Photo: Jonathan Alpeyrie
In the past three years, Lauren Oliver has published a YA novel (Before I Fall), two middle-grade books (Liesl & Po and The Spindlers), the internationally bestselling dystopian Delirium trilogy, and four ancillary novellas from the Delirium world. And that’s just her own writing – in 2010 she cofounded Paper Lantern Lit, helping authors hone their work. Does her schedule ever feel toopacked? According to Oliver, that’s just the way she likes it.
Take this month as an example. Oliver traveled to eight U.S. cities in as many days to promote the release of Requiem (HarperCollins), the final book in the Delirium trilogy. She’s now in the midst of a two-week blitz through London and its environs for more Requiem-related events, including a sold-out reading and signing at Waterstones Piccadilly. (Oliver’s gotten so good at multitasking that she conducted the interview for this article while on a train to a reading at a school.)
On top of her tour, Oliver has also been working behind the scenes on a pilot for a TV series based on the Delirium trilogy, recently commissioned by Fox and starring Emma Roberts as Lena. “I have a close relationship with the producer [Paula Mazur],” says Oliver, who made comments and suggestions on the script. “That being said, TV’s not my area of expertise… but I do feel like my material’s been treated respectfully.”
As far as her own approach to writing, Oliver says she’s always been disciplined and a bit of a workaholic. “I often write two books simultaneously. Usually one of them starts out as a fun experiment designed to give me a daily break from the real book I’m writing. And then that becomes a real book too,” she says. “I think I’m able to do so much because writing is what I love to do. So, often when I have free time, I choose to write and edit.”
Oliver got her start as an editorial assistant at Penguin’s Razorbill imprint, and she parlayed that experience into a venture of her own. In fact, honing and crafting projects generated by Paper Lantern Lit – the boutique “literary incubator” she and editor Lexa Hillyer (formerly with Razorbill and HarperCollins) co-founded – is very much a part of Oliver’s daily routine . . .
*Read the rest of the article in Publishers Weekly (March 21, 2013).
Alexis Burling 