The Ark Blog Tour: Interview with Laura Liddell Nolen

Today we're joining THE ARK blog tour by chatting with author Laura Liddell Nolen. Come get to know all about Laura and her book.

Hi, Laura! Welcome to We Do Write. Tell us a bit about yourself.  

Hi! Thank you so much for having me! Let’s see. I grew up in Hattiesburg, MS, and I have two brothers. The three of us have always loved sci fi and storytelling. Our dad’s a comic book collector, and he taught us how to handle comics at a really young age. My takeaway was mostly, “Don’t handle comic books.” But those stories made a big impression on me, and I used a lot of that as inspiration in writing The Ark.

Tell our readers a bit about THE ARK.

The Ark is about a girl who can’t seem to get it right. Charlotte Turner has been behind bars, off and on, since she was twelve. Even before that, she felt trapped– hemmed in at every angle by her parents’ relentless drive toward status and achievement. But at least in juvy, people seem to get her. They call her by her chosen name, Char, and they even pronounce it correctly: with a hard ch, as in charred. Something that got burned.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: world-weary criminal seeks out redemption and a better life, only to find that, given his status as a convict, his past will follow him wherever he goes. For some, there is no out.

Only in my book, the hardened criminal is a little girl. And instead of a life of crime and prison, she’s looking at a violent end in an oncoming meteor strike.

How did the idea of the story come to you?

  I wanted the story to be reminiscent of an old-school space adventure, through the eyes of a young girl struggling for survival. I wanted her to be resourceful but not particularly wise yet, and to have a strong desire for redemption without fully understanding what that might involve. So an end-of-the-world scenario seemed like a good fit!

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Planner, big time. I should start a support group. The thought of writing without multiple outlines gives me the shakes.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

My biggest challenges are always internal: finding the motivation to push through a difficult scene and the time and dedication necessary to finish the story. Other than that, I would say that writing has an extremely steep learning curve. It’s way harder than I expected, but also more rewarding.

What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

Coffee!!

If you could have any super power, what would it be?

I’d want to be able to know the answer to the following question anytime I asked it: “What’s the most important thing I don’t know that I need to know, right at this moment?”

I don’t want to be omniscient, but I’d like to know whether I’ve got my bases covered.

I’m sorry for the strange answer! I’d also like to fly.

What's the weirdest thing you've googled?

Haha, asked like a true writer!! Let’s see, my searches over the past year alone are probably enough to earn me a little extra love from the NSA (Hi, guys!). Probably “how to hotwire a boat.”

Finish this sentence: If I'm not writing, I'm probably ...

Hanging out. Just low-key talks with friends.

Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.

Oh, man. No pressure, but there are a lot of people who make it possible for me to pursue this objectively ridiculous pipe dream. Everyone who left a review on Amazon. I can name you from memory, and I love you so much. Everyone who bought the book or who kinda plans on it one day, maybe. I appreciate it, I really do.

And everyone I mentioned in the back of the book. That was super hard to write the first time!!

Thanks for stopping by the blog!

My pleasure! Thanks again!