WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Helping writers become bestselling authors

Writing Heroes: Laura Pauling

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For a long time now, Angela and I have wanted a way to acknowledge the people who have helped us develop into stronger writers and who add to the writing community as a whole. As a new feature here at The Bookshelf Muse, Angela and I will take turns giving well-deserved recognition to some of the people who really make an impact…people who truly are Writing Heroes.

For my first hero, I picked Laura Pauling. As a matter of fact, when we first started discussing this series, I believe my words to Angela were I get Laura. It was like a fantasy draft, and I WON!

One of the things I love about Laura’s blog is how very useful her information is. She keeps up with what people are talking about. Her posts explore topics that are timely for authors, and issues that are not often clear-cut. And she informs without telling you what to think. She puts the information out there in a way that makes you want know, want to learn more. As a person who values truth and the importance of figuring things out for yourself, I love that. I should also mention that Laura is active on twitter too, finding great articles and being a bright, supportive voice for all writers!

She also has excellent taste in books. When she reviews a book, it almost always peaks my interest, and let me tell you, I’m pretty picky. And when I finally get around to reading her recommendations (my TBR list is as bottomless as Hermione’s purse), they almost always satisfy. For her taste alone, I salute her!

And lastly, I adore her because she’s so freaking honest. When popular bloggers stick a virtual foot in the mouth, she talks about it. She pokes fun at the ongoing ambiguity of the writing world (do blog/don’t blog, be honest/don’t be a jerk). She admits to dancing in her pajamas to Lady Gaga. With the blinds open.

I am speechless. Speechless.

So all I can say is Thank you Laura, for being one of my WRITING HEROES. You inspire me, woman!

To pay it forward, Angela or I will give a 1000 word critique to each Writing Hero we profile. These writers can then choose to keep it for themselves or offer it as a giveaway on their blog! All writing heroes will also have a permanent link in our header!

So tell me Musers…do you know Laura? Has she helped you or your writing in some way? Please tell us in the comments and help celebrate this amazing WRITING HERO! 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Deb A. Marshall says

    Thanks for this feature on Laura. I just discovered her blog today through another pay it forward. I am even more excited to follow her blog and learn from her.

  8. Christine Danek says

    I think blogger ate my comment. Laura has helped me tons with her blog posts. Thanks Laura! Also, thanks for your logline advice.
    Thanks to Angela for doing this, so nice.

  11. Carrie Butler says

    Thank you for introducing us to Laura! I’m off to follow her. 🙂

    …That sounded creepy, didn’t it? Let me rephrase that. I’m off to follow her blog. *grins*

  16. Marcia says

    I always enjoy reading what Laura has to say. Very thought provoking. I think maybe I’m most in awe of the large number of great links she provides on Twitter.

  17. Julie Musil says

    *Bows to Laura’s awesomeness*

    Excellent choice, Becca! Laura is totally amazing, totally sweet, totally supportive, and I’m totally happy I know her. Thanks so much for this well-deserved shout out to someone we know and love.

  19. C.R. Evers says

    I recognize Laura’s picture. I’ve visited her blog before, but I haven’t been the greatest with blog visiting lately. I’ll have to go there and follow her more closely. She sounds fabulous! :0)

  22. Lydia Sharp says

    I love Laura! I first checked out her blog because she always left such amazing comments on MY blog. I just had to see who this woman was! And I agree she’s wonderful. Excellent choice. 🙂

  23. Angela Ackerman says

    Haha, we totally did fight over Laura–I imagine there will be a few more folks we fight over too–Becca and I get inspiration from many of the same sources. 🙂

    Laura is a wonderful, hard working writer who has a great attitude and a genuine caring demeanor. I feel so grateful to know her and I wish her much success in her writing career!

    Angela

  29. Laura Pauling says

    Wow! Such nice words. This was truly unexpected. Thank you so much. There are so many much bigger bloggers out there you could spotlight.I appreciate it. Like everyone, I struggle sometimes with the direction of my blog, what I want to blog about, what should I blog about. But in the end, I write about structure b/c I’m learning about it and it affects so many areas. And other times I write about what’s on my heart like dancing in my jammies. 🙂

  31. Traci Kenworth says

    I do!! I do!! Angela introduced
    her to me when I was having
    problems with my WordPress and
    plugins and I’ve kept contact
    ever since and not regretted it
    a moment. She’s always been
    friendly, constructive, and all-
    around a good person. So, yay, you
    go, Laura!!

  32. Stina Lindenblatt says

    I know she’s my hero. After reading my WIP, she had me rethink my story structure and I started questioning my mc’s motivations and goals. The result was a more emotion based story.

    Her blog is filled with awesome as is her WIP (which I was lucky to get to read in it’s early draft and can’t wait to read again).

  33. SP Sipal says

    Laura is absolutely awesome! So glad to see her recognized by another set of fabulous bloggers. 🙂

    I love the way she breaks apart plots and helps us analyze story construction that works. And, like you, I rely on her fair and honest approach to publishing issues that I need to understand.

    What a great way to pay it forward!

  39. Sophia Richardson says

    I love Laura’s examples of Blake Snyder’s Beat Sheet in action; they really helped me with story structure, and of course led me to read Save the Cat, which in turn helped me outline and write my second MS. Plus her post on how to pick the best story idea is great for, well, picking the best story idea and then making it even bigger and better.