Q&A With Lauren K Denton 

Tonight I have the pleasure of doing a Q&A with USA Today Bestselling author Lauren K Denton. Lauren has written the novels “The Summer House,” “The One  You’re With,” “Glory Road,” and her recent novel “A Place To Land”. 

Q: So Lauren at what point in your life did you realize that writing was your calling?

A: I began writing in a journal at a very young age, and that started me down the path of processing the world via writing. But it wasn’t until soon after college that I began to have a growing interest in writing fiction. Having been an avid reader my whole life, that naturally turned to wanting to write stories, and eventually I began writing with the goal of publication. It was a long process of starting and stopping many different story ideas until one finally stuck. 

Q: What’s your advice to those who want to be a writer like you? What’s your advice to anyone who struggles with writers block?

A: My advice to people who want to write is to just start writing. Get a cheap notebook and a pen that feels good (or just open a Word doc if writing longhand isn’t your thing) and start writing anything. It truly can be anything at first. A journal, a few sentences, poems, whatever. If you write, you are a writer! My other suggestion is to read as much as you can. Read in the genre you want to write in, but also read other well-written pieces of fiction. I do think you need to be a reader of fiction before you can write it. Consider reading some books on the craft of writing, like Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, On Writing by Stephen King, or Story Genius by Lisa Cron. 

Q: Are you writing a new novel now? If so can you spoil a little?

A: I’m currently playing around with a lot of ideas and giving those ideas time to marinate to see what comes out! 

Q: Does Hollywood have the rights to any of your novels?

A: Not at the moment, no. I’d definitely be open to it though!

Q: What were your favorite novels you read this year so far?

A: The Bodyguard by Katherine Center. The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin. Bomb Shelter by Mary Laura Philpott. The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman. (This is the third in a series and I have loved the entire series.)

Q: If you had to collaborate with another author to write a novel together, who would you choose to write with and why?

A: I’m not sure co-writing would be something I’d be very good at, but if I had to pick, I’d say my friend and author Lindsey Brackett because we write in the same vein and could put together a pretty terrific southern setting and a whole host of family secrets! Another possibility would be Taylor Brown—he writes gritty southern stories that I’ve really enjoyed, and our two writing styles may balance well. (The Tilted World by Tom Franklin and his wife Beth Ann Fennelly is a great example of two different writing styles coming together and balancing each other well.)