Ask the Author: Elizabeth Hardinger
Answered Questions (10)
Elizabeth Hardinger
Anywhere at all, as long as I could be a fly on the wall. Whenever we drive through a new town (IRL), I want to slide under every doorway and just witness people live their lives. I'm endlessly fascinated by people's conversations, jokes, beliefs, clothes, meals, closets, houses.
Elizabeth Hardinger
My TBR pile is so tall it's on the verge of toppling over, as always. At the moment I'm reading "Mostly Dead Things" by Kristen Arnett and "Phantoms" by Christian Kiefer. Loving both of them.
Elizabeth Hardinger
Thanks for this, Lucinda. Alta Grace was a real-life heroine, wasn't she? So many of them walk among us, unacknowledged, but persisting in spite of everything including their own imperfections.
My next book is set in Kansas in the 1950s-1960s. It tells the story of a town's reaction to a terrible loss.
My next book is set in Kansas in the 1950s-1960s. It tells the story of a town's reaction to a terrible loss.
Elizabeth Hardinger
I don't know where it came from, but I remembered what it felt like sitting in the backseat of our car with my three siblings in the summer - on a bench seat, with no seatbelts. I felt the contrast between a sweaty leg pressing against mine, and the fuzzy upholstery itching the back of my legs. That led to a memory of riding with my best high school friend in her father's Cadillac. Thinking about bench seats, no seatbelts, and that Cadillac led me to ask a series of "what if" questions that led me to start writing.
Elizabeth Hardinger
"Inspiration" means breathing in. I try to breathe in everything around me.
Elizabeth Hardinger
I'm writing a novel set in Kansas in the 1960s.
Elizabeth Hardinger
I'm writing a novel set in Kansas in the 1960s.
Elizabeth Hardinger
Persist. And find a critique group or beta readers that hold you to the highest standards in a way that encourages you to persist.
Elizabeth Hardinger
The best thing is getting to play with my imaginary friends. When it's going well, there's no feeling like it. Hours fly by.
Elizabeth Hardinger
If you think of writing as composing scenes and chapters, well, some days it just isn't happening. On those days, I write backstory, character sketches, and notes, or I do research or work on the timeline. That stuff may not end up on the page, but it counts, too. And often it prompts me to compose scenes and chapters.
Elizabeth Hardinger
As a child I was a voracious reader. One day, reading a chapter book, I unexpectedly saw a paragraph as a thing in itself - typed letter by letter, word by word, by someone on a typewriter. I thought, could I do that? The idea was electrifying. From then on, I read as a writer.
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