We are absolutely thrilled to be hosting an author Interview with Wither author Lauren DeStefano as part of the Canadian Wither Blog Tour! Wither was an astonishing read and Lauren DeStefano did a fantastic job with her debut novel.
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Lauren DeStefano was born in New Haven, Connecticut and has never traveled far from the east coast. She received a BA in English from Albertus Magnus College recently, and has been writing since childhood. She made her authorial debut by writing on the back of children's menus at restaurants and filling up the notepads in her mom's purse. Her very first manuscript was written on a yellow legal pad with red pen, and it was about a haunted shed that ate small children.Now that she is all grown up (for the most part), she writes fiction for young adults. Her failed career aspirations include: world's worst receptionist, coffee house barista, sympathetic tax collector, and English tutor. When she isn't writing, she's screaming obscenities at her Nintendo DS, freaking her cats out with the laser pen, or rescuing thrift store finds and reconstructing them into killer new outfits.I would have to say TS Eliot. Sometimes when I'm in a writing slump, I flip through a book of his collected works and open to a random page. His dreamlike writing reminds me why I write. His poetry reminds me that the words we use for speaking are not the same words we look for in books; the words in books deserve to be carefully woven, should elicit strong emotion and make us braver as readers than we are in our lives.
2. When you aren’t writing, what do you like to do in your spare time?
I really love anything to do with crafts, particularly sewing and knitting.
3. The literary world for the past few years has been dominated by paranormal works of fiction. With so many vampires, werewolves, and faeries running about, how did you come up with such a unique concept for Wither?
The truth is that I didn't plan on it. Wither is the evolved result of a rough idea I had for an adult novel several years ago that I had discarded. The reason I'd discarded the idea was because I couldn't figure out how it would work as an adult novel. Then in late 2008, while I was especially frustrated with another adult manuscript, my agent told me to write something out of my comfort zone. She suggested a short story, that's what I originally intended for Wither to be, but as I went on, the world stretched out farther and farther, until it became what it is now.
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A HUGE Thank You goes out to both Lauren DeStefano and Beth at Simon & Schuster Canada for including us on this blog tour.
Wither hits book stores on March 22, 2011 and trust us, this a book you do not want to miss! Check out our Wither Review for further clarification that this book is awesome!
We also have the book trailer for your viewing pleasure:
Please check out these sites for further information on both Wither and Lauren DeStefano:
*Both the author picture and author description are from Lauren DeStefano's website
I love what Lauren said about words being different in books and how Eliot's words are so dreamlike, because I definitely think there's that quality to the writing in Wither. The tone is so absolutely lovely.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I wish I had the patience to learn how to sew and knit. Alas, cross stitch was the only thing I could sit still long enough to pick up.
You ladies asked some great questions!!
ReplyDeleteOh man, me and the idea of sewing or knitting just wouldn't go together, lol.
I'd been wondering how Lauren came up with the idea of Wither so it was really cool to finally find out the answer!
Thanks!! :)