Fortnight of Guests: Lauren Oliver

Delirium is one of my very favourite series ever, so it's a huge pleasure to say that Lauren Oliver is here with an interview for us!  


In Pandemonium, there was a double time-line - the 'Then' and 'Now' chapters (I loved that SO much, by-the-way!). Are you going to write the same in Requiem? Or are we going to have it from other POVs - like the short Hanna story...?

Unlike the first two books, It's told from two different POVs. Who they are is my secret for now!

I'm being really cheeky now, but can you give us the teensiest hint about what's to come in Requiem?

I'll I'm going to say is that you'll see some characters that we haven't seen since Delirium. 

Lena is also the most incredible lead girl ever, one I loved seeing grow - and just loved full stop! When you started writing, did you know where Lena was going, how she was going to grow?

Not to the exact detail, but I knew that I wanted her to grow stronger, and to find love of course!

I adore Lena and all your characters - but who's your favourite?

I don't know that I can pick one!

You know when you read a book and it does all the right things with your emotions - makes you feel everything the main character does? Your Delirium series do that for me! How, in a loveless world, did you pack so much emotion in?!

Well I think part of what I was trying to show in the book is that no matter how much oppressive forces try to control what people think and feel, those natural emotions are going to surface. Love is such a powerful thing, I don't think it could ever completely be stifled. 

If you lived in a dystopian world like Delirium, would you be like Lena, fighting all the way, or do you think you'd be Hanna, choosing to stay with her family and home and certain, secure future?

I hope I'd be like Lena, but I think it's impossible to tell until you're actually faced with a situation like that. I am pretty feisty though, so hopefully that quality would survive. 

The big news on the block (for me) is that both Before I Fall and Delirium could be made into films! Do you have any more info on that?!

Not really, except that I'm very excited!

If you were in charge of the films, do you have any ideas about actors to play the main characters?

I'm so bad at that question! I have a weird desire to see Taylor Swift play Lindsey though...

You've written a contemp YA, two (almost three) dystopia YA-s and one MG fantasy book. What's next for you?

My next book to get published is another Middle Grade book called "The Spindlers". It's very exciting, and I'm really looking forward to it coming out. 

If you could jump into any fantasy world ever created, which would you choose?

Um, Harry Potter. For sure!

Why do you think dystopia is so huge at the moment, what with Delirium, Hunger Games, etc.?

I don't know why it's so huge at this particular moment, but I think people always have a desire to see the worst of the future as a way of exploring how to fix the present. Sometimes you have to see the worst possible outcome of something in order to find the good and hope in people. 

Have any authors or books really influenced you as a writer?

Yes, The Harry Potter Books, Roald Dhal, Jane Austen, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez... just to name a few!

And you must get asked this every interview you have, but as an aspiring author I simply have to ask! Do you have any advise for aspiring authors such as me?

I always give the same advice, but it's the best advice I know! Write Write Write! Every single day make sure you get something down on paper. 

Last question, promise! ;) What do you want your readers to take away from your books?

I hope that they can be inspired to be strong, and to make the choice that's right for them as an individual, but not to judge other people's choices.

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http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com/index.php
https://twitter.com/#!/OliverBooks   @OliverBooks


Thank you so much for taking part, Lauren!  It's been a huge pleasure interviewing you!  

Everyone, if you liked this post, make sure you follow all the FoG events on Twitter at #FortnightOfGuests

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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.