Q&A With Lauren Smith 

Each Q&A I do whether it’s with authors, publicists, agents, editors, marketing and publishing experts etc keeps getting more and more exciting! Today’s Q&A is with USA Today Bestselling Author Lauren Smith. Lauren writes in many romance genres which are, Historical Romance, Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance, Time Travel Romance & many more. Lauren’s recent release which came out on September 25^th & is the beginning of a series is Choose The Bear.

Q: Lauren, would you please give a brief description of Choose The Bear? 

A: It’s a standard paranormal romance story with a twist! I tackle the social media posted question of if you are a woman, would you rather be alone in the woods with a man or a bear? I took the plot idea from there and have my heroine rescued by a bear during a man’s attack. And it turns out the bear is a bear shifter. 

Q: Where do your ideas for all your romance series come from? I love reading romance and believe in happily ever after’s. Why did you choose to write romance?

A: I love to write romance because the stories are both fun and empowering. When readers read fiction and romance, they create more neural pathways in their brain for empathy. So, reading about overcoming odds, accepting things in other people makes you more empathetic. I also enjoy writing strong heroines who fight for their dreams and equal relationships with strong, but compassionate men. To me, romance is the height of what women can wish for in life, it’s the best of all worlds. 

Q: How many books will be in the Choose The Bear series? 

A: There will be 3 total. I plan to write Choose the Wolf and Choose the Dragon as well. 

Q: What lessons & emotions do you hope readers learn and feel after reading your books? 

A: I always want my readers to walk away from my books feeling like they’ve changed emotionally or intellectually. At the least, I want readers to have really enjoyed the story and felt like they’ve escaped reality to experience something wonderful.

Q: If/when Hollywood were to get the rights to your work, who would be the dream cast for the characters you created? The entertainment industry needs original content again.  

A: That’s such a hard question! I have so many books out now that I’d have to sit down and work up a cast for each book! But I agree the entertainment industry really needs original content again.

Q: How does it feel knowing your novels are on the USA Today Bestsellers List? It sounds like a dream come true! 

A: It was magical. I never expected to hit the list, let alone hit it twice. I was on a writer cruise when I first found out that I hit the list. My traditionally published editor sent me a congratulations email and I replied for what? And she said for hitting the list and it was with an indie published book. I was so thrilled!

Q: In your point of view what makes the perfect romance & what is your advice for anyone wanting to write romance like you do? 

A: The perfect romance needs to touch upon a universal fantasy. The mistake I see a lot of writers make is that they try to write a weird or different book but there’s nothing for the readers to really relate to or recognize. You want your story to stand apart of course, but you want it to still be a story that readers can follow and care about. So, the perfect romance is a story that has a way to resonate with the majority of readers and to have some universal appeal.