{"id":22606,"date":"2012-03-06T14:16:48","date_gmt":"2012-03-06T03:16:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.booktopia.com.au\/?p=22606"},"modified":"2016-03-01T09:48:42","modified_gmt":"2016-02-29T23:48:42","slug":"jenny-lawson-author-of-lets-pretend-this-never-happened-answers-ten-terrifying-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2012\/03\/06\/jenny-lawson-author-of-lets-pretend-this-never-happened-answers-ten-terrifying-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Jenny Lawson, author of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, answers Ten Terrifying Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Booktopia Book Guru <\/strong>asks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jenny Lawson<\/strong><\/h1>\n

author of
\nLet’s Pretend This Never Happened<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ten Terrifying Questions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u00a0————————————–<\/p>\n

1. To begin with why don\u2019t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was born, raised and schooled in Texas and I\u2019ve never left for more than a week or two.
\nWhich is sort of sad.
\nAnd now I\u2019m sad.
\nDamn it.<\/em><\/p>\n

2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I was twelve I wanted to be Cory Haim\u2019s girlfriend.
\nWhen I was eighteen I wanted to be Corey Haim\u2019s wife.
\nWhen I was thirty I just felt really bad for Corey Haim.
\nI don\u2019t think I really need to go into the details.<\/p>\n

3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you do not have now?\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

The ever-rising star power of Corey Haim.<\/p>\n

4. What were three big events \u2013 in the family circle or on the world stage or in your reading life, for example \u2013 you can now say, had a great effect on you and influenced you in your career path?<\/strong><\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When I was a kid my parents used to take my sister and me to cemeteries to play because it was cheaper than going to the circus.\u00a0 We\u2019d use crayons and butcher-paper to make gravestone rubbings, and then when we got bored with that we\u2019d try to figure out the lives of the people buried beneath us using clues from the tombstones.\u00a0 We\u2019d make up long, strange stories about the silent people under our feet and I always thought that whatever fiction we came up with was probably nothing compared to the real stories, since the truth is so much stranger than fiction.\u00a0 I remember thinking about how sad I\u2019d be if the only story ever told about my family came from some bored kids who couldn\u2019t afford the circus and who didn\u2019t have enough imagination to understand the bizarre awesomeness of my dead family, and that\u2019s one of the reasons I decided to write this book.\u00a0 It\u2019s a weird reason, but a true one.<\/p>\n

\"\"2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ray Bradbury<\/a> and Neil Gaiman<\/a> are my favourite living authors.\u00a0 Every time I finish a story of theirs I miss their characters as if they were a part of my life.\u00a0 I aspire to one day be able to write a book that stands on that same level.<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My 7th<\/sup> grade science teacher told me that I\u2019d never amount to anything.\u00a0 I aim to prove her wrong.\u00a0\u00a0 Or burn down her house.<\/p>\n

5. Considering the innumerable electronic media avenues open to you – blogs, online newspapers, TV, radio, etc \u2013 why have you chosen to write a book? aren\u2019t they obsolete?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have a blog<\/a>, I write on an online newspaper, I used to write for a syndicated mini radio show and one time I was on the news wearing only a bed-sheet.\u00a0 They each had their pros but none of them allow for the depth offered of a book.\u00a0 I remember all of my favourite books when I was kid\u2026the way they felt, smelled\u2026I wanted to be part of that strange community of people responsible for bringing new stories into the world.<\/p>\n

6.Please tell us about your latest book\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Although I\u2019m mostly known for my columns and blogs, I\u2019ve reserved the very best stories of my life for this book.\u00a0 I\u2019ve found an audience of men and women who not only enjoy laughing at the weirdness that is my life, but who are surprised to find themselves actually identifying with the bizarrely dysfunctional-functionality that I experienced in my own childhood and that I now try to cultivate in my own family life.<\/p>\n

In fact, it wasn\u2019t until I started writing about all the mortifying things I\u2019d gone through in my lifetime that I realized that all of the moments which (at the time) I\u2018d wanted to pretend had never happened, were actually the very best moments of my life\u2026the ones that made me me.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s why I wrote this book:\u00a0 To celebrate the strange, to give thanks for the bizarre, and to one day help my daughter understand that the reason her mother appeared mostly naked on Fox News is probably the same reason why her grandfather occasionally brings his pet donkey into bars:\u00a0 Because you are defined not by life\u2019s imperfect moments, but by your reaction to them.\u00a0 Because there is joy in embracing -rather than running screaming from- the utter absurdity of life.\u00a0 (And also because it\u2019s illegal to leave an unattended donkey in your car, even if you do live in Texas.)<\/p>\n

Click here to order a couple of copies<\/a>, one for reading and one for ‘best’,<\/a> of
\nLet’s Pretend This Never Happened<\/em><\/strong>
\nfrom Booktopia, Australia’s No.1 Online Book Shop.<\/a><\/p>\n

7. If your work could change one thing in this world \u2013 what would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019d like for someone struggling through high school to read this book and realize that it gets better, and that being strange or weird is sometimes a wonderful (and terrible) thing.<\/p>\n

8. Whom do you most admire and why?\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

My mom.\u00a0 She\u2019s the nicest and<\/strong> strongest person I\u2019ve ever met and she has no idea.\u00a0 She thinks she\u2019s just some background character in life, but she isn\u2019t.\u00a0 She\u2019s the one that makes it all go and she does it with no expectation of acknowledgement.\u00a0 She simply is good for no other reason than it is the only way for her to be.\u00a0 I aspire to be more like her.<\/p>\n

9.Many people set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I try not to make goals for myself because I never accomplish them but if I had to I\u2019d say that my short term goal is to finish this senten<\/p>\n

10.What advice do you give aspiring writers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Find your voice.\u00a0 Trust your editor.\u00a0 Don\u2019t become a hermit and die alone because your cats will <\/strong>eat you.<\/p>\n

Jenny, thank you for playing.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thanks for having me!\u00a0 Did I win?<\/p>\n

Yes, yes you did.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Praise and advanced reviews:\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cThe Bloggess writes stuff that actually is laugh-out-loud, but you know that really you shouldn\u2019t be laughing and probably you\u2019ll go to hell for laughing, so maybe you shouldn\u2019t read it. That would be safer and wiser.\u201d<\/span>
\n -Neil Gaiman, author of The Sandman, Stardust, American Gods <\/em>and Coraline<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something wrong with Jenny Lawson-magnificently wrong. I defy you to read her work and not hurt yourself laughing.\u201d\u00a0-Jen Lancaster, Author of Bitter is the New Black, Jeneration X, Bright Lights, Big Ass<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJenny Lawson will make you laugh again and again \u2013 at things you didn\u2019t even know were funny. \u00a0And what\u2019s more, she can write. \u00a0What she knows about pacing, punchlines, setups and surprises could fill a book. \u00a0Lucky for us, it\u2019s this one. \u00a0–\u00a0Katherine Center, author of The Bright Side of Disaster, Everyone Is Beautiful, <\/em>and Get Lucky<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJenny Lawson is hilarious, snarky, witty, totally inappropriate, and \u2018Like Mother Teresa, Only Better.\u2019\u201d<\/span>
\n -Diana Vilibert,\u00a0Marie Claire<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJenny Lawson\u2019s writing is nothing less than revolutionary. \u00a0Her humor is touched by humanity, her cynicism laced with self-deprecation. I say this without a hint of exaggeration: She may be one of the most progressive women\u2019s voices of our time.\u201d<\/span>
\n -Karen Walrond, author of\u00a0The Beauty of Different<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can follow Jenny on Twitter – here<\/a><\/p>\n

Here’s a questions for readers :<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do you think you’d have the guts to write a ‘warts and all’ memoir?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Jenny Lawson author of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened Ten Terrifying Questions \u00a0————————————– 1. To begin with why don\u2019t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? I was born, raised and schooled in Texas and I\u2019ve never left for more than a week or two. Which is sort of sad. And now I\u2019m sad. Damn it. 2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why? When I was twelve I wanted to be Cory Haim\u2019s girlfriend. When I was eighteen I wanted to be Corey Haim\u2019s wife. When I was thirty I just felt really bad for Corey Haim. I don\u2019t think I really need to go into the details. 3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you do not have now? The ever-rising star power of Corey Haim. 4. What were three big events \u2013 in the family circle or on the world stage or in your reading life, for example \u2013 you can now say, had a great effect on you and influenced you in your career path? 1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When I was a kid…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[92,9],"tags":[2789,3214,5184],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22606"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22606"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57364,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22606\/revisions\/57364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}