How long does it take to write an award-winning novel? One year? Ten? Alice Wilson-Fried spent seven years crafting her debut novel, Outside Child. Laurel Anne Hill wrote her award-winning Heroes Arise in seven months. Were these authors’ successful approaches to writing different, or the same?
Laurel Ann Hill grew up in San Francisco, with more dreams of adventure than good sense or money. Her close brushes with death, love of family, respect for honor and belief in a higher power continue to influence her writing and her life. KOMENAR Publishing released Heroes Arise, Laurel’s debut parable, in October 2007. ForeWord Magazine selected it for a Book of the Year Award for 2007 (bronze, science fiction category). In August 2008, Heroes Arise headed the trade paperback top seller list at Borderlands Books in San Francisco. Laurel is a member of CWC San Francisco/Peninsula Branch and has served on their executive board for five years. She also is a member of the Women’s National Book Association and Women Writing the West.
Alice Wilson-Fried grew up in the Magnolia Housing Project in New Orleans. After attending Grambling College and Tulane University, she worked in public relations at the Delta Queen Steamboat Company. For the past sixteen years, Alice has lived in California with her husband, Frank. She is a mother of two, stepmother of three, and grandmother of eight. While Outside Child is Alice’s first published novel, she is also the author of a nonfiction book titled Menopause, Sisterhood, and Tennis.