Lauren Oliver shared this quote last Monday at Joseph-Beth
Booksellers in Cincinnati. She read it years ago, and it helped inspire her to
write the Delirium trilogy. Also at the event with Lauren were two YA authors local to the Cincinnati area, Mindy McGinnis and
Jasmine Warga.
Love and death are two common themes in
fiction, and these three authors let both of them run rampant through their
stories. (That’s a good thing, btw.) Lauren
Oliver, who's celebrating the release of her ninth novel, Vanishing Girls, talked about how she uses fiction to get as close as possible to limits
that seem unbreachable or unknowable. She writes fiction to ask questions that
she doesn’t know how to answer herself. Mindy McGinnis, whose next book A
Madness So Discreet releases this fall, said that authors can investigate
issues of mortality in fiction with a free hand. Jasmine Warga,
debut author of My Heart and Other Black
Holes, talked about the theme of death at length. Her debut novel stars two teens contemplating suicide who meet online, which she wrote after
unexpectedly losing someone close to her. Jasmine wanted to explore the questions:
What does it mean to live? and Is it possible to be in a dark place and dig yourself
out of that hole? All fiction deals with mortality to some extent according to Jasmine, and I
agree. Lauren Oliver said that grappling with the meaning of life is essential.
And to grapple with it, we deal with issues of life, death and our own
mortality as humans.
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| Lauren Oliver, Mindy McGinnis and Jasmine Warga |
Of course, the event wasn’t all serious. There were
plenty of laughs, like when Mindy shared her writing playlists (cricket sounds,
and if she’s not in a very good mood, static) and when Lauren shared the drama
of her first summer job (she was a lifeguard and dated both snack bar guys even
though they were best friends, which was a huge scandal). These fabulous
authors talked about what books got them into reading and writing (Lauren: Wind
in the Willows and Redwall; Mindy: A Wrinkle in Time; Jasmine: Matilda and Anne of
Green Gables). They talked about their writing schedules, how they get their
story ideas and shared their take on social media. After a lively, inspiring
and thought-provoking discussion, the event moved onto the signing, chatting
and picture-taking portion!
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| The books I'm adding to my signed collection! |
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| Lauren Oliver and me! |
Now to the
giveaway! Recently I’ve been contemplating giving away some of my older ARCs
(my shelves are bursting) and I realized this event would be the perfect
opportunity to throw in a signed book! So, I’m giving away a signed paperback of Panic by Lauren Oliver, as it was one of my top ten books of 2014! Also, I’m giving away an unsigned ARC
of Rooms by Lauren Oliver. This is Lauren’s first (and presently only) novel
for adults, and it’s a read-with-the-lights-on tale. I’ll be selecting one winner (who gets both books!) in a week, so keep an eye on
your inboxes then! (Giveaway is open to US/CAN only.)
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| The books I'm giving away! |
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: This post is an unofficial account of the event with Lauren Oliver, Mindy McGinnis and Jasmine Warga on March 16, 2015 at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati, OH. The views that I present in this post are my interpretations of the event, and they do not necessarily represent the opinions of the authors, their publisher or any affiliates.
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