Laura, what book or books would most resonate with readers who love your book–or visa versa?

I’ve seen people compare GIRL OUT OF WATER with Jenny Han’s TO ALL THE BOYS trilogy, which is the most flattering thing ever. If for some reason you haven’t read her books, I would definitely recommend them if you like my book – quiet contemporary, focus on family.

How long did you work on GIRL OUT OF WATER?

I wrote five drafts over about six months. That was the bulk of the work, and I did it while I was earning my MFA in Writing for Children, so it was kind of my job and my luxury to focus on writing a novel. After that, my amazing agent picked it up. That process, then getting picked up by my publishing house, then edits for the house, makes the timeline a bit murky because there’s waiting between all of the stages. But I started writing it around Fall 2014 and finished most edits around Fall 2016.

What’s your writing ritual like? Do you listen to music? Work at home or at a coffee shop or the library, etc?

My writing ritual has changed a lot because I have progressive chronic pain, so my disability is a lot worse now than when I wrote the majority of GIRL OUT OF WATER. I wrote most of the manuscript in a coffee shop across the street from my Brooklyn apartment (I swear that’s the most New York writer sentence I’ll ever say). I used to be able to work for hours straight.

Now I live back in Atlanta with my parents and have to write at home. I also have to write in short bursts because typing hurts my hands and sitting up hurts my back and chest. I used to be able to get seven or eight hours of writing done in a day. Now, on a “good” pain day, I can maybe get two to three hours in if I dedicate my full day to writing and take tons of needed breaks in between. It’s one of the most frustrating things about my chronic pain – knowing how much more I could create without it.

One ritual hasn’t changed though – I like listening to classical music or white noise when I write. I studied abroad at Oxford University, and someone recorded the background sounds of The Bodleian Library. I’ll listen to it on loop while I write; it seriously feels like you’re working in a real library. When I edit I can listen to music with lyrics – for GIRL OUT OF WATER there was a lot of Beach Boys involved. ????