Lawna Mackie
Lawna Mackie is a small-town girl with big world dreams. She was born in Jasper, Alberta, and her parents were outdoor enthusiasts. Her dad was an avid fisherman and she is certain her mother was Mother Nature.
The love of her life is her husband. He, along with her animals are the inspiration for everything she writes.
She lives for romance, and truly believes love conquers all. From an early age you could always find her with her nose buried in a romance novel—that hasn’t changed. She writes various forms of romance from contemporary, paranormal and fantasy to erotica.
Marina Raydun: Your genre of choice is romance through and through. When did you first discover it for yourself?
Lawna Mackie: When I was in high school I read Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte and I was in love with the doomed love story between Heathcliff and Catherine. Then a good friend of mine, who always had her nose buried in Harlequin romances offered me one to read. I was hooked and from that point on I knew romance novels would always be the books for me.
MR: What is the first experience you had when you learned that language had power?
LM: When I started writing my first novel, I didn’t really realize it would be a novel or exactly what it would be. What I did know was that I loved writing and I love fantasy. When I finished the story, I remembered thinking “Now what?” Eventually I let somebody read it and they loved it. I wondered if they were serious or just being kind. Others told me it was good, so I got up enough nerve to submit it to some publishers and to my surprise I found one. Once that happened, I believed I should share my stories with more people, so I kept on writing.
MR: What do you owe real life people upon whom you base your characters?
LM: First and foremost, I owe my husband everything. He is my best friend, my inspiration and my number one fan. I can’t say he reads romance, but he is my hero in all worlds. I also love animals more than I can say in words, so I write about them. You will never find a story from me without a fantasy critter or animal of some sort.
MR: What’s the most difficult part about writing characters from the opposite sex?
LM: I like the saying, “Men are from Mars and women are from Venus,” because it’s true. Men and women can be so absolutely different. This is true for my husband and I. Sometimes I think we are salt and pepper. I find myself asking “Is this really how my male character would view this situation?” It can be difficult.
MR: How do you select names of your characters?
LM: If I am writing a fantasy, there is a little more freedom with the names. I can be a little more inventive. For my contemporary novels I generally pick names that I like. I do web searches for names that are catchy to me. I often ask my readers what names they like.
MR: Some of your novels are rather “naughty.” Is there an illicit book you had to sneak growing up?
LM: That’s too funny! I can’t remember which book may have seemed exceptionally “naughty” to me, but once I discovered paranormal romances, I expanded my reading list and discovered “Wow, there are some naughty books out here.” I loved it! I like pushing the boundaries between steamy romance to HOT.
MR: What’s the best and worst book review you’ve ever received?
LM: The worst review I received was when I started self-publishing early on in my career before self-publishing was widely accepted. I discovered that one of my books had mistakes—spelling and grammar. A reader called me out on that rightfully so. I was devastated, because even though I had read it over and over many times, and others read it as well, it still had mistakes. I pulled that down very quickly, and it was then that I knew I would never publish another book without hiring a professional editor. I now have an editor that I have been working with for many years and I couldn’t do what I do without her.
I have received many great reviews but the ones that make my heart sing are the ones where readers can’t put the book down, they laugh, they cry and fall in love like I do every time I read a story.
MR: What is the most difficult part about your artistic process?
LM: I get a lot of my ideas from my dreams and when I don’t dream it messes me up a bit. Cookies and milk at bedtime help. I also like camping and a lot of ideas come from being outdoors. I can’t say I really like winter…except for Christmas and snow, so I have to wait for summer.
MR: If you could cast your characters in a Hollywood adaption of your book, who would play your characters?
LM: Right now, I have picked Sarah Rafferty from Suits as my heroine and my hero is Peter Badenhop. I believe he’s a model. I found him on Pinterest. They are both such beautiful looking people. I imagine they are beautiful on the inside as well.
MR: Is there one topic you would never write about as an author? Why?
LM: I don’t like politics. I could never see myself writing about that.
To learn more about Lawna, please visit her website at https://lawnamackie.com
To request additional review copies or an interview with Lawna Mackie, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.