About Me:

My story begins before I was even a thought.  The very fact I even came to be is a book I could write. Both sets of my grandparents immigrated from the Philippines after WWII. My father’s mother was neighbor’s with my mother’s father growing up on the same street as General MacArthur lived. The fact that they bumped into each other once they immigrated to America while registering for federal aid as war refugees is a miracle. They were so happy to see each other again after so many had been displaced and dispersed. They never stopped spending time together after that. They all settled and worked in San Francisco.  My dad’s parents, in fact, match-made my mother’s parents and stayed the best of friends. 

My parents grew up together and, unknowingly, after much prayer from my great grandma, went from family friends to married.  My dad, a police officer and my mom, working for PacBell at the time, had planned to never have kids and enjoyed traveling and late night sushi dates while my dad had the swing and midnight shifts.  They enjoyed racing each other home as she always had to meet him after he got off work for dinner, to see who’d come home first. But again, this time with my grandmas both praying, my parents changed their minds.  After my dad had to take a kidnapper’s life, he grappled with the meaning of life and guilt and also relief as he had saved the victim’s life.  He searched for meaning and found the love of Jesus Christ.

He and my mom together found hope in Jesus and a year later, after six years of being kids free;  I, Laura M. Quinn, made my debut on Mother’s Day, May 10th, 1981, in Hayward, California to two loving parents, and 3 years later a brother arrived. He would start out my enemy and become one of my very best friends. I come from a mixed background, which has also given me a love and respect of all cultures and all peoples. My most often asked questions is “what are you?”.  It never bothers me. I usually make them guess first though. Swiss, Filipino, Irish, and a tiny bit Chinese and no, I cannot speak any of these languages.

But I can manage Albanian from living in Kosovo for 8 years; and a little Spanish and French from school. Since I was little I loved drifting into other worlds through books and movies.  I was always drawn to the power of words and have often made up stories, and poetry, and songs since I was little. I was always writing to God in my journals. My mom said when I was two I’d be singing or talking and I would tell her I was talking with angels. I seemed to have always known there was a Creator. That is why so quickly I fell in love with the writings of CS Lewis. The Chronicles of Narnia paint such wonderful pictures in my mind and I always try to paint pictures in the stories I have told or written.

 My own marriage is a miracle as well. My mom and mother-in-law worked at the church we grew up in.  I knew his family but we never knew each other until we both met working at the school the church is part of.  His alarm company won the contract for the school and one day as I passed him by; I, who was so shy I never spoke until spoken to, just blurted out ‘Hi, Gino!”.  He said hi back. Then I invited him to the college bible study that was starting, so I would know someone as I was in my senior year of high school. We started hanging out as friends, every day, after that. Our parents became best of friends too like my grandparents, and on May 11th 2002 I married my best friend Gino Quinn. 22 years on and he still makes me laugh till I cry. 

We enjoyed building memories and I went on to work in the insurance industry while he worked for our city.  Six years later in 2009 our first son Sean came to be. Then in 2010 Kayleigh came and 2011 Hugh arrived. After working for an amazing boss, God had other plans. In 2013 we joined a mission organization and settled near Atlanta Georgia and a year later, moved to the country of Kosovo.  There, God blessed us with Fiona in 2015 and Liam in 2016.  Living and serving and loving the people of Kosovo was a blessing I cherish to this day.  My love for these people goes on and on. Challenges existed but from my love for these people I was inspired to write two books which I self-published in 2016 and 2019.  Fiona’s Day and Fidan’s Day to give family, friends, and others a glimpse of what a normal day might look like for a little girl and boy in the villages of Kosovo. My love for words came from both my parents. My dad has sent articles and letters to family and friends over 20 plus years spanning topics on Jesus, parenting, marriage, finances and I collected his letters and published them myself as a legacy for me and my brother, but also to those who might want some wisdom in life.

Along with these, I  have been able to create stories always that my children have enjoyed listening to and songs I would make up for each of them as babies and sing as a lullaby.  In 2022, after 8 years away, we moved back home and settled back in the Bay Area. My husband is back at the city job he worked at and I with the same amazing boss in insurance. That is also a miracle as well. But then again, when God is working around us, I find miracles are there if we are looking.  

The Armor Giver: Alwind’s Tale is a love letter to my husband and children but also to all children. When darkness comes, even if it’s just one spark – a whole room can be lit and the darkness sent away. Hold on to hope - the hope that the good will always win and hold to this truth, that in the end it always will.