http://laurenhammondnovelist.blogspot.com
Twitter - @NovelistLauren
Facebook Fan Page- http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Lauren-Hammond/100755776636370
Book Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLY_qY57n5U
In England during the seventeen hundreds, Cara Jones had her human life ended for her and she became a creature of the night. One moment she's an adolescent young woman living her life, the next she's lurking in the streets at night looking for her next meal. The vampire slayings in England became so brutal the whole race was nearly wiped out. So Cara and the clan she called her extended family fled to the U.S. to make a home. They kept to themselves and stayed out of trouble by feeding on recently deceased corpses and cleaning out blood supplies at local hospitals. When one of the clan members makes a mistake, they are once again being hunted and Cara is the only one who makes it out alive. Cara is officially the last vampire on earth. So when Cara awakes from a two hundred year slumber, she awakes to a new city, new people, and a new way of life. Cara sets out on a journey to find her soul mate, the one person who is designed for her. Along the way she encounters a zany new friend, a jealous coworker, and a man whom she can't live without. Dr. Jared Sayers is her destiny. Will Jared give up everything he knows to be with Cara? Or will she wander the earth for the rest of eternity alone?
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8610521-love-sucks
http://shop.punkinbooks.com/Love-Sucks-Printed-Paperback-978-0-9827356-6-4.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Sucks-Lauren-Hammond/dp/0982735669/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1286504051&sr=1-1
1. Why did you become a writer…was it a dream of yours since you were younger or did the desire to write happen later in your life?
It had always been a dream of Lauren’s, ever since she was young, to become a writer. She didn’t initially make the move until 2006 when a friend of hers, along with her three children died in a house fire. Her intentions were to start a scholarship fund for her at the high school she graduated from. Lauren had always loved writing and always said, one day, she was going to write books, but, she always found herself putting that dream on the back burner. After her friend Andria died, she decided that life is too precious, and too short. She didn’t want to live her life with any regrets. She told herself that she would pursue her dreams no matter what. And so far, she’s still writing.
2. What was the inspiration for your latest work of fiction?
The latest book she has have been working on is called A Whisper to a Scream. It’s a YA thriller/romance about a teen who suspects the love of her life to be a serial killer. Her inspiration for this is, when she’s writing, is that she always finds herself teetering on the what if factor? She always likes for her readers to ask themselves, what would I do in that situation? Young love can be so beautiful, indulgent, poetic even. But, it also has a dark side. And that dark side can be deadly. So she wanted her readers to really ask themselves what matters more, the matter of the mind, or the matter of the heart?
3. Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?
That depends. (smirks) Sometimes when she gets an idea, the character is totally fictional. That’s just the character that comes to mind when she starts writing. Other times, she can totally throw a little bit of people she knows into the character but, it also depends on the book she’s writing.
4. What was the most interesting research you had to do for any of your books?
A book she’s working on called Memoirs of a Charity Girl required a lot of extensive research on drug addicts and drugs in general. The different types of drugs, how people overcome addiction. Most of it was new to her.
5. How do you go from an idea for a book to the birth of the story? Is the process the same for every book you write?
What usually comes to her first is the first line in the book. After that is written, the rest of the story seems to magically unfold in her mind. For Lauren, everything starts with that first sentence.
6. Are you currently working on any new book projects?
Several; three in particular: Memoirs of a Charity Girl, Pride, and the sequel to A Whisper to a Scream titled Yelling Out Loud. She’s also a screenwriter and has a couple of screenplays she’s currently working on.
7. Do you have any advice for beginning writers on how to write a book? Do you have any advice for them regarding promoting that book once published?
She can’t stress self-belief, hard work, and perseverance enough. She always tells writers to keep writing. She always tells them to NEVER give up. If she would have given up when she wanted to, who knows where she would be?