Laura Bradford is…On the Writing Block!

Sherry Ickes
Jan 6
4 min read

Wow! Can you believe that we are already in 2026? I know that this past year was filled with a number of good reads for me, but I might have a few new titles to add to my TBR List with this next author. Let’s learn a little more about Laura Bradford before diving into Smoke and Mirrors…

Laura Bradford is the USA Today Bestselling author of 40 books and counting.

Her women’s fiction novels, set in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, have garnered book club picks from Delilah of Delilah radio, and Southern Lady Magazine.

In mystery, her most prolific genre, Laura has penned many series including: “A Friend for Hire Mysteries,” “An Amish Mystery” series, the “Emergency Dessert Squad Mysteries,” the “Tobi Tobias Mysteries,” the “Jenkins & Burns Mysteries,” and the “Southern Sewing Circle Mysteries” (written as Elizabeth Lynn Casey). She is a former Agatha Award nominee, and the recipient of an RT Reviewer’s Choice Award in romance. http://www.laurabradford.com

Who are two authors that have inspired your writing?

First and foremost, Mary Higgins Clark. I came upon her books when I was probably 14-ish and I absolutely fell in love with them. She had a way of writing that made you feel as if you were IN the pages of the book, and had you looking over your shoulder the whole time. She is why my original thought of being a children’s writer, turned into being a mystery writer.

Interesting side note on Mary Higgins Clark: I was given an opportunity to speak to her on the telephone shortly after my first book came out and I will never, ever forget that moment. Then, a few years later, I got to meet her in person at the Malice Domestic conference. She even signed my all-time favorite (and incredibly dog-earred) book of hers, A Cry in the Night. That signed book sits proudly on a shelf in my office to this day.

As for another author who has inspired me, I think I will have to say Linda Castillo. Her Kate Burkholder series is so incredibly good that she makes me want to push myself to tell a better story, no matter what the story may be.

Do you have a writing schedule, or do you write whenever you can squeeze it in?

When I’m actively working on a book, morning is my best time to write. I’m most focused and refreshed. I certainly can write at other times, particularly when close to my deadline, but morning is my first choice.

That said, even when I’m not writing, my brain is writing, or plotting, or trying new ideas on for size.

How much research do you conduct for your storylines?

That depends on the book I’m writing, meaning whether it’s part of one of my own series, or something I’m writing for Guideposts.

For my most recent book, Smoke and Mirrors (a multi-authored mystery series with Guideposts), any research usually pertains to pieces of the plot, as well as what the previous authors in the series have chosen to do in terms of the character arc.

For a book in one of my many own series, the research is often focused on the method of murder I’ve chosen for that story—how a poison works, how a fire moves, etc.

When I’m working on a book in my own An Amish Mystery series, my research is much more far-reaching (and fun!). For those books, I like to go to Lancaster County, PA and simply be there for a few days—reacclimating myself with the pace, the customs, the lifestyle. By the time my visit is over, I always have the nugget I’m looking for on which to base my latest story. Side note: Readers of this popular series will be happy to know that I’ll be putting out a new book in this series on my own later in 2026! So stay tuned to my website and Facebook author page for more details as they become available!

Any advice for other authors?

Read. Read. Read.

And sit yourself in a chair and write. You can’t fix what you don’t write. Writing is work. Lots of people have ideas. The key is sitting down and writing.

What is Smoke and Mirrors about?

Smoke and Mirrors is the eighth book in the “Mysteries of Blackberry Valley” fiction series.

Hannah Prentiss is touched by the belated birthday luncheon her church women's group throws in her honor, complete with thoughtful and charming gifts! When Hannah opens an unlabeled box, she questions who it's from―especially when she finds a beautifully crafted creamer inside, eliciting a shocked reaction from her friend, police department receptionist Vanessa Lodge.

Vanessa explains that the creamer is a piece from a unique set of pottery dishes that her grandmother made by hand―and that it is also one of two pieces that went missing decades ago. Who could have anonymously gifted the creamer to Hannah? And what happened to the matching sugar bowl? Hannah is determined to find the answers for Vanessa's sake as well as her own. But as long-held secrets begin to reveal themselves, she wonders if some answers are best left in the past.