Ask the Author: Arlene Lagos
Answered Questions (7)
Arlene Lagos
As a writer I am inspired by Suzanne Collins, I love the way she wrote Hunger Games, weaving the hidden truths about our own flawed society into a fantastic piece of fiction. As a woman, I am inspired by Alice Paul, the head of the suffragist movement that led women to winning their right to vote in the 1920's. As a person I am inspired by anyone who is willing to stand up and help another person that is in desperate need of it.
Arlene Lagos
I think of the world I want to live in and try and create it on the page. Sometimes that world is a wild science-fiction fantasy adventure. Sometimes its about finding justice in an unjust world. Sometimes its teaching kids about peer pressure and bullying. Then I make a story out of it.
Arlene Lagos
I'm currently working on Butterflies Rising, a sequel to Butterflies Wake.
Arlene Lagos
Don't be an "aspiring" writer. BE A WRITER. They only way to do that is to just write. Write until its right. Everyone starts off in their parents basement or garage (so to speak). Nobody comes out of the womb as Stephen King, or Suzanne Collins. Let yourself be a bad writer until you get the hang of it. It will get better, but only if you keep writing!
Arlene Lagos
Freedom of thought. Some people write for their audience, I write purely for myself and if even one person enjoys my work, then I have succeeded.
Arlene Lagos
I don't get writer's block or at least, its not how I perceive it. I am either flowing freely with thought for days or I'm lost in thought and not writing, only because I don't feel like the thought has quite formed yet. I think of it less as a block and more as a time for reflection until the idea becomes worthy of putting on paper.
Arlene Lagos
I was living in South Carolina at the time, and I remember thinking how different the women in the South were compared to the North. They seemed less "rough around the edges". But, as I got to know many of the women who lived in Charleston and surrounding areas, I realized they had a lot more "tough spirit" than what seemed to appear on the surface. I started to think about women in general and how they are viewed. Then it seemed that every time I watched television, read a book or saw a movie or play, it was more and more noticeable to me how much women, especially strong women, were left on the sidelines, as a secondary character, or completely absent from a story altogether. What happened to the Sigourney Weaver's and Linda Hamilton's?
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