We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Eryn LaPlant a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Eryn, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

It’s funny, I cannot actually pinpoint the exact moment I have an idea. There is always this moment of sun shining through the clouds in my brain and angels sing, telling me I have this great idea for a story. For example, I was working on a historical fiction years ago and happened to take a break and go to this little town where Man of Steel was filmed. Once there, I was struck with the idea of what would happen if an actor dressed in his superhero costume suddenly came across a crime. Would he try to stop it? Would he walk away? Well, my mind was abuzz the whole ride home with this storyline. That led to a short story, which turned into a novel, which turned into a 6-book series. The process, though, is: have the idea, brainstorm the plot, tighten up the plot on an outline, then research and write. I usually get quite excited to write by the time I get to the outline, so I will research and write at the same time. After the writing is done, it’s just edit edit edit until it’s perfect.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I started writing when I was in high school. My friend and I would come up with stories, which would now be called fanfics, about the New Kids on the Block. She would write some, then trade off with me and I would write some. It wasn’t until college when I began to write stories that didn’t involve boy bands. My first historical fiction was my senior thesis for my history major requirement. My professor, Dr. Leopold, said during our initial conference, “You write fiction, don’t you Ms. LaPlant.” To this day, I don’t know how he knew that, but I ended up writing a historically based fiction on the Titanic. It was then, I knew I wanted to write historical fictions for the rest of my life.

I love immersing myself in what I write. I’ll choose the right scenery, right music, right clothes even to grasp the full essence of being in the story while I write it. I hope this shows in my work and that my readers will feel as I do.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

For a while, I was on a roll, popping out a book every nine months to a year. I had been nannying in my day to day life and was able to write while the children slept. It was great. I had a day job that paid, and a career where I had time to create. Two things happened though, that caused a complete halt to my work. The company I worked for as a nanny changed their format and made it so one only got jobs if they subscribed to the company. Basically, I had to pay the company in order for me to find a job and they took a percentage of my income. That truly defeated the purpose of having a job with them, so I removed myself from the company. I focused on only writing books, keeping up with my blog and website, and creating social media content. Unfortunately, that did not generate income either and someone in my family became quite angry. They basically squashed my creative fire, by saying that my writing isn’t worth staying home, and I needed to put my imagination aside and get a real job. I was crushed, hurt, and angry with that person, But I understood their concern. I found a day job and my writing took a back seat. To this day, my books are not the main focus of my day to day life, but I will never give them up. My imagination is my world and it cannot be stopped. Luckily, I have found a way to work within my time and financial constraints. It might take a little longer for my work to be published but it will be done.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I work consistently with three people in my writing career, who I could not have come as far as I have if I didn’t have them. Those lovely women are: Ann-Marie Zammit, Dawn Taylor, and Doreen Hemme, with a shout-out to Vivien Nethery. Ann-Marie is not only my editor, but she’s one of my very best friends ever. I met Annie in 1996 on the internet when it was in its infancy. We both had a love for Superman and eventually connected in person. Some of my favorite young-adult memories are with Annie, as we roamed through New York City, eating hot dogs and seeing famous studios and museums. We lost touch for a while and once Facebook became prevalent, I found her again. I had lost the person I was working with as an editor and searching for a new one, when Annie told me she had been an editor for ten plus years. She was hired on the spot.
Dawn Taylor, is the friend I mentioned above with the New Kids on the Block fanfictions. All these years later and she is still my go-to for bouncing off ideas. There isn’t a book I have written where Dawn hasn’t had a vital part of in the making.
Doreen Hemme is the photographer in my back pocket. She has supplied several photographs for cover art including Falling for Hope and The Shrouded Rebel.
Vivien Nethery is the exclusive creator of Eryn LaPlant merchandise. From stickers to bookmarks, to pens and other graphics, Vivi is there to spread the word of my work in the cutest way possible.
All of these women are the back bone of my publishing world. I am so lucky to have them be a part of my work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.novelisterynlaplant.com
• Instagram: @novelisterynlaplant
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorerynlaplant/
• Youtube: @firstbornpublishingauthore1809

Image Credits

Elaina Burkat Photography
for the formal author photos

All the rest were taken by me and the covers were created by me.