“It’s so important to focus on your dreams and go after them, no matter what people are telling you,” she said.

Bossi, 43, who goes by the pen name of L. Bossi, has published “The Enpirion Project,” an award-winning fantasy trilogy that includes more than 200 illustrations per book.

With a shoe-designing career behind her, she said books and artwork are her main focus going forward.

“I’ve been drawing since I could pick up a pencil,” she said.

Courtesy graphic / “The Enpirion Project” trilogy is available for purchase on Amazon.

One step forward

Bossi attended Altoona Area High School, where she said she got in trouble for drawing in class.

In her free time, she went to the art corner instead of the math corner, which her mom, Cindy Bossi, was enthusiastic about.

“She loves art,” Cindy said, “but she was a good student and a good kid.”

Cindy worked at various schools as a gifted support specialist while her husband, Chris, was the vice president of operations at popular shoe brand Airwalk.

While in junior high, Chris took Laura on her first international trip, a three-week business trip to shoe factories located in China.

Bossi attended business meetings and factory visits with her dad, showing her how shoes were manufactured.

“I love going overseas,” she said, adding that she misses the business side of traveling.

After graduating from Altoona Area in 2000, she attended Dickson College with the intention of studying Environmental Law, but attained a bachelor’s degree in East Asian Studies/Japanese instead.

As a college student, she was able to study abroad in Nagoya, Japan.

“Japan is my real love, and it has influenced my art,” she said.

Her education didn’t end there — she went on to study footwear design at Leicester College in England, receiving three professional degree certifications in footwear fashion/design, footwear technology and footwear computer-

aided design/manufacturing from 2005-06.

She started her own footwear company called Onmyodo, which existed on Union Avenue in Altoona for seven years.

Onmyodo’s shoes were “fashion casual” sneakers, Bossi said, made with real leather and manufactured with custom cork insoles that were “extraordinarily good for your feet.”

Bossi described herself as “the face” of the company, handling the marketing, advertising and design aspects, while her father took on the finance role.

Because Chris was familiar with the shoe manufacturing business, he had contacts to help get Bossi’s business “off the ground,” he said.

Due to the 2008 recession, however, Onmyodo took a hit, but she was able to continue sales online.

When her shoes were manufactured in China, Bossi frequently visited the international factories to check in on production until she fell ill on a business trip.

Questions unanswered

For a week in China, Bossi survived on Kinder Bueno bars and coconut milk after getting food poisoning at a five-star restaurant.

“And all of a sudden, things weren’t right,” she said.

Coming home to Altoona, Bossi reacted to medication, and six months later, she had an unexplained sinus infection that moved into her throat and upper respiratory system.

In 2011, she underwent sinus surgery that “made things worse,” causing symptoms to travel into her central nervous system and muscles.

Her condition, however, did not stop her from achieving her dreams.

After Onmyodo officially shut down in 2013, Bossi attended DigiPen Institute of Technology in Redmond, Seattle, and graduated with a bachelor of arts in fine arts and animation.

She said an artist can be considered “one of the best” if they survive DigiPen’s rigorous curriculum.

In 2017, she moved back home as her illness progressed.

“I got every test under the sun,” she said, stating that multiple specialists tested her heart and muscles.

It was then she realized she had an undiagnosable autoimmune disease.

The disease “goes after my breathing,” which causes asthmatic problems but is not labeled as asthma, she said.

In turn, the disease causes inflammation throughout her body, making it difficult for her to even walk up the stairs some days.

“It’s hard,” she said. “There are days you cry yourself to sleep, but extraordinarily stubborn and hardheaded, you take one day at a time because that’s all you can do.”

Unable to hold down a job due to her condition, she channeled her talents into another medium: storytelling.

Out of the box

Bossi published her first book on Amazon in 2021, “The Enpirion Project: Exordium,” which is also the first novel in the trilogy.

In a fictional world called Aetrelys, a gifted soldier named Enpirion struggles mentally, confronting cultural and loyalty issues during a conflict. The book includes more than 200 illustrations and three full digital paintings.

“The publishing companies didn’t want anything to do with me,” she said, because they aren’t interested in adult illustrated books.

However, her first book was a distinguished favorite in the NYC Big Book Award, a semi-finalist in the North Street Book Prize and a finalist in the Book Excellence Award.

Her second book in the series, “The Enpirion Project: Nadir,” was also a distinguished favorite in the NYC Big Book Award.

“‘The Enpirion Project’ is a beautifully layered fantasy that left me both moved and eager for more,” one five-star Amazon review said. “This is not just a story about war — it’s about humanity, resilience and connection.”

Now that the series’ final book was published in January 2025, Bossi said the first book is currently being translated into Japanese.

Japan is “more open to publishing,” she said, and they don’t have a stigma surrounding adult books with illustrations.

In the future, Cindy wants to see Bossi get an agent.

“She has tried many times,” Cindy said. “It’s difficult to get an agent, so I’m hoping in the future an agent picks her up and her books to get out there instead of Amazon or an art festival.”

“I want to see her continue her art,” she added.

Determination prevails

Being a Capricorn, Bossi said she’s “hardwired” for determination.

“No matter how hard it is, it’s what drives you,” she said. “You can’t have people hold you back and tell you what you can and can’t do.”

While sending “The Enpirion Project” to multiple publication companies, Bossi said she received a vicious two-page email from an industry editor.

“I had it hung on my wall,” she said.

This email drove her to self-publish through a distribution company called BookBaby.

Dealing with criticism, Bossi said aspiring creators should not “let anyone tell you those things” but focus on achieving their dreams instead.

With an autoimmune disease, her father said Bossi continues to build her career and move forward.

“She’s not a quitter,” he said.