Lauren Oliver Interview

     AHHHHH! Do you know what today is? Why of course you do. You've been anticipating this as much as I have. Today is the release day for REQUIEM by Lauren Oliver. Oh yeah, that's today. And boy do I have something planned for you guys!

 

Publisher: HarperTeen
Date Published: March 5th 2013
Genre: Young Adult Dystopia Romance

Synopsis:

They have tried to squeeze us out, to stamp us into the past.

But we are still here.

And there are more of us every day.

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has been transformed. The nascent rebellion that was under way in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven—pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators now infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels, and as Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor.

Maybe we are driven crazy by our feelings.

Maybe love is a disease, and we would be better off without it.

But we have chosen a different road.

And in the end, that is the point of escaping the cure: We are free to choose.

We are even free to choose the wrong thing.

Requiem is told from both Lena’s and Hana’s points of view. The two girls live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

 



About the Author (from Goodreads):



Lauren Oliver comes from a family of writers and so has always (mistakenly) believed that spending hours in front of the computer every day, mulling over the difference between “chortling” and “chuckling,” is normal. She has always been an avid reader.

She attended the University of Chicago, where she continued to be as impractical as possible by majoring in philosophy and literature. After college, she attended the MFA program at NYU and worked briefly as the world’s worst editorial assistant, and only marginally better assistant editor, at a major publishing house in New York. Her major career contributions during this time were flouting the corporate dress code at every possible turn and repeatedly breaking the printer. Before I Fall is her first published novel.

She is deeply grateful for the chance to continue writing, as she has never been particularly good at anything else.

To get in contact with Lauren Oliver you can visit her Goodreads page, her website, become friends with her on Facebook, like her Facebook Page, or follow her on Twitter.

Lauren Oliver Interview:

I’m sure we’re all curious to know. Where did you come up with the idea(s) for your novels in the Delirium trilogy?
I was watching a TV news piece about the Swine Flu one day, and the panic with which people were reacting to it, and I started to wonder how people would react if the government decided that love was a contagious disease, and offered a cure.

How did you come up with the titles for the Delirium trilogy?
I actually didn't... I'm terrible with titles!

Is there anything specific that started you writing?
I started by writing what I guess now would be called fan fiction. I wanted to spend more time in the books and fictional worlds that I loved.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in Requiem, or any of your books for that matter?
I always want to change things in my books, but at a certain point you have to let them go or I'd never publish anything!

What was the hardest part of writing the Delirium trilogy?
I had never built a fictional world like that completely from scratch before. It was a real challenge, although a very rewarding one.
 
Did you learn anything from writing your book? And if so what was it?
I think it definitely helped me become a better writer! I really learned more about how to expand a world with each book.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers about your books, or just in general?
Just a huge thank you for reading!
 
Obviously your books are fictional, but are the experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life in any shape or form?
Everything that you observe goes into your writing. Even in fiction, you want to try to base your stories in an element of truth.
 
Writers everywhere want to know how to make a book tick. Any advice?
Practice, practice, practice! Writing is a discipline like anything else, and the only way to get better is to keep working on it!

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to understand?
I hope they understand that all kinds of loves are important, not just romantic love, or first love.
 
What does writing mean to you?
t means everything! It's my job, my way of expressing myself, and my sanity (even when it drives me crazy)!

Every author I’ve ever spoken to has said that their characters are a part of them or that they are a part of their characters. Would you say the characters are a part of you, or you of them?
Both? I think I put a little of myself into every character, but they also stay with you and manage to get inside your head.
 
What plans do you have for the future involving your career as a writer? Are you going to write more spine-tingling books that keep us on our toes?
I hope they keep you on your toes! Right now I'm editing a new stand-alone YA novel called PANIC, and writing my first book for adults.
 
***SPOILER FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN’T READ PANDEMONIUM*** At the end of Pandemonium Lena saved Julian and saw Alex again. Are we going to cry and be divided over the two boys? Is it going to be a love triangle with TEAM JULIAN’s and TEAM ALEX’s
I guess you'll have to wait till the next book to see! ;)

     I'm hoping you guys are as psyched as I am about the release of Requiem. If you aren't then you must not have read the previous books in the Delirium trilogy, because if you had you'd be bouncing in your seat.

Tootles!

Kacii