Diana Laurence

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Diana Laurence

Diana Laurence is the pseudonym of Diane Lau, author of Aggie's Nine Heroes, How to Catch and Keep a Vampire, the Bloodchained series of vampire romance, and the Soulful Sex anthologies of erotic romance fiction.

Laurence is strongly influenced by psychoanalytical theorist Carl Jung and his principles regarding the psyche, archetypes, the anima/animus, the Unus Mondus, and synchronicity. These theories are subtly utilized in her romance fiction work, including Diana's Deck, which is a sort of Jungian Tarot.

Although graphic, Laurence's erotic romance writing eschews coarse language and takes an idealized approach to the subject matter. Her stories typically are driven by a mystical/spiritual bond between the hero and heroine, based upon the compelling power of the animus over the female psyche. Terming her style "erotica with soul," Laurence writes tales in every romance genre, including Regency, paranormal, contemporary, historical, science fiction, and especially fantasy.

Her interest in the vampire archetype as a romantic figure is expressed in a number of her works and essays.

Soulful Sex, 2004

The author was born August 18, 1956, and grew up in the area of Milwaukee, Wis. and graduated in 1977 with a bachelors degree in English from the University of Wisconsin—Madison. She launched her writing career at age 13 with the publication of a short story in 'Teen magazine. She had a modest freelancing career which included the 1989 publication of The Crosses of Lent (as Diane Lau) by Concordia Publishing House, and numerous short fiction and nonfiction works. From 1997-2000 she edited a weekly ezine of National Hockey League-related humor "Hockey Snacks," which attained a cult following. In 1998 she published the self-help book Living Beyond Reality: A Jungian Primer for Enhancing Your Life and the novel The Resurrection of Captain Eternity both as Diane Lau (Living Beyond Reality Press).

Laurence's debut work of erotic romance was an anthology entitled Soulful Sex: Erotic Tales of Fantasy and Romance (New Age Dimensions, 2004), issued first as an ebook. It was a bestseller in the genre of romance ebooks and also a Finalist for Best Anthology in the 2005 Eppie Awards. Laurence subsequently penned the erotic romance novel Souls' Embrace (New Age Dimensions, 2004), released in trade paperback and ebook formats. The sequel to the first Soulful Sex collection, Soulful Sex Volume II, followed in 2005, along with a trade paperback version of Soulful Sex: Erotic Tales of Fantasy and Romance, Volumes I & II.

Bloodchained, 2007

In 2006 with the closing of New Age Dimensions, Laurence took the reins of her erotic romance career and reissued all her titles under her own publishing house, Living Beyond Reality Press. She also released Soulful Sex Volume III as well as a deck of "romance fortune telling cards" featuring her fictional characters, dubbed "Diana's Deck."

Also in 2006, as Diane Lau she wrote Do-It-YourSelf-Publishing, a record of the process and technological tools she used to operate her own publishing house.

During 2006 and 2007, Laurence released three ebook collections in the paranormal, science fiction, and fantasy romance genres, as well as a combined version in trade paperback, Soulful Sex: The Paranormal, Science Fiction & Fantasy Collections.

In 2007, Laurence conducted a unique project when she gathered a team of 63 readers and fans (The Soulful Sex Partners Project) to create her next work. The resulting novel was the vampire romance, Bloodchained.

In 2008, Laurence teamed up with illustrator CC Rogers to create possibly the first "graphic excerpt" from a romance book. The text from the two-page mini-comic was taken from her story "As Commonplace as Rain" from Soulful Sex Volume II. The graphic excerpt is available for viewing on Laurence's website.

In February 2009, Laurence and Rogers released Sign of the Bloodletters, a 12-page comic book based in the Bloodchained universe. In addition to the print version offered for sale, Living Beyond Reality Press published the comic book free online on the Bloodchained website.

Also in February 2009, Laurence released another collection of short, erotic romance fiction, entitled Soulful Sex: The Darker Side. This anthology explores the more sinister aspects of the libido, and the stories are not all in the traditional HEA ("happily ever after") format of romance fiction.

In April 2009, Laurence released her first novel outside the romance genre. Entitled Looking on Darkness, the book is a psychological thriller about psychic vampirism that takes place in 1991 Milwaukee. It explores numerous concepts from Jungian theory, including the animus and synchronicity.

Aggie's Nine Heroes, 2011

In April 2009, Laurence was approached by Sellers Publishing to write a guidebook to dating vampires. This humor/self-help book is entitled How to Catch and Keep a Vampire: A Step-by-Step Guide to Loving the Bad and the Beautiful. It is Laurence's first title in worldwide release, and the first printing of the book was the largest in the publisher's history and sold out to stores by the time of its official release date.

In October 2009 Laurence released the sequel to Bloodchained, entitled Bloodchained II: The Secret of Secrets.

In July 2010, Living Beyond Reality Press sold the Chinese translation rights and publication rights for the People's Republic of China for Laurence's two Bloodchained novels, to Guizhou Pinwei Book Culture Co. Ltd. The Chinese versions were published in 2010 and 2011.

In August 2010, Laurence released an ebook version of her 1998 novel (originally writing as Diane Lau), The Resurrection of Captain Eternity. This contemporary romance addresses one of her favorite topics, the psychological significance of fantasy life and how the mind reconciles it with reality.

In May 2011, Laurence published paperback and ebook versions of Aggie's Nine Heroes. The contemporary mainstream novel tells the story of a young girl who aspires to create a team of real-life heroes and realizes her dream with help from her very unusual grandfather. In the spirit of the story, all proceeds from the book are being used to support the microlending charity Kiva.org.

A number of Laurence's short stories and novellas are available free to readers via the LBR Press READ FREE Project, offered by Living Beyond Reality Press, online in html as well as in downloadable ebooks.

Works

How to Catch and Keep a Vampire, 2009

Awards

On The Web

Selected Articles/Interviews

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