Laurel Osterkamp is the award-winning author of nearly a dozen novels, including Favorite Daughters and the #1 Amazon bestseller Beautiful Little Furies. Her work explores messy relationships, personal reinvention, and the kind of love that lingers. She lives in Minneapolis, teaches adult ESL and middle school enrichment, and is raising a family who loves to argue—and cats who love to hiss. Visit Laurel at her website and on Instagram.
Ten years after her high school crush broke her heart, Rylee is shocked to find him sitting across from her in a graduate writing class. Carson was supposed to chase Ivy League dreams—but life had other plans. Now he's a single father, and Rylee's reluctant writing partner. When their collaboration turns into a secret no-strings fling, they promise to keep it simple. But the heart doesn’t follow rules—and neither does the truth.
Ten years after losing the love of her life, Robin is finally beginning to heal—thanks to Nick, a charming, irreverent guy who makes her believe in second chances. But just as their relationship deepens, Robin must fulfill a promise she made before Nick ever came into the picture: to star in the play her late boyfriend Jed wrote for her before he died. Torn between a past she can’t forget and a future she’s afraid to claim, Robin finds herself in an impossible love triangle—one man very real, the other only a memory. =
Robin's dream of winning The Standout—a ballet-themed fashion reality show—unravels fast after she receives a threatening email: Dump your fiancé or else. When a slanderous website surfaces and rivals turn ruthless, Robin is thrust into a web of paranoia and secrets, unsure who she can trust—including herself. With only her enigmatic teammate Zelda and her protective brother Ted by her side, she must confront dark truths from her past before they destroy her future.
I would tell her to pay more attention to stuff like branding, marketing, social media, and identifying her ideal readers. Smart authors figure all that out early on, but I was late to the game.
In one sentence, what has the road to publishing been like for you?
My road to publishing has been full of detours, veering off in one direction, only to realize I missed a turn a few miles back.
Which of your recent characters is most similar to you?
While I’d love to compare myself to Rylee or Robin, I can’t claim to have their strength or bravery. I’m probably most like Professor Aldrich in The Side Project. She loves to geek out and talk about writing, she cares about her students, and she really believes that a hybrid of literary and genre fiction can exist. Plus, she’s a huge romantic, and the way she gets her earring caught in her scarf on the first day of class is totally something I would do!
What is the last movie you saw that you would recommend?
I haven’t seen many movies lately. But I recently finished watching the TV show Pulse on Netflix. It’s like early Grey’s Anatomy and I was so into it! The two main characters have amazing chemistry.
If your life was a TV series, which celebrity would you want to narrate it?
I have to go with Kristen Bell. The way she narrates both Veronica Mars and Gossip Girl is amazing–so sarcastically eloquent. My own inner-dialogue isn’t as clever, but we’re talking about who’d I’d want, not the most appropriate casting choice.
If we were to visit you right now, what are some places you would take us to see?
I live in Minneapolis. If you were visiting me here, I’d say, “Hey, let’s drive up to Bemidji!” That’s where The Side Project is set, and it’s only a few hours drive. We could go to Itasca State Park and see the Mississippi headwaters, which are super cool. We’d walk around Bemidji State University and downtown Bemidji and see the statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. We’d stay at Ruttgers Lodge, which was the inspiration of Reynolds Resort, where Dana and Rylee work. It’s gorgeous–right on the shore of Lake Bemidji, and summer is the perfect time to visit.
Thanks to Laurel for visiting with us and for sharing one of her books with our readers.
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4 comments:
I would gladly read any of the three...this is a new author to me!
The Standout interests me very much.
I would choose The Side Project.
The Side Project
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