Interview with Laura Toeskoetter (Lala)

Writer Interviews are interviews conducted by me with other writers in the blogging community.  From these interviews you can learn more about the writers you're following and the writers you should follow.  Interviewees are never asked personal questions.  You can sign up to be interviewed by leaving a comment and stating that you'd be interested.

Writer Interviews August 16th with Laura Toeskoetter (Lala)
Before I begin and Lala join us, I thought first I should kind of introduce her.  Lala is a writer who blogs on Lala Land and a team blog, Write Here's blog.  She is a member of Write Here, Inkpop, and many other writing sites.  Please welcome her!

* When did you first start writing?
    Eighth grade. I remember it really well. I'd bought this little green notebook at Target. And I was in Science and we were watching a movie and I just pulled it out of my backpack and wrote this murder scene that was a page. After a lot of editing and revisions, it's the basis of The Assassin prologue. 
    * What would you say is the main goal you are trying to reach with your projects and was this goal always evident from the start?
    I think now, at the moment, especially for The Assassin, I want to get into the Top Five on inkpop. I want that yellow star! I know people who've gotten it and throwing it into a query letter works wonders... or so I'm told.
    But, that wasn't always the case. When I first started, I just hand wrote, and I had some pretty pathetic handwriting. It took a long time before I actually started to type it on the computer. And even then, I didn't actually think about having people read it. 
    * There been a lot of talk on your book The Assassin lately.  Could you tell us about the book and its background?  (By background I mean what inspired the story or what got you involved in it).
    Oh there has been? I hope it's good talk. Well, the book is about this teenage girl who has an alter ego, the Assassin, who kills people. No body knows that the Assassin is this teenage girl; everyone thinks the Assassin is this twenty year old guy. Her dad is in jail for the murder of her mom, and he escapes to come kill her, because he thinks he knows her secret. He kidnaps Cassie's adoptive dad, and Cassie has to save her adoptive dad, and stop her real dad. That's just it in a nutshell, there's also a bad boy, a rape victim, a physic, and a pop star. 
    As far as inspiration for the initial story? Oh geez. I think part of it was the movie, Electra, with Jenifer Garner. Electra is an assassin just like Cassie, and it was the first PG-13 movie I've ever seen. 
    * When you finished The Assassin how did you feel?  Was it good to finally come to an end with the book or did you think that it would be sad that you're leaving the characters and moving on?
    When I finished The Assassin, I wasn't really finished with it. I'm still working on it three, four years later. But, it didn't really sink in. It was "oh, the bad guy lost, now what?" So, I started writing a new one. There wasn't even a moment when I was sad, it was more, "okay, he's dead, let's do it all again!" So, I wasn't really sad to be over with it. 
    * We've talked a lot about The Assassin so let's move on to something else...  You're currently working on a new book, correct?  Could you tell us some about it and the progress you've made with it so far?
    Yeah, right now the project is called "Just Perfect." It's about this girl who's step-dad is the President and she hates his guts. When she was little he destroyed her parents' marriage by having an affair with her mom. They got her dad sent to jail for something he didn't do and a bunch of other stuff and she basically paid the way for him to get into jail. Well, the MC, Bree, has finally had enough of it after she finds out her dad is out of jail, and she decides to let the world know just how bad her step-dad is. So, she starts working with a cute guy, Jason, who's mom is having an affair (I'm obsessed with affairs and I don't know why) the president. So they basically have to convince the world that Mr. Perfect President is anything but. I'm not very far, I've got maybe 200 words plus a teaser, most of it is still in my head in the planning stages but I'm totally excited about it.
    I just have to find time to write it.
    * Of all your projects, which ones would you say you most enjoyed writing or are the most attached to?
    Oh, that's a tough one. I'd probably have to say the whole Assassin Saga, because Cassie and I go through ten books of murder, mystery, love and mayhem, so I think the series as a whole.
    * This should have been asked earlier, but have you ever gotten any of your work published?
    I wish....
    * What is your advice to other writers who are seeking to get their stories published?
    Well, I wouldn't say I'm the person to ask, but I guess, just keep trying. Don't quit. Wow, now I sound cliche. 
    * Is there anything in the future we can expect from you --such as a new story or etc?
    Well, yeah, besides Just Perfect, I really want to write a kidnapping/hostage book. I'm into crime stuff.
    * If you could pick one character from any of your book sot actually be real, who would it be and why?    
    Um.... probably none since most of them kill people, and then there's Seth, but I don't particuarly like Seth.
    * Which one of your projects would you say gets the most attention and are you at all surprised by this?
    The Assassin, and no it doesn't really surprise me because I work my butt off to make sure people notice it. 
    * Who has kept you writing through all the good and bad times?
    No one really, I mean, me mostly. Writing is something that nobody in my life really gets about me, so it's me just saying "WRITE, LAURA, WRITE!"
    * Anything else you would like to add as an ending to this interview?
    Thanks for having me!



And that was Lala for you.  Thanks for joining us on the blog today and hopefully like me other people have learned more about you as a writer.  I wish you the best of luck with your projects; you know I'm keeping my hopes up for your book.  If people aren't reading your book or haven't read it yet, they really don't know what they are missing!
More interviews to come soon....