Hi, I'm Laurie. I write laugh-out-loud, heart-tugging love stories.
After teaching college English in the U.S., China, and South Korea and earning an MFA in creative writing a bit later in life (frost on the pumpkin, y'all), I am now a full-time author with a soft spot for romantic comedy.
My hope for readers is that my books crack open their hearts and make them laugh so hard that their faces hurt (in a good way).
I'm originally from upstate New York (Go, Rochester!), and now live in the outskirts of Austin, Texas (and I do love my truck) where I'm beyond lucky to get to spend loads of time with my awesome daughter and son-in-law, my adorable agility dog, and my amazing husband, Bruce, the man of my love story dreams.
Romantic Comedy
Free-spirited English professor, ANITA FARLEIGH, thinks she has it all — her ambitious boyfriend, ZACH, and a teaching career that actually pays her to travel. Then, ten days before Christmas, Anita returns home from a work trip in Shanghai to discover that Zach has dumped her for a domestic goddess with enough faux fur ottomans to fill a Hobby Lobby showroom.
On one of the worst days of her life, a hungover, disheveled Anita shows up for a routine doctor's appointment and meets OSCAR, a medical professional who just happens to be compassionate, funny, and absurdly handsome. When Oscar keeps showing up in her life, Anita can't deny their chemistry (Is it her fault that Oscar fills out his scrubs in exactly the right places?). Or their terrible timing (It'd be wrong to fall for someone so soon after a bad breakup. Right?). Neither can she ignore her emerging wish for stability as steadfast Oscar challenges her habit of living with one foot out the door.
When a remorseful Zach reappears, wanting to woo back his world traveler, Anita must decide whether to follow familiar flight patterns or finally open her heart and make a safe landing.
Also available on Kobo, Apple Books, and Smashwords!
My Books...
Memoir
At the age of forty-nine, driven by an urgent restlessness, Laurie Woodford rents out her house, packs her belongings into two suitcases, and leaves her familiar life in upstate New York to relocate to Seoul, South Korea to teach college English. What begins as an opportunity to explore Asia while receiving a nice paycheck, evolves into a four-year nomadic adventure. Working and volunteering across the globe, Laurie spoon-feeds orphans in Ethiopia, performs 108 bows at a Buddhist mountain temple, walks shelter dogs in Peru, milks 350 goats in Fuerteventura, and gets lost in Mexico, all the while navigating dating at midlife.
After four years of traveling, Laurie's return to the U.S. becomes an unexpected adventure of its own when she ends up in Arkansas and meets Bruce, a bird-loving, bearded Quaker with a strong sense of home and penchant for stability. When Laurie finds herself falling for Bruce after years of living a life of fierce independence, she struggles to reconcile her need for freedom with her longing to feel settled and loved.
UNSETTLED is for anyone who has felt something missing in their life and sought to find it. It's a story about yearning and seeking, backbone and adventure, stillness and discovery.