My name's Annette Laing. I was born in Scotland, raised in England, and came of age in California. So, to ask the question that everyone asks me, what am I doing in South Georgia? 

The truth (I was hired as a history professor at Georgia Southern University many years ago) is waaaay less interesting than anything I could make up, which makes a change. So maybe I should dress it up a bit: I was sentenced to live here by the Karmic forces that dictate such things. 

What I DO here in South Georgia is a lot more fun than, well, living here. Starting in 2003, I began running tons-o'-fun history workshops for kids, earning myself a bit of national recognition in the form of an Associated Press feature. Inspired by my work with the kids, but with no great ambition for literary success, I self-published my first novel (DON'T STOP READING) as a what-the-hell midlife crisis thingy. Four years, one more book and lots of interesting developments later, I am a full-time writer and presenter. I actually get fan mail. Fan mail!

My series, The Snipesville Chronicles, follows the adventures of three kids from America's most boring town, which just happens to be in South Georgia, who are unwilling travelers in time. In Book 1, Don't Know Where, Don't Know When, they find themselves in England in 1940, right in time for the Blitz, and dealing with the many horrors of wartime Britain (bad food, hideous underwear, Hitler's bombs, etc.) To get home, all they have to do is track down some guy called George Braithwaite, which is harder than it sounds five decades before Google. Meanwhile, one of our time-travelers vanishes. He's in the same town, just 25 years earlier, during World War I. Book 2, A Different Day, A Different Destiny, is set in 1851, and Book 3, Look Ahead, Look Back (coming soon!) in 1752. 

I also write stunningly boring academic history on early American religion, but I bet nobody wants to know about that.

For more on my books,  my statewide kids' programs, and me, please visit AnnetteLaing.com and ImaginativeJourneys.org. You can also "Like" me on Facebook...if you like.

Please do comment on this blog (abuse is better than silence), ask questions, or poke me with a stick.