Adventures in Writing

Hi, I'm Laine. For me writing is an adventure, somewhat like a hike through a wilderness of steep climbs, descents into abysses, and crawls over boulders, but with each success I stand on the summit, and the world at my feet fills with possibilities. This website will chart my progress toward publication. Join me for the journey.

Writing has shaped my days since, as a child, I banged out a newspaper on my father’s ancient portable typewriter. Chronicling a fictional town populated with eccentrics, this typo-infested broadside was my first attempt to commit the stories in my head to paper. I’m still doing it.

As with many compulsive writers I’ve made the leap from passion to profession and am dedicated to the pursuit of publication. Why? Fame and fortune? Compulsive I may be, but not stupid. Few writers rise to that level. The satisfaction of having my words read and appreciated? Partially. But the driving force for me is being the best writer I can be. I’ve always admired those who take their skills to the limit, whether in art, athletics, or intellect. I want to be one of them. Yes, I could be the best I can be without publication or with self-publication, but the A+ grade would be given to me by me, and my judgment is unreliable. I seek the judgment of the industry, those agents and editors who know good writing when they see it.

My quest has begun with short stories. You can read some of the published ones here. But, of course, the novel is the ultimate test of a fiction writer, and after writing two "trunk novels," fumbling learning experiences that will remain in the trunk, I've finished the final draft of In the Absence of Light, the first of a planned series of mysteries.

Member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America