Do you have dreams of becoming a novelist? Aspiring Author 101 is a new feature on JustJaredJr.com where we dive into the nitty gritty of writing a novel with some of our favorite, successful YA authors.
Our next writer is the super talented Lauren Miller, best known for her succeessful novels Free to Fall and Parallel.
She has a new book titled All Things New, which is “a love story about perception and truth, physical and emotional pain, and the messy, complicated people we are behind the masks we put on for the world.”
We sat down with Lauren to get some advice on what to write, where to write, and basically just pick her brain about all things writing.
All Things New hits shelves on August 1. Pre-order it now!
JJJ Aspiring Author 101 – Lauren Miller
On book everyone should read at some point? “Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. It’s a collection of essays on writing by one of my favorite living writers. If you don’t know Anne Lamott, you should. Her voice is truly incomparable, and Bird by Bird is one of her best. It’s full of practical tips but the writing advice sort of isn’t the point. Bird by Bird is a meditation on what it means to be a writer. A kind of how-to guide for those of us who feel called to live the writing life.”
One book you’ll never get tired of reading? “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks. Or any book by Oliver Sacks, honestly. For those who aren’t familiar with him, he was a neurologist and writer who wrote about his most unusual patients. Each chapter is a case study about a particular person with some crazy neurological aberration. The subject matter itself is fascinating to me, but Sacks‘ voice is what draws me back to his books again and again. There is so much intellect but also so much humility and humanity in his writing.”
Hardcover, paperback or digital copies? “Paperback, no question. There is something about the bendy quality of a paperback book, how it fits into your hands and into your bag and into your life. I’m definitely not precious with the books I own � they get coffee dripped on them and bath water splashed on them and cookie crumbs jammed in their page cracks. Plus, of course, paperbacks are lighter for carrying, and since I always, always have my laptop with me, weight is always an issue! E-books are great for space saving, but I find the reading experience sort of disorienting because I don’t know where I am in the story. You can see what percentage you’ve read, but that’s not the same as feeling the already-read pages in your hand.”
Click inside to read the rest of our Q&A with Lauren Miller… More Here! »
