Today we welcome Ruta Sepetys to the Penguin Teen Author Spotlight! For those of you who haven’t discovered her absolutely beautiful novel, Between Shades of Gray, get thee to a bookstore! For those who have already read it, you know how excited you should be for Ruta’s new novel, Out of the Easy, out now! A master of historical novels, a skilled wordsmith and an innovative storyteller, Ruta does Penguin Teen proud and we are so grateful to have her as one of “our” authors. While we don’t recommend reading and driving, you should definitely have your BFF read Ruta’s Penguin Teen Author Spotlight aloud as you book it to your nearest bookstore!
Name: Ruta Sepetys
Novel: Out of the Easy
Available: February 12, 2013
Who’s your favorite author, living or dead? Truman Capote. He wrote his first short story at eleven. He captured human peculiarity and eccentricity so well. He also threw fabulous parties.
What’s your favorite thing about your book? My favorite thing is that so many people contributed to it. From the cover, to the title, to many parts of the text, a lot of wonderful people were involved so it’s their book, too.
If you could spend one year on a deserted island with one character from literature, who would you choose? John Thornton from Elizabeth Gaskell’s North & South. We’d crack coconuts and build a bamboo hut. I’d write ghastly poetry in the sand with a stick. He’d look smashing with an oily tan. It would be the shortest year ever.
Where do you write? Wherever I happen to be at that moment - in the car, the shower, the police station.
Who is your favorite hero or heroine of history? The hidden hero, the one we’ve never heard of. That’s why I write historical fiction.
Do you tweet? What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever tweeted? Yes, I tweet @RutaSepetys
I was once reprimanded for tweeting: Pees when she sneezes.I was not referring to myself.
What is your favorite season? Summer. Oh, how I love the long days, thick heat and sleeping on the porch.
If you could teleport anywhere in the known universe right now, where would you go? Wyuna Preserve, New Zealand. I’d make Blanket Bay my home base and hike out with a picnic lunch every day. I’d take a notebook and write a novel longhand.
No computer. No internet. No phone. Oh my, can you teleport me right now?
Do you have any writing rituals? My only ritual is no hesitation. I force myself to begin writing as soon as I sit down.
What is your idea of earthly happiness? My entire family healthy, all together around the table, laughing until we cry.
What are you currently working on? I’m currently working on three things, all of which are a bit scary:
1. Preparing for the ten week Out of the Easy book tour in the US and Europe.
2. Writing book three.
3. Knocking down a house and rebuilding it.
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Thanks, Ruta! We can’t wait to read book three! (Also, pictures of this house project on Twitter, please?)
You can find Ruta on her website and on Twitter.
Find Out of the Easy on its website.
Add Out of the Easy to your “to-read” shelf on Goodreads!
Purchase Out of the Easy from Penguin, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s, Books a Million, IndieBound, and Walmart.
