For fans of Thirteen Reasons Why, This Is How It Ends, and All the Bright Places, comes a new novel about life after. How do you put yourself back together when it seems like you’ve lost it all?
We had the pleasure of chatting to debut author Liz Lawson about her recently published YA contemporary, The Lucky Ones. She chats about its inspiration and the challenges she faced while writing, along with her publishing journey, writing process, and book recommendations!
Hi, Liz! Thanks for chatting with us! Why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself?
Hi! Thanks so much for having me on the blog. I’m Liz, and THE LUCKY ONES is my debut novel. It released on 4/7/2020 from Delacorte Press. I started writing for teens a few years ago when I was in a place in my life where I remembered how it feels to be a teenager. The pain and the hope and the confusion and the idea that you’re simultaneously invincible and incredibly vulnerable. It’s amazing to me how high school is only four years but feels now like it was a lifetime. So much happens, so much growing and learning and changing. It’s an incredible time of life to explore.
Your debut novel, The Lucky Ones, released on April 7th. If you could only use five words to describe it, what would they be?
Emotional, contemporary, hopeful, musical, difficult
Now, tell us a little more! What can readers expect?
THE LUCKY ONES is the story of May and Zach, two LA teenagers who have both been affected in different ways by a school shooting that occurred a year prior. It’s a book about finding hope through tragedy. It’s dark and about a serious subject, but it’s really about finding light on the other side of that darkness.
Where did the inspiration for The Lucky Ones come from?
I grew up and graduated from high school right when Columbine happened, and that changed the entire landscape of our country, forever. I started writing this book for all the kids who are faced with this reality, day in and out. I wrote it for the kids who have lived through the shootings that are mentioned above and the many other shootings that aren’t, and for those who fear that they might endure a similar fate someday. For those who have made their way through painful, heartbreaking times and managed to find their way through to the other side. I wanted to show them that there is hope.
Did you face any challenges while writing?
The biggest challenge was the research the book entailed! It was rough, some days, reading the stories of shootings and the people who lost their lives and the people who survived.
What was your writing process like? Did it change at all as you went on?
It was really hard at times. Like I said above, the research I had to do was rough and emotionally draining at times. I found it necessary to give myself a break every once in a while to watch some silly TV (THE OFFICE, etc) or read something light hearted to break up the darkness of my research and writing.
The road to becoming a published author is different for everyone. What was your journey like?
Well, leading up to THE LUCKY ONES I wrote two other books! The first, I immediately shelved and hasn’t seen the light of day since—very much my practice book. Then, I wrote one that I decided to take more seriously and queried it to no avail. I came close a few times, but it ended up on the shelf too. And then, while I was querying that book, I started writing THE LUCKY ONES. In retrospect, I can see that I absolutely needed to get through those first two books to grow as a writer and write something that was actually publishable. You really do learn so much with each new book. I queried, accepted an exclusive R&R with Writers House, and spent the next three months working on it as much as I could. And then I signed with my agent there! Because my R&R was so extensive, there wasn’t much more to do before going on sub, and once we went on sub, my book sold in a week (I was very fortunate). So it was very, very slow for a long time, and then very, very fast at the end!
What do you hope readers will take away from reading The Lucky Ones?
THE LUCKY ONES is a story of pain and fear and loss, but also one of hope. And I truly believe that we need stories of hope in this world, stories where people go through some shit but manage to come out on the other side. Someone recently described reading THE LUCKY ONES as a cathartic experience, and that’s exactly what I’ve always hoped that readers would get from the read.
It’s a crazy world right now. What is it like at your household right now and have you made any changes to get through the now very long days at home?
Well I’m still working at my day job (and trying to promote my book!), so my husband has been handling hanging with our toddler since he’s out of school. It’s a lot some days, but I know we’re very lucky compared to so many people who have lost their livelihoods.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
There are several other debuts coming out on April 7th that I highly recommend—THE BEST LAID PLANS by Cameron Lund and THE PERFECT ESCAPE by Suzanne Park are excellent. Also, Dante Medema’s fall book THE TRUTH PROJECT is an incredible novel in verse that everyone should put on their to-read lists! And, right now, I’m reading YOU’RE NEXT by Kylie Schachte, which is FANTASTIC! The voice reminds me a lot of early season Veronica Mars, which isn’t something I say lightly. I highly recommend checking it out!
