I write... Laugh-out-loud. Heart-tugging. Love stories.
About strong-ass women just trying to find their way. Because, isn't that what we're all trying to do -- navigate our relationships, careers, our pasts, our love lives, and paths toward a higher purpose (Okay, that last one was a lot.)?
And if you find your way to my books, I'll be forever grateful. My readers mean the world to me.
About Me...
This is the part where you figure out mighty quick that I'm not exactly a fresh-faced 20-something (okay, you figured that out as soon as you saw my photo). I've had enough time on this planet to fit in quite a lot of stuff. Such as…
Teaching college English in the U.S., South Korea, and China.
Volunteering around the world assisting: the destitute and dying in India; orphans and pavement dwellers in Ethiopia; sex workers in Cambodia; shelter animals in Peru; and goat farmers in the Canary Islands.
Working as a travel agent, local newspaper columnist, waitress, and farmhand.
Earning an MFA in Creative Writing.
Training as a phlebotomist, family and divorce mediator, and End-of-Life Doula.
Proudly serving as a drill sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserves.
Along the way, I raised a beyond-amazing daughter, gained an awesome son-in-law, adopted my wonder dog, Journey, and married Bruce, the man of my love story dreams.
Forthcoming Books...
My Memoir (coming soon!)
At the age of forty-nine, driven by an urgent restlessness, Laurie Woodford rents out her house, packs her belongings into two suitcases, andleaves her familiar life in upstate New York to relocate to Seoul, South Korea to teach college English. What begins as an opportunity to explore Asian landscapes and cultures while receiving a nice paycheck, evolves into a personal and spiritual quest to find a sense of purpose, direction, and everlasting love. While embarking on a nomadic adventure, working and volunteering across the globe, Laurie spoon-feeds orphans in Ethiopia, performs 108 bows at a Buddhist temple in the mountains, walks shelter dogs in Peru, milks 350 goats in Fuerteventura, and gets lost in Mexico, all the while trying to navigate 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 must struggle to reconcile her need for freedom and autonomy with her longing to feel settled and loved.
My Romantic Comedy (coming soon!)
Anita Farleigh Unpacks
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 scrapbooking homebody 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 penchant for 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.
Publications and Bio
"Waiting Room" (The Minnesota Review, Spring 2022)
"A Universal Connection" (Little Patuxent Review, Winter 2022)
"Klepto" (Catamaran, Fall 2021)
"Keeping Chiripa Alive" (The Antioch Review, Winter 2020)
"Goat Nature" (The Chattahoochee Review, Spring 2019)
Laurie Woodford is a memoirist, fiction writer and essayist whose work has appeared in The Antioch Review, The Chattahoochee Review, The Minnesota Review, Little Patuxent Review and Catamaran. For over twenty years, she taught English to college students in the U.S., South Korea, and China. She holds an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte. Originally from upstate New York, Laurie now lives with her amazing husband, Bruce, and wonder dog, Journey, in the outskirts of Austin, Texas.