To celebrate 13 weeks of winter, Hàlön Chronicles is conducting one interview a week for 13 weeks. We’re also partnering with other sites and artists to bring a fuller, richer experience to our readers.
Join us on the hashtag #13Winterviews, or check out this season’s articles:
Welcome to the Season | Winterviews Partners | 2019 Blog Hop | Book Pairings | Winterviews & Solstice Eve
This week on Winterviews takes us from a box store in Jersey to a cattle ranch in Texas as we say hello to Author Laura Hazan and her story Little Boxes.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I live in Baltimore, MD and by day work as a public librarian for the City of Baltimore. By night, I try to write stories. I completed my first novel, Little Boxes, and I’m currently marketing it to agents.
What types of books do you write, and why?
I generally start with a character or situation and build my book from there. Little Boxes is adult upmarket magical realism, but I currently have a mystery in my head I’d like to get down on paper.
What were your early influences, and how does this manifest in your work today?
Some of my earliest memories of reading are when I was very young. I had these Disney records that had stories along with them. I’d put the record on the player and “read” along in the story. I think I taught myself how to read that way. After that my memory jumps to early teen years reading lots of Stephen King. His early books, I think, are especially well-told. They grab you with character and pacing. I hope I do a bit of the same in my work.
Are there aspects of the craft that excite you more than others?
I love writing dialogue. I love it so much sometimes I think I should write screenplays. I also love the writing community. I consider this part of the craft too – writing is just a part of getting published, the best part, but once the writing is over we need to send our work out into the world and having a strong community of writing colleagues to turn to for editing, critique, marketing, etc. is invaluable.
What books or websites are your go-to places while editing?
I don’t have any go-to places for editing—except in the form of other people. I have my writers group – we meet 2x a month and read our own work aloud and give each other critique. It is so helpful to read your work aloud; you hear the clunky sentences, repetitive words and flat dialogue and edit problems from there. I also have critique partners who are willing to read and edit my work.
Tell us about your writing space (music/snacks/interruptions/etc).
My writing habit is to wait until everyone else in my house is in bed then I set myself up with my laptop on my dining room table. Sometimes I’ll air-pop popcorn and add copious amounts of butter and salt. My only companion at that hour is my one-eyed dog Boh. Sometimes I’ll play music, mostly not, but if I do it’s something without words or in a foreign language so I don’t get distracted – Salsa is perfect for this.
Tell us about your current WIP or your latest book release.
My first novel, Little Boxes, is adult magical realism. It is about Ari Blum who has no idea he is disappearing from the universe.
Content to run the family box-manufacturing business, eat the same lunch every day and watch Sunday morning political talk shows every week – some might think Ari is the saddest guy in North Jersey. But he doesn’t. Ari is comfortable. Except for giving up on that dream, not having any love in his life and his terrible luck with electronics. As his aura fades, his toll pass never works, his cell phone is full of static and he has no knack for turning on automatic bathroom faucets—or women for that matter.
Until the day he meets Sara; the same day his father arrives on the doorstep with a suitcase and a shocking family revelation. Obligation drags Ari from the comfort zone of his local pizzeria to Texas, a new half-brother and a crotchety haunted death mask. Sara seems the least of Ari’s worries but the quirky medium forces the 44-year-old to become a believer of the unbelievable while he transforms himself, his family and his toll pass forever.
Tell us what it is you do.
I am invited to read March 12, 2019 at a monthly reading series called Writers and Words. It will take place at Charmington’s in the Remington neighborhood in Baltimore. For more info: www.writersandwords.net
Also – I am on the planning committee for the 2019 Washington Writers Conference, May 10-11, 2019 in Rockville, MD. I am coordinating the agent pitch room by recruiting agents to listen to registrants pitch their work in 6 minutes. Every registrant is guaranteed at least 3 pitch meetings in addition to a day of craft talks and Jeffrey Deaver as the keynote speaker. To register: www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com
Laura Hazan is a librarian with the Enoch Pratt Free Library where she runs the bimonthly Light Street Writers Exchange. She completed her first novel, Little Boxes, and is still seeking representation for publication. She has a B.A. in communications from American University, a M.L.S. in Library Science from the University of Maryland, and attended the “Your Novel Year” program at Arizona State University’s Piper Writing Center. In addition, her work has been published in Natural Bridge, Kirkwood Patch, Sauce Magazine, and Not A Pipe Publishing #yearofpublishingwomen anthology Strongly Worded Women available at Amazon.com and other booksellers. Laura is a resident of Baltimore and lives with her son, her husband and their one-eyed dog, Boh. Please follow Laura on Twitter @lhazan.
