Do you knock on wood?

Yes, I absolutely knock on wood. Superstitions are simply the attempt to channel the mysterious, invisible energies of the world.

What is your most treasured comfort meal?

My mother’s baked macaroni and cheese with smoked paprika.

What is a species you feel is frequently misunderstood?

All species that humans feel no compunction in eating. Mostly, to my mind, pigs, which are as smart as dogs.

In what environment do you feel most at home?

I’m very much a homebody; I want my books, my bathtub, my people. The world is dark and overwhelming and I shore up energy at home.

My favorite tree in the world is _____.

There’s a tree on the Groff farm up in New Hampshire that we call the Grandmother tree: there were ten acres of land horrifically clear-cut, contrary to the instructions to the forester, and the Grandmother tree was the sole antique survivor. She surveyed the ravaged land, then watched the pioneer grasses, the mullein, the raspberries, the little trees sprout up. But in truth, I fall a little in love with every tree I pass.

Nature would be better without _____.

My first impulse was to say humans, but humans are a part of nature, and if we only learned to be more intelligent, we wouldn’t do the harm we do. My true answer is plastic.

What is something you’re looking forward to?

There’s a stack of 2026 books on my nightstand that is so high, it’s simply exhilarating. I can’t wait to get to them.

What was your last memorable animal encounter?

This past summer, I tracked a mother porcupine and her little one through some long grasses up in New Hampshire. She only had one eye, and a scar across her face, and I think I was only allowed to spy on her because she couldn’t see me on that side. I watched her show her soft belly to her baby, and then I watched it nurse. They made incredible noises, expressive grunts, and little squeals, and it felt inexpressibly beautiful to find such a tender moment with such a prickly creature.

Do you have any unusual hobbies, hidden talents, or superpowers you’d like to share?

I can imagine space with great clarity and accuracy, which makes home renovations a bit easier.

If you could, regardless of the local climate, reach out of your kitchen window and pluck a fruit from a tree, bush, or plant, what would it be?

I’d pick a succulent peach every day.

If you could make pancakes with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?

Virginia Woolf, who was, reputedly, a very good cook, witty, and loved gossip.

Would you jump at an opportunity to go into space? Why or why not?

Hell no! The Earth is so much of a marvel that there are days I can barely bear it.

What are some of your favorite words?

Gingembre, moue, vortex, vixen, coquelicot, trellis, timbre, honey.

Do you have a favorite folklore story or fairytale?

I think with great frequency of “The Six Swans” from the Brothers Grimm: I think of that last brother with a wing for an arm, and if he walks around displaying it proudly, like the half-angel he is.

Who are some of your heroes or heroines, real or fictional?

The best hero is an antihero, and I can think of no more complicated, fascinating, seductive person in all literature than John Milton’s Satan.

Who is a character from literature or film with whom you intensely identify?

I love Dorothea Brooke from Middlemarch perhaps a little too much.

What is something new you’ve done recently?

My boys are teenagers now, and when they were very little, we’d organized Sunday Soccer every weekend just to get them running. We had a reunion yesterday – they’re all giants now – and at the end, we played the parents against the kids. I don’t think my boys knew that I played soccer in college, and it felt excellent to score a few goals on them.

What’s the wildest thing you’ve witnessed or experienced in nature?

I was on a solo excursion during my Hurricane Island Outward Bound experience, without anything more than a tarp to protect myself from the elements, and a storm roared up and just pummelled me. I thought I was going to die; I had never felt so alive.

Are you optimistic about the future?

I have children, and I’m a novelist. These things can’t exist without existential optimism. My rational mind is extremely dark. But I do believe in the essential goodness in most people, and that’s where I find hope.

What is a smell that makes you stop in your tracks?

Rosemary, always, and lavender.  They have tremendous power.

Do you have a writing/art-making routine?

I do. I get up at 5 am, take a cup of coffee upstairs, and just do my best.

Which of your book subjects or characters haunts you the most?

I often think of Bit from Arcadia, whom I hope is doing all right. I doubt it. He’s very tender and this world is very harsh.

When you enter a bookstore, where do you head first?

Since I own a bookstore, I go to the managers’ office to see what I need to do for the day. In other bookstores, to the New and Notable Fiction tables.

Where did you grow up?

Cooperstown, New York.

Are you the same person you were as a child?

At my core, yes, but I have much more confidence and much less vulnerability now.

What song or album reminds you of high school?

Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy.

What did an average Friday night look like for you as a teenager? 

I was a three-sport athlete, so there was always either practice or a game or meet. Afterward, I’d eat whatever my mother left in the oven, take a shower, and read a book until I fell asleep. Boring, but even then I knew I was an introvert and not made for parties.

If authors had walk-up songs like professional baseball players do, what would yours be?

“Florida,” the collaboration between Florence and the Machine and Taylor Swift (for Florence’s part, she relied on a story of mine called “Eyewall”).

Okay, but what if you’re in a situation where you simply must sing karaoke. What’s your song?

“Don’t Stop Believing,” because people sing along.

If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

Paris.

What would you like to be most remembered for? 

My books, of course.

What flower would you want pinned to your breast after you die?

An orchid, the sexiest of flowers.

If you could come back as any organism, who or what would you be?

A hummingbird, so I could fly and drink nectar and hurt nobody.

Bring home a copy of Lauren’s newest story collection, Brawler, today!