Lauri Schoenfeld
Lauri Schoenfeld currently resides in Utah with her hubby, three kids, and dog Jack Wyatt Wolverine. She’s a child abuse advocate, a Nancy Drew enthusiast, and is part cyborg. Teaching creative writing classes to her community is one of her favorite things to do. When she’s not having long conversations with her characters and creating stories, she’s hosting the Enlightenment Show, reading, or solving a mystery. Lauri’s a well sought-after speaker and a frequent guest with multiple writing groups, podcasts, and businesses, talking about Connecting to Your Artist, Embracing Your Fears to Succeed, and Learning to Love Yourself After Abuse. She’s the owner of Inner Enlightenment, a business built around connecting to your inner light and child within through stillness, creativity, play, and self-expression. Lauri teaches and holds creativity workshops, retreats, and one-on-one coaching.
Marina Raydun: You’re a child abuse advocate and you also head a business that focuses on connecting to your inner child. Why is this so important to you, and how does this weave its way into your writing?
Lauri Scoenfeld: I grew up with childhood abuse within my home, where I felt that play, wonder, expression, and feelings were unacceptable. Because of that, I tried to be something that I wasn’t for a long time, which ultimately turned me into my worst nightmare as unhealed wounds festered without a solution. Writing has been very cathartic and healing for me to write my deepest thoughts on paper where expression, creativity, wonder, and play are always welcome.
MR: Little Owl is a psychological thriller. Do you think you'll continue to write in this genre or are you open to trying your hand at multiple ones?
LS: I would love to write more thrillers, but I’m also open to writing other genres. I have a few YA realistic fiction novels, and a non-fiction book I’m currently in different stages on.
MR: How do you select the names of your characters?
LS: Sometimes, they’re nicknames to people I know, but most often, I can see what the characters look like right from the beginning of creating the story, and I ponder what their name feels to me by what I can see of them.
MR: What was the hardest scene to write when you were working on Little Owl?
LS: There were so many hard parts, but the end was shocking to me with the twist, and after I finished writing it, I cried for a while.
MR: What did you edit out of your book?
LS: I originally had nine POVs for a while within the story. Two characters were chased out of the novel and never came back. I also had many chapters and scenes that didn’t end up moving the story forward, so they also got pulled.
MR: If you could cast your characters in a Hollywood adaption of your novel, who would play your characters?
LS: Oh, I love that question. Adaline Rushner would be Claire Danes. Cache Rushner, her husband is Tom Ellis. Officer Abbott would play Wentworth Miller and Sam would absolutely be Justin Hartley.
MR: Is there a thing you’ve written that makes you cringe now?
LS: I wrote a piece for Little Owl about what a decayed body smelled and looked like. It was cringe-worthy writing it, but reading the edit, it was equally cringy because my writing was uncomfortable and stiff. You could tell I didn’t enjoy writing that scene. There was not much happening, and it read monotone.
MR: If you had to do something differently as a child or a teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?
LS: I’d stop overthinking and trying to be someone else’s voice. I’d write my own stories, the unfiltered, real, gritty and true pieces, and allow myself to mess up more often.
MR: What is your favorite genre to read?
LS: I love thrillers and mysteries, but also I enjoy memoirs and non-fiction. I’m all about investigating ourselves and finding the hidden secrets that no one knows about.
MR: Is there a book that people might be surprised to learn you love? I love the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I’ve read that book multiple times throughout my life and also gather new pieces of wisdom about the beauty of the journey in life.
To learn more about Lauri, please visit:
Website: https://laurischoenfeld.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LauriSchoenfeld
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurischoenfeld/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurischoenfeldevents
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Lauri-Schoenfeld/e/B096ZFRXB9/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
To request review copies or an interview with Lauri Shoenfeld, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge Publicity: Mickey.CreativeEdge@Gmail.com | (403) 464-6925.