L. E. Daniels is an awarded American author, poet, and editor of over 130 published titles. Her novel, Serpent’s Wake: A Tale for the Bitten shortlisted for Singapore’s Half the World Global Literati Award and is a Notable Work with the Horror Writer Association’s Mental Health Initiative. Lauren co-edited Aiki Flinthart’s legacy anthology, Relics, Wrecks and Ruins (CAT) with Geneve Flynn, winning the 2021 Australian Aurealis Award. She co-edited the 2022 Aurealis finalist, We are Providence (Weird House) with Christa Carmen, also listing on the Bram Stoker Awards® Preliminary Ballot (2022).
Recent publications include Silk in Hush, Don’t Wake the Monster (Twisted Wing), a 2023 Bram Stoker Awards® Nominee. Her personal essays are featured in Halloween Haunts’ Quick Bites and the prestigious literary publication, 34 Orchard. Lauren’s poem, Night Terrors in Of Horror and Hope (HWA), was a finalist for the 2022 Australian Shadows Award. Her author craft book, Winning Short Story Competitions: Essential Tools for the Serious Writer (Hawkeye Books) is a Hawkeye bestseller. Lauren directs Brisbane Writers Workshop.
What inspired you to be a writer?
My father read poetry aloud, especially Poe, Tennyson, and Robert W. Service so I fell in love with the music of language early. I developed a stutter when I began to speak so I began to write. And attempts at stories and poetry followed naturally.
What prompted you to write Winning Short Story Competitions: Essential Tools for the Serious Writer?
Cate Sawyer and I drafted the manuscript during the lockdowns of COVID 2020. Why not write a book while living in a state of hypervigilance and trying to homeschool? Seriously though, it was staked in everything I’d learned from decades as a writer, editor, and literary judge. After so many years, we can see patterns for what doesn’t work… and for what works beautifully.
Do you have any more books in the pipeline?
Oh yes, there’s talk of another author craft book on memoirs and personal essays. Even fiction writers will be asked to write short pieces on themselves, their experiences, or the topics their work explores. It’s good to know how to write creative non-fiction well so it’s about time Cate and I shared this advice.
What is your professional background?
With my freshly minted BA in Writing, I started working in publishing in 1992 with Ziff-Davis Publishing in Boston. In ’99, I attained my MFA in Creative Writing, moved to Australia and spent 15 years working for Interactive Publications Pty Ltd, an independent publisher with a fierce track record in quality work with important cultural and social messages. By now, I’ve been in the industry for thirty years and the changes have been revolutionary during this time.
Any advice you’d like to give aspiring writers?
Be teachable. Attend writing events. Pay it forward. All successful writers make it because someone believed in them. Do the same for others.
Who/what inspires you?
People who survive hardship and are expanded, not narrowed by it. The big souled and generous people out there.
What are your hobbies, interests and favourite books?
Watching bad creature feature movies and forest bathing with my kids and dogs.
How can readers contact you?
Website: https://www.brisbanewriters.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17886924.L_E_Daniels
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurenelisedaniels/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauren_elise_daniels/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ledaniels.bsky.social
Contact via: Hawkeye Contact Page
Guest, GenreFiction Podcast, December 2023.
Guest, The Paperback Podcast with host, Ricky Grove, we explore the ground-breaking work of Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning. September, 2023.
Weird & Wonderful: HWA Mental Health Initiative Livestream Panel moderator with Lee Murray and Brian Matthews, August 2023.
Interview, Art & Humanity, November 2022.
Guest, Between the Covers Podcast, November 2022.
