Author Laura Dave dishes with SheKnows about the paperback release of her critically acclaimed novel, The First Husband (April 24), life as a newlywed and her secret to finding balance.
SheKnows: Tweet us about your novel, The First Husband, (out in paperback April 24) in 140 characters or fewer, of course. (Love the new cover, btw!).
Laura Dave:The First Husband by @lauradave: A novel about falling in love and finding your home where you least expected it to be.
SK: What’s a favorite line or passage from your book?
LD: Great question. This line is probably up there for me, mostly because a reader recently tweeted it (speaking of Twitter!):
Maybe just once in this life someone loves us for the us we don’t even know how to be yet. And if we lose him too early, we may just lose that chance to be our best self.
SK: The First Husband landed on Entertainment Weekly‘s Bullseye. They called it a “fizzy, amusing vacation read.” Who or what would you put in the center of the EW Bullseye?
LD: I’m currently obsessed with Game of Thrones. So I’d probably put a photograph of Peter Dinklage right in the center.
SK: We always ask authors about balance. You’re a newlywed (congratulations!) and have a successful writing career as an author and a journalist. What does balance mean to you and how do you achieve it?
LD: Some days better than others! Seriously, balance — for me, at least — is all about honoring what matters most and learning to be present in what I’m doing. Something that helps a lot: We have a rule that there are no computers or other electronics allowed in the bedroom. Unplugging is really important. It helps create a stress-free zone and lets the day begin and end quietly. I also love to cook and my husband and I make dinner several nights a week. When there’s no time, I watch the Food Network. Also balance-inducing.
SK: Describe the area where you write. What are five things on your desk that will give us some insight about you?
LD: I write at a great larder near my house. My table there is pretty empty except for a cup of coffee and my mac computer. Though I also have a set of headphones with me (I listen to music while I write) and a book or two. I share my desk at home with my husband, who is a screenwriter. That desk is a mess! It’s full of photographs and papers and old drafts. But we never have any pens. We can’t seem to hold onto them. You’d think with two writers, it would be a priority.
SK: What books are you reading right now or planning to read next?
LD: Right now I’m reading The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks, which is impossible to put down. When I’m in the middle of a novel, I like to read things that are very different than what I’m writing.
SK: Are you working on your next novel? If so, any hints? (Please!)
LD: Yes! I’m almost done with a new book about a newly married woman whose husband disappears. I’m really excited about it. Of course, I’ll be more excited when I’ve written the last sentence.
More reading
Liza Palmer talks More Like Her
Must-read: The First Husband by Laura Dave
Must-read: Letter from a Stranger by Barbara Taylor Bradford
Leave a Comment