Hello and welcome to my page. My name is Laura Susan Johnson and I am the author of two lgbtqia novels, Crush and Bright. They are the first two novels in the series known as The House on Glass Beach. I am currently working on novel #3, Armour (August 2016) and hope to have it completed by 2017.
Both Crush and Bright deal with gay couples facing harsh difficulties as they simply try to live peaceful lives together. Both books are available as ebooks and paperbacks at Beaten Track Publishing in Lancashire, England. The website is http://www.beatentrackpublishing.com
Ebooks of both of my novels are also available through Smashwords, plus my short stories: Burdens, Cold Foot, Our House, and Boyfriend Goes Home.
I write what I know, as many authors do, but I also try to create characters out of empathy, I frequently write stories stemming from realistic (sometimes TOO realistic) scenarios, but I plan to tame my inner beast and write at least 2 childrens’ stories to add to my volume of shorts as soon as I can. Of course the childrens’ stories will be in a separate volume from the more adult stories.
I’m a very shy person tucked away in the Southern plains of the U.S. I have become used to writing in the British way (and my editors at Beaten Track tease me about it from time to time. Just think if I began to talk like a Brit in these parts.) Aside from writing, I had a sixteen year career in nursing that ended when I fell down a flight of stairs and injured my spine and leg. Later I learned that I have heart problems and possibly an autoimmune disease, but I prefer to keep myself as busy as possible in spite of chronic pain. I enjoy reading, but because I have a semi-severe case of ADD and narcolepsy, I find movies keep my attention much easier. I’ve always been more of a visual person by nature. I love photography and find such the potential for amazing stories within one still image. I like to paint with acrylic paints, though more paint ends up on me than the canvas, and I love to watch different movies of different genres (except for gore-horror and material likely to give me a 4th heart attack, such as The Exorcist…no thanks), and write movie reviews.
With this brand new blog site, I really hope to finally share everything I can about the books I’ve written and the book I’m now writing, as well as the books that await us in the future. Here are the links to my first “Rainbow Snippet” posts. They are inconsistent lengths because I was confused about the rules of the Rainbow Snippets FB group.
19 July: Intro to the Rainbow Snippets/New Stuff For ARMOUR A decent intro, I guess. A lot of self promo anyway. Oh well, at least it’s on the blog.
24 July: Armour: The Abduction in Six Sentences I still didn’t quite get the gist of perhaps introducing the concept of what Armour is before just putting readers right into the middle of a scene of violence!
30 July: Bright: Hatred Equals Murder which is about how Walter’s stepmother, who once loved him in a way that borders on paedophilia, now hates him to the point of wanting to do the unthinkable.
6 August: Bright: A Love of Labour That moment every angry, selfish, fly-by-night loner self-hater dreads: the love of another person.
13 August: Armour: Lonely Lloyd finally forces himself to acknowledge the damage Derek’s father had done.
20 August: Armour: One By One Derek and Joey have been missing for hours…finally Derek is found and brought to hospital.
28 August: Bright: Someone Special Walter talks Monty into staying in his home as opposed to living in a car.
10 September: Snippet from “Old Cars: A Short Story”
17 September: Bright: Blinded By The Light Natalie Mattheis cautions Walter about his stepmother, and Walter secretly acknowledges his own denial of the situation collapsing around him.
24 September: Bright: Fighting The Assault On Reason While in an oppressive religious environment, Walter swims upward through the mash his brain is turning into, and finds a little gray matter.
1 October: Armour: Dignity, Even Whilst Wading Through Pigshit After subjecting everyone to heart-wrenching drama, I thought I’d share a bit of comic relief through Derek’s eyes, at Lloyd’s expense of course.
22 October: Bright: Sugar Skulls Monty remembers the happy part of his childhood in Mexico.
30 October: Armour: The Red Coat Derek writes a poem after Joey goes missing.
5 November: Armour: Kicking and Screaming Simon Rollins returns to Derek for a “brief” visit.
12 November: Bright: The Jewel Box Monty presents Walter with a gift of gratitude for saving his life.
26 November: Bright: No Place To Hide Walter’s ecstasy (note: slightly NSFW.
As I become accustomed to WordPress, I will try to better introduce readers to my 3 babies, Crush, Bright and Armour, and to the amazing characters that live within.
I’m working on individual pages for Crush, Bright, and Armour, along with my short stories Burdens, Our House, Cold Foot, Boyfriend Goes Home, and more as we speak.
Stay Tuned
Love and Equality Forever,
Laura Susan Johnson ❤
The House On Glass Beach 