Today I am so excited to feature a Q&A with author Lauren Baratz-Logsted. She is the author of a wonderful young adult novel titled Crazy Beautiful. I posted my review of the book in post below this one and it is one of my favorite young adult books of the year!
To start off, welcome and can you tell the readers a little about yourself?
Before becoming a published author, I was an independent bookseller (11 years), a reviewer for Publishers Weekly (292 books reviewed), a freelance editor (nearly 100 books), and a window washer. Since 2003 I’ve had 15 books published: 5 comedic novels for adults, 1 literary novel for adults, 1 anthology of short stories I edited, 3 YA books, 1 middle grade, 4 books for young readers. Phew!
Can you tell us a little about your new and/or current releases?
My most recent is the YA novel CRAZY BEAUTIFUL, a contemporary re-visioning of Beauty & the Beast, told in he-said/she-said fashion, about a boy with hooks for hands and a gorgeous girl who meet on their first day at a new school. Also within the past year the first four books in the nine-book series for young readers, THE SISTERS 8, which I created with my novelist husband Greg Logsted (
www.greglogsted.com) and our nine-year-old daughter Jackie, have been released.
How did you decide what to write?
A few times a year I get a visit from The Idea Fairy. Crazy as that might sound, it’s what happens. I’ll just be living my life when I’ll hear or see something that causes an idea to strike, followed almost immediately by the thought that the idea is a big one, big enough to fill a novel.
When you’re not writing what kind of books do you like to read? Do you have any favorite authors, that are must reads?
Just like I’m an eclectic writer, I’m an eclectic reader. There’s almost nothing I won’t try and I currently read just as many YA novels as I do adult fiction. All-time favorites would include F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Brontes. More contemporary favorites, there are just so many. In the past year I’ve loved Little Bee, by Chris Cleave (adult literary); The Castaways, by Elin Hilderbrand (adult commercial); and Freeze Frame, by Heidi Ayarbe (YA). But there are so many others, I could go on forever here.
What are 3 things that are “must haves” for you when you sit down to write a new book?
I’m not much of a must-haves sort of person. Really, the only thing I need is that little TV over there in the corner so that every day at three I can take an hour-long break to watch “General Hospital.”
What are your favorite things to do in your downtime?
Read-read-read, hang with my family, shoot pool. Oh, and I also watch several series on DVD.
Where can we purchase your books?
My books can be ordered anywhere books are sold.
Do you have a blog or website that your readers can keep up with you and your books?
Thanks for having me!
Don’t forget to go buy your copy of Crazy Beautiful!
Until next time…
