Laurie Norlander
ABOUT
Thanks for stopping by! Although I’ve lived most of my life in the Midwest, you can probably tell that I love the ocean. I also love crossword puzzles, my husband, and writing uplifting fiction—not necessarily in that order. If you enjoy books that entertain, encourage, and inspire, you’ve come to the right place!
As a former CPA turned novelist, I am a firm believer in second chances. In high school, I journaled, wrote poetry, and dabbled with short stories, convinced that someday I’d write the great American novel. As often happens, life took me in a different direction. I fell in love, got married, and had two children. In between, I earned a bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and successfully sat for the CPA exam.
Our lives settled into a comfortable routine, but juggling family and a demanding career left little time for outside interests. It took nearly twenty years and my younger son’s deployment to Iraq to get me writing again. My first attempts were little more than two a.m. therapy sessions with no clear direction, but gradually a story took shape. Although the effort lacked polish, I was hooked. I started over with a new idea, renewed enthusiasm, and a more focused approach.
I found teachers, mentors, and critique partners who challenged me to improve my skills. After two years of study and edits, I had a completed manuscript, but it wasn’t until Mirror Images won the 2012 Women of Faith contest and was published by WestBow Press that I stopped referring to myself as a CPA and started telling people that I was an author. My second novel, The Jonah Complex, was released in April 2016 and my third, Fades the Light, in May 2022.
If you enjoy fast-paced fiction layered with intrigue, romance, and humor, I hope you’ll check out my books. From the beautiful cover art, by JoLynn Norlander of Beyond Photography, to the last page, I think you’ll like what you see.
My career in public accounting taught me to think logically and pay attention to detail. My artistic side sat on the sidelines, observing, absorbing, and waiting… ready to tap into years of life experience and bottled up creativity. The unusual arc of my own story equips me to weave complex plots with plenty of twists and turns without losing sight of my characters’ needs or the nuances of their personalities.
I write about ordinary people. People who have made mistakes. They have scars they’re trying to hide. They have fears they’re trying to overcome and they have dreams. Ultimately, they find hope and a new way of looking at life.
As a Christian, my faith lends itself to storytelling with positive messages and themes of restoration and healing. As my characters journey through dark places, they find strength they didn’t know they had. Hopefully, their stories will both entertain and inspire you to believe in second chances.
I live in west central Wisconsin with my husband. We have two married sons and four beautiful granddaughters who have added unmeasurable joy to our lives. Our hobbies include photography, music, and travel, so if we’re not working, you might find us heading out on a road trip. We’ll be the ones singing along with the radio, camera at the ready, looking for a new adventure!
I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED WORDS
...song lyrics, classic literature, poetry—and of course, crossword puzzles—so it’s not surprising that I enjoy putting my thoughts on paper. I choose to write entertaining fiction because I am young enough to remember reading books that captivated me as a child, drawing me to magical places where good triumphed over evil and the heroes and villains were easy to identify. I write uplifting fiction because I have lived long enough to know adults need heroes, too.