebook party! The fun starts at 7:00 pm CDT (8:00 pm EDT), and my featured author slot starts at 9:20 CDT / 10:20 EDT. I hope to see you there!

Happy Release Day to Common!!!!

You. Guys.

The day is finally here!!! The day I've been dreaming of for ages and yet hardly dared to dream of at all...it's TODAY. Today, my debut novel releases! A gorgeous book with 291 carefully formatted pages that has MY NAME ON THE COVER!!!! (You knew this post was going to involve a lot of exclamation points, right?)

I have been in love with books and stories since I was a little girl. Many years later, as a college student, I didn't sell back my books as so many of my classmates did, because I couldn't bear to part with them. Even the ones I didn't like! I've always just had this strange reverence toward books, the need to cherish them.

But the idea of creating my own book? That was too much to hope for.

I remember so clearly the day I wrote the first scene of my first manuscript. I'd done some soul-searching while pushing my newborn around in his stroller on a beautiful fall day, and come out of it with the crazy idea to write a book. I even had a story idea - something I'd imagined years before but never thought to write down. After my son fell asleep, I opened my laptop, stared at a blank Microsoft Word document for a few minutes, and then started typing. It was so much fun! Way more fun than my memories of grade school creative writing assignments.

But then my husband came home. I'm in the habit of telling my poor husband EVERYTHING at the end of each day. So part of me really wanted to tell him about my writing, and yet...part of me really didn't. I confessed at dinner, waiting in trepidation for the laughter or scorn. Not because my husband is that kind of guy, but because I felt I deserved that kind of reaction. Instead, he nodded and said something along the lines of "Cool. That sounds great." And that inner spark that had been lit grew a little bigger. Because maybe I wasn't crazy or unworthy to write a book after all.

That was over five years ago, and I've learned and grown so much along this writing journey. It hasn't all been as fun as that first moment, but it's been one of the most challenging and rewarding ventures of my entire life. In some ways today feels like a culmination of all that dreaming and hard work, in others just a major stepping stone, because I have so many more stories I can't wait to tell, and I hope this will be just the first book of many!

Thank you so much for coming on this journey with me, I'm beyond thrilled to have the opportunity to share Common with you!

So excited, in fact, that I decided we need to celebrate with a giveaway!! I am SO GRATEFUL to everyone who preordered Common or is considering purchasing it - THANK YOU! And now that the books are starting to arrive, I want to see you all hanging out with Leah! So here's how the giveaway works. To enter, post a picture of yourself with your copy of Common, either a paperback or on your e-reader, or a picture of Common outside or somewhere around your house - feel free to get creative! Then post it on Facebook, Twitter, and / or Instagram, and make sure to tag me so I can count your entry! If you haven't ordered Common yet, don't worry! I'm keeping the giveaway open until 11:59 pm CST on Wednesday, February 28th, so you have 2 whole weeks to post your pictures! You can purchase your copy here. (***UPDATE: I initially said the giveaway would close on February 21st, but you guys have ordered so many copies of Common that it's on backorder! Yay!!! So to give people who order over the next few days time to take and post their pictures, I'm extending the entry deadline to February 28th.***)

I suppose you'd like to know what I'm planning to give away... :) The randomly chosen winner will receive the $10 Amazon giftcard bookmark and gorgeous handmade mason jar luminary pictured below!! So start snapping those pictures - I can't wait to see what you come up with! (The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only - I'm so sorry to my friends outside the U.S., the shipping is just too hard!)

Also, the Common Blog Tour is still underway! We've had so many fun posts so far, sharing everything from my writing process to a character interview to visuals from the world of Common. So make sure to check out all the posts from the past week and a half, and stay tuned for a few more fun posts to wrap up the tour. I'll list all the blog tour stops below, but first I have to mention that the release celebration continues with a Facebook party TOMORROW, February 15th, from 8:00 to 10:00 pm CST. It's going to be a great opportunity to hang out with fun people, chat about amazing books, and enter for a chance to win even more giveaway prizes! I hope to see you there!!! You can RSVP and see some sneak peeks here.

As promised, here's the full list of blog tour posts. Thanks again for stopping by to celebrate with me today!!!!

Monday, February 5th, Review of Common, Pam Halter, www.pamhalter.com
Monday, February 5th, Interview with Laurie Lucking, Taylor Bennett, www.taylor–bennett.com
Tuesday, February 6th, Visual Post, Nancy Moors, www.antrimcycle.com
Tuesday, February 6th, Behind-the-Scenes Feature, Rae E, www.anewlookonbooks.com
Wednesday, February 7th, Visual Post, J.M. Hackman, www.jmhackman.com
Wednesday, February 7th, Guest Post: Author’s Journey, Kristen Stieffel, www.newauthors.wordpress.com
Thursday, February 8th, Guest Post, Laura A. Grace, www.unicornquester.com
Friday, February 9th, Interview with Laurie Lucking, Jebraun Clifford, www.quillsandinkblotts.wordpress.com/
Friday, February 9th, Review of Common, Erica Hogan, www.booksaholic.wordpress.com/
Saturday, February 10th, Top 3 Post, Laurie Lucking, www.landsuncharted.com
Sunday, February 11th, Behind-the-Scenes Feature: Laurie’s Writing Process, Liv Fisher, www.livkfisher.blogspot.com/
Sunday, February 11th, Review of Common, Jebraun Clifford, www.jebraunclifford.com/
Monday, February 12th, Character Interview, Brenda Anderson, www.brendaandersonbooks.com
Monday, February 12th, Visual Post, Jannette Fuller, www.jannettefuller.com/blog
Tuesday, February 13th, Interview with Laurie Lucking, KaLyn Cummins, www.authorkacummins.com
Wednesday, February 14th, Release-Day Feature, Laurie Lucking, www.laurielucking.com (Release Day)
Thursday, February 15th, Facebook Party Feature, Michele Israel Harper, www.micheleisraelharper.com (Facebook Launch Party)
Friday, February 16th, Review of Common, Cathrine Bonham, www.dolphin18cb.wordpress.com