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Front Row Lit wanted to see what makes?writers tick.? Our most recent installment of ?10 Questions With?? features author Laurie Gray
1.?????? Tell us a little about yourself.
I grew up in rural Indiana, graduated from Goshen College after doing a Study Service Term in Costa Rica and my junior year abroad in Spain, taught Spanish at Whitko High School and got my law degree from Indiana University. I?ve practiced both civil and criminal law, but I?m currently writing, speaking and consulting through my own company Socratic Parenting LLC (www.SocraticParenting.com). I also work as a bilingual child forensic interviewer at my local child advocacy center and as an adjunct professor of criminal sciences at Indiana Tech. My debut novel Summer Sanctuary (Luminis Books / 2010) is about a home-schooled preacher?s kid who meets a homeless teenager in the library and convinces her to live secretly in his church for the summer. It won a Moonbeam Gold Medal for excellence in young adult fiction and was a 2011 Indiana Best Book Finalist.
2.????? When did you first decide that writing was in your future?
I?ve always enjoyed reading, writing and language. I began writing poems in junior high school and served on the staff of my high school literary publication. When I was teaching, I was also a co-sponsor of the school?s literary magazine. After my daughter was born in 2001, I began developing the concept of Socratic Parenting, which is inspired by the Socratic Method I studied as a teacher and practiced in law school. In 2005 I developed a Socratic Parenting book proposal, which ended up on a back burner. I decided I?d like to try my hand at writing for kids, so I completed the writing course offered through the Institute of Children?s Institute in 2005-2006.?
3.???? Describe the process of finding the right publisher for your work.
I wrote my first young adult novel in 2005-2006. I collected rejections from agents and publishers for several years. In the meantime, I ?found a local critique group and joined the Society of Children?s Book Writers and Illustrator (SCBWI) and while I was persistent in sending my completed novel out again and again, I focused most of my energy on writing a second novel. I found Luminis Books in 2009 through the Indiana SCBWI chapter. Luminis is a small royalty publisher that focuses on thought-provoking literary and young adult fiction.
4.????? How would you describe your writing style?
I like to writing in the active voice, developing and conveying ideas clearly, but my actual writing style often depends on what I?m writing and my target audience. When I?m writing non-fiction as an attorney or teacher, I adopt an expository writing style. In my fiction, I aspire to be a poetic craftsman, arranging and rearranging words, developing metaphors and finding just the right rhythm and structure.
5.????? What inspires your creativity?
Most of my inspiration comes from contemplating life and love and asking why and what if.
6.????? How often do you get writer?s block and how do you combat it?
I don?t remember the last time I sat down at the computer and thought, ?I have writers block.? I?m always working on multiple projects, so I can always put one down and pick up another. I frequently find myself reading as much as I can about something and then processing all of the information while I?m walking or working out or engaging in some other physical activity that requires minimal thought.
7.????? Along with praise for your art, rejection and negative criticism is inevitable.? How does that affect your focus and momentum?
The older I get the less concerned I am about what other people think about me. I?m less enraptured by praise than I used to be and less distraught by criticism. I?ve found that what people have to say about my writing often says more about them than it does about me. The more fact-specific a response is, the more time I?ll invest in it. I also consider both praise and criticism from two separate angles: improving my writing and marketing my books. At the end of the day, though, I take the Popeye approach: I yam who I yam, and I?m going to write what I?m going to write.
8.???? If you weren?t writing, what career path would you choose?
I?ll always be a teacher and an attorney, and I?d be open to almost any path that combines reading books and working with people.
9.???? Please tell us a little about your next project.
Luminis Books will release my second young adult novel entitled Maybe I Will in March 2013. Sandy Peareson loves Shakespeare and aspires to attend the Julliard School of Drama in New York City. At 16, Sandy?s biggest concern is what role to play in the high school spring musical Peter Pan. Then with the Ides of March comes an unsettling event that Sandy endures alone and in silence. Sandy changes abruptly from an outgoing, confident teenager into a confused and tormented victim. Escape through alcohol provides temporary relief, but recasts Sandy as the criminal rather than the victim.
Sandy?s secret is sexual assault. Written in the first person with no indication of Sandy?s gender, Maybe I Will presents each reader with two very different books depending upon his or her own projection of Sandy as male or female. Either way, Sandy struggles with the inherent conflict of wanting to fit in, even acting as if one fits in, while desperately needing to find and to be oneself. Sandy resists conformity, yet discovers a freedom of self-expression through the physical forms in taekwondo and the poetic form of Shakespeare?s sonnets.
I also have a contract Luminis Books for my historical young adult fiction book entitled Just Myrto that introduces young adults to Socrates. We expect to release that in the spring of 2014. In the meantime, I?m working on a fourth young adult novel and on my Socratic Parenting nonfiction book.
10.???? What advice can you offer to aspiring writers?
Be the real deal. Work to develop your craft and find your voice. Unless you already have an MFA in creative writing, take a class. Find ways to connect with other writers. Join a critique group. The publishing world is changing rapidly, and it?s getting easier and more affordable to publish instantaneously. Resist the temptation to publish unpolished, underdeveloped writing. There?s no shame in accumulating rejections from literary agents and traditional publishers, but a poorly edited, self-published book may come back to haunt you.
For more on Laurie, visit?www.SocraticParenting.com
To order Summer Sanctuary, go to http://www.amazon.com/Summer-Sanctuary-Laurie-Gray/dp/1935462342
Follow Laurie on Facebook at?http://www.facebook.com/laurie.gray.14
Check out the latest from Front Row Monthly magazine at www.frontrowmonthly.com
Follow Front Row Lit on Twitter @frontrowlit
Source: http://frontrowlit.com/?p=2360
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