Laura Morgan is a teacher and self-published author from the LC Valley, you can find her website here: https://lauralmorganauthor.wixsite.com/lauralmorgan/
Bengal’s Purr
What’s your name?
Laura Morgan
My name is Laura Morgan?
Bengal’s Purr
What is your position? What do you teach here at Sacajawea?
Laura Morgan
I teach eighth grade careers, seventh grade creative writing, sixth grade creative writing, and communications.
Bengal’s Purr
You are a published author, what are your books called?
Laura Morgan
The first one is redemption at Dead Man’s Hole, and the second one is Forgiveness at skeleton Cove, and I’m working on number three.
Bengal’s Purr
What inspired you to become a writer?
Laura Morgan
So I’ve kind of always written my whole life. I used to write a lot of poems, and when I was a kid, I wrote little stories and made little books and everything, and so I’ve just always wanted to write a novel.
And I had the idea for redemption for about 30 years, and it finally came together, I’d write a little bit and I’d set it aside, and I’m like, and I’m quite like that, and I go back to it, and then I was teaching something in writers workshop, and I wrote a scene, and all sudden, I was like, wait a minute, this could be part of my book, and so it just all kind of came together after that, and I write for my students, too, because I want them to have some wholesome, fun, adventurous books to read.
Bengal’s Purr
What is your favorite genre to write?
Laura Morgan
Well, like I said, I do write a lot of poems, and I put a poem in the front of each of my novels. So I still like to write those. But action adventure. That’s what my novels are. I like outdoor stuff, and I don’t know, someday maybe I’d like to write a mystery.
Bengal’s Purr
What is your writing routine like? Do you have any habits that help you stay focused and productive?
Laura Morgan
I pretty much write when I can just because you know, I have a full time job and always grading papers at home. So it’s, it’s hit and miss. But sometimes my husband and I will get away for a writing weekend or something. So that helps.
Bengal’s Purr
And would that be part of how you handle writer’s block?
Laura Morgan
I don’t, I haven’t had it too much. Maybe just because I have written in such little short bursts. It also helps like when I’m up in Alaska, because my books are set in Alaska. It helps inspire me when I’m up there. Because, I can sit outside and listen to the Eagles or whatever. And then it’s not as hard to write so.
Bengal’s Purr
Are there any authors that have influenced your writing style?
Laura Morgan
Hmm, I was thinking about that. And I have read so many, thousands of books, I’m sure they all have influenced me. But maybe Gary Paulsen, just because he writes outdoor stuff, too, but I love the word-smithing that he uses and the vivid descriptions, and I find myself doing some hyphenated words like he does so probably him.
Bengal’s Purr
What’s your process for creating characters in their personalities?
Laura Morgan
I pretty much write out a bunch of details about them. I try to, I mean, everything from you know, hair, what’s their hair, like to their eyes to if they have something unique about them and just kind of create the whole person, their personality and everything. And it’s, they almost become like a person like you, you kind of get to know them before you write about them. Let’s see, names. I was gonna say, I have a terrible time with names. And I think it’s because I’ve been a teacher for so long that I think, oh, that that’s not the right name, you know. So that’s probably my hardest thing to overcome. But I finally came up with a name I like so.
Bengal’s Purr
What was your process for getting your books edited?
Laura Morgan
The first time I actually had an editor, and that didn’t go so well, just because timing. It was right in the middle of COVID. She had trouble getting back to me and things like that. So I did learn quite a few things from her. But she didn’t finish the project. So I finished it, and then my second one I just edited because I, like that’s what I do for a living anyway, um, it’s harder to edit your own work, because you think, Oh, this is what I wrote. But you really didn’t. So I really have to be careful going through it. But that’s what I’ve been doing.
Bengal’s Purr
Who did you decide to go through when publishing your book?
Laura Morgan
I use Amazon’s book baby, and, it kind of does feel like that when you get your book for the first time. Like my baby.
My family does my chapter drawings and like I do the photos for the covers, and so it’s I like it because I can do what I want and they’ll just do it for me. I have more control over it, I guess.
Bengal’s Purr
Can you discuss any royalties or financial aspects from the publishing process?
Laura Morgan
Sure. So there are lots of different ways, There are lots of different ways to Self Publish. And there’s lots of different costs, and it depends on which program you do, but I don’t really get very much when it sold on Amazon, I think out of like a $14.99 book, I only get $2.60. But when I do a lot of direct sales, so I go to craft fairs and things like that, and that’s when I make the most money.
Bengal’s Purr
Are there any specific lessons or insights you’ve gained from your experience in publishing your book that you’d like to share with aspiring authors?
Laura Morgan
I think it’s cool that there’s so many opportunities to publish, and you could try doing the traditional, but mainly, I would say write it. So many people just dream about it or they tell me oh, I want to write a book about this might well do it. So that’s the first big step is just getting it written, and then there’s a lot of avenues to pursue after that.
Bengal’s Purr
What advice would you give to someone who’s just starting their publishing journey, maybe looking for a publisher, the traditional way, or self publishing?
Laura Morgan
I’m not super familiar with the traditional way, but I know you have to like write a query letter where you’re telling them about your project, and you get an agent, and then they, they are the liaison between the publisher and you. So it’s quite the process, I guess. But like I said, I haven’t done it.
It was an interesting little tidbit when I was looking up some stuff that Mark Twain actually self published.
And there’s a group called ALLi, Alliance for Independent Authors, and I would check on their website because they have self publishing companies to stay away from, some of them are super expensive, and they don’t do very much for you. So you do have to be careful with which one to do, and then you also want to get somebody who’s going to put your book out there, like, mine’s on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Walmart, Walmart, Target, you know, things like that. So Ingram, you want something that’s going to really put your book out there.
Bengal’s Purr
You mentioned you were writing a third book, do you have any thing you can share about that with readers?
Laura Morgan
Sure, my working title might change who knows, is Truth at Crossbone’s Pass. So the theme is about truth, and I’m excited because there’s this place up in southeast Alaska called Devilfish Bay, and it’s got this really cool story about this giant octopus. So I’m kind of weaving that into my story, and also, I interviewed someone up there who runs this wilderness therapy thing for troubled teens, and so that’s also, something along those lines is going to be in that, and I also write for the local magazine, Home and Harvest, and I’m doing a series right now on family values.
Bengal’s Purr
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Laura Morgan
Authors always appreciate feedback. So if people either give you that in person or do some reviews, that’s always great. Another thing for students to think about is to enter some contests and go to some conferences, take writing classes, things like that. So again, just write! Make sure you do it.
Bengal’s Purr
All right, well, thank you for taking time to sit down with me.
Laura Morgan
it was my pleasure.
