Who is Laurel Solorzano?
Laurel Solorzano has enjoyed writing since she was in middle school, exchanging manuscripts for years with her best friend. After traveling the globe for a time, Laurel set her goal to become a published author. As she works teaching English and Spanish, she writes stories in her free time. Laurel currently lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with her husband, Yader.
Get to Know Laurel
Who is your favorite author?
I can’t pick just one, because I have enjoyed so many authors throughout my lifetime. As a young teen, my favorites were Robin Jones Gunn and Ted Dekker. As I got older, I started reading in the dystopian genre and have enjoyed Suzanne Collins, Veronica Roth, and Ally Condie.
What do you enjoy doing (besides writing)?
Besides writing, I enjoy reading and traveling. In the past few years, I have visited Italy, France, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Panama, Peru, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. I hope to visit Egypt, Israel, England, and Spain in the next few years.
Where do you like to write?
I’m not picky as long as I have my laptop. I usually write sitting sideways on my couch, but I’ll sometimes write in bed as well. If the weather is nice, I’ll write on the porch. I tend to avoid going busy places like coffee shops or libraries as it’s more distracting than helpful for me.
When did you write your first novel?
I wrote my first full-sized novel in the seventh grade. I remember changing the margins on the Word document to make the story last the magic 100 pages (having no idea about word count in relation to novel size). This was about a typical seventh grade girl navigating middle school life. Notice it’s not published, and for good reason.
How is my published version of In the Shadow of the Cities different from the original draft?
Tour my bookshelves.
