2016 Debut Authors Bash - Interview and Giveaway: Laura Stampler of Little Black Dresses, Little White Lies

 

The Debut Authors Bash is an event where bloggers are paired with a debut author to spread their awesomeness on their blog. It is a month-long event so be sure to check out the full schedule here!

 

 

Hello everyone, please welcome Laura Stampler to the blog to today to talk her debut novel, Little Black Dresses, Little White Lies! Make sure you read the interview and enter to win a copy of the book at the end ;)

 

 

Little Black Dresses, Little White Lies

by Laura Stampler

July 19, 2016
320 pages

Goodreads  Indigo
 

Goodreads Summary:

Harper Anderson always believed she belonged somewhere more glamorous than her sleepy Northern California suburb. After all, how many water polo matches and lame parties in Bobby McKittrick's backyard can one girl take? That's why Harper is beyond ecstatic when she lands her dream internship as a dating blogger at the elite teen magazine Shift. Getting to spend the summer in New York City to live her dream of becoming a writer? Harper's totally in.

There's just one teeny, tiny, infinitesimal problem: Apart from some dance floor make-outs, Harper doesn't have a lot of - or, really, any - dating expertise. In fact, she might have sort of stolen her best friend's experiences as her own on her Shift application. But she can learn on the job...right?

From awkward run-ins with the cute neighborhood dog-walker to terrifying encounters with her crazed editor, from Brooklyn gallery openings to weekends in the Hamptons, Harper finds out what it takes to make it in the Big City--and as the writer of her own destiny.

 

Interview

1. How did you come up with the title of your book? (Why use a comma, not 'and'?)

I had originally planned to call the book CONFESSIONS OF A MAKE-OUT BANDIT, which is the title of one of Harper’s dating blog. But after talking to my editor, we decided that it wasn’t quite right. (I’ll have to save it for the title of my memoir.)

What followed was a TON of brainstorming. I’d literally wake up in the middle of the night, write down a title idea in my phone, and go back to bed. My editor and I had an email chain with what must have been a hundred different title ideas going back and forth.

Finally, LITTLE BLACK DRESSES, LITTLE WHITE LIES hit me like a bolt of lightning. I don’t know what it was -- but it just fit. I loved its flow; its mystery; its sense of adventure. It just felt like the perfect fit and now I can’t imagine the book being called else.

2. Did you incorporate any personal experience into the story?

Like Harper, I moved to New York for my first job in journalism (granted I was 23, not 17, and I never worked at a glossy fashion mag!) Although Shift Magazine and the characters that live in the pages of my book are totally fictional, I definitely incorporated some of my own experiences into the story — from the magic of NYC summers to the awkwardness of dating to the importance of female friendship.

Also like Harper, I tend to write down the interesting conversations I hear in coffee shops or random moments I observe in the subway. Some of those moments made it into the book as well.

3. What was your favourite part about writing Little Black Dresses, Little White Lies?

Writing a book involves a lot of self doubt. One of my favorite parts of writing Little Black Dresses, Little Black Lies was when I was able to stop being self-conscious, accept that a chapter didn’t have to be perfect the first time round, and just let the writing flow. Nothing feels better than having words pour out from your brain to the page.

I also really love dialogue, so quippy banter was always fun to write.

4. Harper sounds like quite the confident girl. Can you tell us a little more about her?

Harper doesn’t quite fit into her hometown, where water polo players reign supreme, and is used to playing sidekick to her athletic best friend Kristina. But when she goes to New York for the summer, she decides that she can be a completely new person. And why shouldn’t that person be cool, collected, and most importantly, sure of herself? Harper fakes confidence until she feels it. But she has to make sure that she doesn’t lose herself in the process.

5. What's the one thing you knew you had to have in your book? Why? (Like an object, an event, etc.)

July 4th weekend of 2014 will live on in my memory forever because THAT is the weekend I met my friend Britt’s childhood pet: Princess the pug. (That’s right, Harper’s curvaceous canine roommate is based on a real dog.) Princess had the face of an angel and the attitude of a Kardashian. And I mean that in the best possible way — Princess was fierce. Although she passed away, I knew that I had to incorporate her in my book.

6. What would you like readers to take away from your book?

Even though Harper spends her summer working as a dating blogger, I think that her romantic relationships played a far less important role than her platonic ones. Sure there are swoon-worthy love interests, but this book is primarily about friendship — and how easy it is to take it for granted.

Thank you so much Laura for sharing all this with us! I'm really looking forward to meeting Harper and reading some quippy dialogues ;)
 

 

Author Bio:

Laura Stampler is a Californian turned New Yorker. After graduating from Stanford University, she became a journalist, interning—and then worked on staff—at various newspapers and magazines. Laura has written about everything from dating to social media stars to social justice issues at Time magazine, Business Insider, Huffington Post, The Nation, The New Republic, and The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. When she isn’t writing, she’s probably looking at pug gifs on the Internet.

Authors Goodreads

Giveaway

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Check out the rest of the #16DABash HERE!!