Cy-Fair writer took long, winding road to success

The publication of her novels is just the culmination of many years’ work, however, as she has also received acclaim for her work as a screenwriter, playwright and short-story author.

Fortunately for Elvebak, she has plenty of life experiences to draw from in her works. She was born in North Dakota, but was raised in California, spending time in both Los Angeles and San Francisco. After attending UCLA and USC, where she took a number of writing courses, she got her first taste of Houston during her time at Rice University.

Elvebak, not content to stay put, moved all around the country, spending time in areas ranging from Connecticut to Florida, with many stops in between. As a way to “subsidize [her] writing and ex-husbands,” she worked a number of odd jobs over the years. More recently, she served two years as a chapter president for Mystery Writers of America.

Although she has worked on several genres over the years, Elvebak prefers reading and writing mysteries, which she says is the type of story she has always been drawn to.

“That’s just about everything I read,” Elvebak said. “It has good endings, justice prevails, and it can be just as fun as having the bad guys get caught.”

Elvebak’s two published novels have both been a part of the Niki Alexander series, which follow the activities of an “ex-cop turned teen counselor.” She has also added an extra local twist, basing part of her stories on Covenant House, a homeless youth shelter in Montrose.

“I’ve always been interested because I’ve known a few people on the streets,” Elvebak said. “I got interested in what I could do to help, and this is it. I visited and did a tour of the Covenant House, and I’ve been back since.”

In addition to her work as a novelist, Elvebak has had short stories published in “A Death in Texas” and “A Box of Texas Chocolates,” and she wrote a screenplay about the 1900 Galveston storm for Bayou Country Productions. Although it has not yet been produced, Elvebak prefers to look at the silver lining.

“We couldn’t find funding, but hey, they paid me,” she said.

ABOUT Laura Elvebak
AGE: 70
OCCUPATION: Novelist
COMMUNITY CONNECTION: Lives in northwest corner of Cy-Fair area
FAST FACT: Briefly worked as a go-go dancer

Chris Marshall is a freelance writer. He can be reached at neighborhoods@chron.com.