Author Spotlight: Lauren Oliver!!

Look who stopped by for this weeks Author Spotlight:

Lauren Oliver

Author of Before I Fall &  Delirium

1) Could you tell us a bit about your self?

Lauren- Sure! My name is Lauren, I live in Brooklyn, and I like reading, writing, cooking, running, being outside, and (of course!) long walks on the beach. I eat far to much ketchup, and drink far to much coffee. But other then that, I'm pretty helpful. I love bad pop music, and if I could I would happily go barefoot all summer.

2) What was your inspiration for Before I Fall?


Lauren-The idea for Before I Fall came from a bunch of places, really, but I definitely started with the concept of the main character, Sam. I wanted to portray her evolution and growth, and I tried to think of a mechanism that would enable me to do that. Ultimately, that mechanism ended up being the recurrence of the last day of her life; I have always been interested in the idea of repartition, and I've often asked my self what moment of my own life I might be content to relieve.

3) Where there any personal experiences that went into Before I Fall?

Lauren-Oh yes, definitely. I grew up in a town very similar to the one depicted in Before I Fall, and I drew alot from my own experiences. My friends and I really did stop by Dunkin' Donuts every day before school; on the weekends, we went to parties together ( and yes, we drank and smoked-Something I have been criticized for in my book!) Goose Point, the rock Izzy and Sam visited, is based on a real place, and so are many of the landscapes depicted in the book.

4) Could you tell us a little about Delirium?

Lauren- Delirium is kind of a dystopian Romeo-and-Juliet story. Its about a society in which love has been deemed a very deadly and very contagious disease.

5) What was your inspiration for Delirium?

Lauren-I really wanted to write a book about love. Then one day I was at the gym and I saw this news report about the latest flu epidemic- it was bird, fly or swine flu, I don't remember which-and how it was driving everyone in to panic. And I started thinking how strange it was that we have these periodic scares over these diseases that turn out to be relatively innocuous. The two ideas - love and disease - were bouncing around in my brain at the same time, and all of the sudden-Boom! They combined. I got off the treadmill and went in to the dressing room and started writing Delirium immediately
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6) What do you plan on doing in the future?

Lauren- I plan on doing much of the same thing I do now: I want to keep writing, and traveling, and reading, and pushing myself to get better and better as a novelist ( and as a person!)

7) What are you reading right now?

Lauren- I'm reading a few books right now: Kelly Link's absolutely gorgeous collection of short stories, called Pretty Monsters; a quiet and deeply literary adult book called Tinkers; by Paul Harding, which won the Pulitzer prize; and Incarceron, bu Catherine Fisher.

8) Who are a few of your favorite authors?

Lauren- Jeez. That's such a tough question. There are so many: Gabriel Garcia Marquez is up there, and so are F. Scott Fitzgerald and Henry James. i love Ian McGwen, Richard Price, Roald Dahl, Virginia Woolf, and Marilynne Robinson. In terms of young adult authors. I'm a huge fan of, Sarah Dessen, E. Lockhart, and Carrie Ryan. I also really like Cassandra Clare.