Thank you for posting your 10 items. I love information like this, it makes me feel a bit like an insider, haha.
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Are you able to go on tour for your novels?
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Do the other moms in your children’s school know that you’re a famous author? What was it like when they started to find that out? How many books had you published at that point?
Yes, I had finished the manuscript! To anyone thinking of querying a fiction project, it definitely needs to be finished before you reach out to agents. (I’m not sure if it’s different for nonfiction.)
Lauren J.A. Bear, in any of your books have you had a favorite character to write about? Was there any character who was less fun to include?
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My husband always wants to read my WIPs but I never let him. I am very protective of my early drafts. It’s akin to new moms not wanting anyone else to hold their baby! I think early work is fragile and it needs to be treated accordingly. I let my editor read it first, and after I receive her feedback and make changes, I open it up to my closest friends and family. (But even then, I’m a perfectionist! I prefer they wait until the published version.)
I’m a big fan of outlines, maybe it’s from all the years teaching middle school English. I make brainstorms around my idea, word webs and associations. Then I research. Then I outline. Everything by hand! I buy packs of legal pads on the regular!
I always do a pub day launch in Seattle, usually at my beloved Third Place Books. I do have an event tomorrow night, June 18, at Brick & Mortar Books for anyone in the Seattle area! And I’ll be at Edgartown Books on Martha’s Vineyard July 22. I try to reach out to bookstores when I travel and arrange signings, but yes, my dream is to one day go on a multi-city tour!
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I ended up loooooooooving Aphrodite, especially her relationship with Apollo. That was an absolute blast to write!
These aren’t necessarily characters, but the hardest scenes I’ve ever written are the temple scene with Medusa and Poseidon/Athena and the dungeon scene with Rhea and Amulius.
I know you’ve already mentioned that you’re working on something new, but that it’s not based on Greek mythology this time. But do you think you’ll ever return to writing in this genre, or do you feel like you’ve said all you want to?
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The discussion is winding down, but before we close the conversation, is there anything you’d like to mention that we haven’t touched on yet?
As Justin Bieber says, never say never! I would like a creative break, but this genre is now so much a part of me as a writer; it would be impossible to completely let it go. I have so much love for these stories – and for all the stories of our oral tradition, that have been persisted, that have adapted with the times. They are survivors!
I loved your book and learned so much about Greek Gods. To my surprise it was also about loving relationships and I think you showed how being in love is not always smooth-going. I liked some of the characters were just happy with having a trusting relationship as friends.
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I totally get what you are saying about that scene. How did you ever think of how to write that? I was mesmerized.
OMG! I also thought of Burton and Taylor!!
I love how your daily life is incorporated into this story! I guess you just have to pick up your head and listen to those around you.
I tried to see if you answered this question: How long did it take you to write this book? Were you concentrating more on love or lack of harmony in this “world?”
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I hope the book is a testament to all the kinds of love! For Aphrodite, she is able to give love so easily as a friend, a mother, a lover. What takes her multiple lifetimes is the ability to love herself.
I think I spent about a year on the the first draft, but i did do two revisions, mostly just developing characters emotionally as the plot was pretty set.
I knew it was going to be a story about love – can you write about Aphrodite in any other way?! – and as I was outlining, I realized that her loves fit into eras. Inevitably one of those eras was heartbreak and all the icky aftermath.
But I needed it to end on a hopeful note. Maybe that’s selfish, maybe I need hope in this crazy world right now, but I wanted the bookto end with the message that love can be timeless and immortal if it is treated with curiosity and imagination.
Your last sentences in your reply shows what a good writer you are—how live can be immortal.