Author and performer Jillian Lauren grew up in suburban New Jersey
and fled across the water to New York City. She attended New York
University for three minutes before dropping out to work in downtown
theater, where she performed with Richard Foreman’s Ontological Hysteric
Theater, among others.
She is the author of the novel, PRETTY, and of the New York Times bestselling memoir, SOME GIRLS: My Life in a Harem, both published by Plume/Penguin. SOME GIRLS has since been translated into fourteen different languages.
Jillian has an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University. Her writing has appeared in The
Paris Review, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Magazine,
Flaunt Magazine, Opium Magazine, Society, Pale House: A Collective and in the anthologies My First Time: A Collection of First Punk Show Stories and Tarnished: True Tales of Innocence Lost.
She has performed at spoken word and storytelling events across the
country and has been interviewed on such television programs as The
View, Good Morning America and Howard Stern. She was a featured dancer
with the infamous Velvet Hammer Burlesque. As a performer, she has
recently worked with directors as diverse as Robert Cucuzza, Steve
Balderson, Lynne Breedlove, Austin Young, Michelle Carr and Margaret
Cho.
Jillian recently premiered her solo performance piece, Mother Tongue, at the Steve Allen Theater in Los Angeles.
She regularly blogs at TODAY Moms and Jillianlauren.com.
Jillian is married to musician Scott Shriner. They live in Los Angeles with their son.
_________________________________
Ooooh let's hear MORE...
Tell us your latest news?
Writing or
life? Well, my family and I are going to live in NY for a couple of months this
winter so I can perform in a show there. So that's the latest life news. As for
writing, I'm just finishing my Pretty book tour and about to get home and start
working in earnest on the memoir I'm doing now.
When and why did you begin writing?
I've always
written. My mother has illustrated epic poems I wrote in fourth grade. I've
been a reader and a writer for as long as I can remember.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I began
considering myself to be a professional writer (or at least aspiring to make it
my profession) when I was in graduate school at Antioch. That was when I
committed to my writing in a more serious way.
What inspired you to write your first book?
My first book
was a terrible experimental novel that never saw the light of day. And I don't
remember why I wrote that one. I think it started as a series of linked short
stories and it just kept growing. Some of the material in that book got parsed
up and scattered throughout my memoir Some Girls, so it wasn't a total wash. It
was the novel through which I got a handle on some craft and voice issues, but
it was more about process than product with that one.
Do you have a specific writing style?
No, I don't
consider myself aligned with any particular school. I like to think of my style
as constantly evolving.
How did you come up with the title?
It's meant to
work on several levels. Pretty is set
in the world capital of the over-valuation of physical beauty: Los Angeles.
Bebe is dealing with feeling twisted and ugly, so that’s set into stark relief
by the value system that permeates the culture around her. At the same time, much of the humor and
friendship in the book happens at the beauty college Bebe attends. So while
Bebe’s struggle with beauty leads her to some very dark places, it also
provides a context for the wisdom that eventually becomes her salvation.
Is there a
message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
I would like
them to walk away with a respect for Bebe’s journey and their own journey. To
value that process, the struggle. I think you come to the end of this book and
don’t find any answers. I certainly didn’t as the writer, so I don’t expect the
reader to, but I do feel like there is a hope that’s offered. That’s the take
away that I’d like people to have. Like the Buddhist idea that the answer is
the question and the journey is the destination.
Are
experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
I always
included details from my own life in my fiction. Pretty is a
collage of people I’ve known and places I’ve lived and questions I’ve struggled
with. But Pretty isn’t autobiographical. Bebe and I certainly
have some similarities, but I didn’t model her life or her thought processes on
my own.
What books
have most influenced your life most?
My influences
constantly shift, but some important writers to me are- Nick Flynn, Mary
Gaitskill, Denis Johnson, Chekov, Sartre.
If you had to
choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
I'm lucky
enough to have two amazing literary mentors- Jim Krusoe and Leonard Chang. Both
of these men have shaped my growth as a person and as a writer.
What book are
you reading now?
The Marriage
Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides.
Are there any
new authors that have grasped your interest?
Two I've been
crazy about lately are Chika Unigwe and Elissa Schappell.
What are your
current projects?
I'm working
on another memoir that centers around adoption-related themes.
Name one
entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
I feel
supported by my mentors and my community of other writers.
Do you see
writing as a career?
Yes.
If you had to
do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
Of course! Every
time I open it I see at least three I can't stand and want to change. But
that's just the nature of the process.
Do you recall
how your interest in writing originated?
_______________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment