Married at Fourteen by Lucille Lang Day
Looking back at her adolescence, Lucille Lang Day describes herself as a juvenile delinquent and teen mother. She ran away at thirteen, got suspended from school and married at age 14, gave birth to her first child at 15, divorced her husband at 16, married him again at 17, and left him at 18 to go back to school.
About the Author:
Lucille Lang Day has published creative nonfiction in The Hudson Review, Istanbul Literary Review, Passages North, River Oak Review, Willow Review, and many other journals. She is the author of the children's book, Chain Letter, and eight poetry collections, one of which received the Joseph Henry Jackson Award. Married at Fourteen has been excerpted in many literary magazines. The founder and director of a small press, Scarlet Tanager Books, she also served for 17 years as the director of the Hall of Health, an interactive museum in Berkeley. For more info, visit http://www.lucillelangday.com
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Interview
--The Twitter version: tell us about your book in 140 characters or less.
I got married at 14 and had my first child at 15. Married at Fourteen tells about that, about going back to school, and what happened later.
--How did you get the idea for the story?
The book tells the story of my life. I got the idea by living it.
--Which character would you most/least like to have dinner with?
I’d really love to have dinner with myself at fourteen. There’s a lot I could tell her about life and the way the world really works. The person I’d least like to have dinner with is a wealthy woman named Bea in the chapter called “Coming of Age at Berkeley.” I only met her once. She was rude and arrogant, not the kind of person you’d want anything further to do with.
--What are some of your favorite books? Do you still have much time to read?
I read a lot, and I love memoirs with teenage protagonists. Some of my favorites are Riding in Cars with Boys by Beverly Donofrio, Cherry by Mary Karr, This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff, Without a Map by Meredith Hall, and Stop-Time by Frank Conroy.
--Do you have any other works in progress? Any teasers or release dates?
I am working on a collection of short stories and a book of poems. The main themes of the stories are identity and loss of emotional control. How do we know who we really are? How do we know who the people around us really are? How do we all keep emotions like fear and anger from getting out of hand?
The poems are about my family and ancestors. I’m descended from fifteen Mayflower passengers, and also from the Wampanoag Indians who helped them. I also have ancestors who fought in the American Revolution and the Civil War, and one who participated in the California Gold Rush. So my family history is bound up with the history of America.
--If a fairy godmother told you your life could be like a favorite book for 24 hours, which book would you pick and why?
This is a really hard question. Some of my favorite books, which I’ve already named, are about teenagers who go through tough times. These are books that you would not like your life to be like. I also like biographies of famous women poets like Edna St. Vincent Millay, Anne Sexton, and Sylvia Plath. Most of them had lives that were tragic in some way, and some of them, like Sexton and Plath, committed suicide. You wouldn’t want your life to be like that, either. For 24 hours, though, I could enjoy being the young, carefree, creative Millay in Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay, by Nancy Milford, before Millay’s life was ruined by alcohol and drug addiction. I just thought of another one: Madame Curie: A Biography, by Eve Curie. Marie Curie discovered two elements and won two Nobel Prizes, one in physics and one in chemistry. I could enjoy doing that!
--Do you need anything to write (music, coffee, etc)? Are there any songs on your playlist- songs that inspired you or that were playing while you wrote?
I have to drink two cups of coffee in the morning to get going on my writing. I didn’t listen to music while I was writing my book, but I could hear the songs from when I was a teenager playing in my head. Some of these are “Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen,” “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” and “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.”
--If you could have any superpower what would you choose?
Total recall. I can remember a lot, but it would be even better to remember everything.
--Besides writing, what do you like to do in your free time?
I like to go for walks in nature and identity birds, trees, and wildflowers. I also like to read, go to movies, and travel.
--Is there anything else you want to add or say to your readers?
Pursue your goals and don’t be discouraged by failures. Most people have many failures before they succeed.
Lightning round: this or that?
Vanilla or chocolate? chocolate
Edward or Jacob? Jacob
Hockey or soccer? soccer
Ebook or paper? paper
Salty or sweet? sweet
Beach or mountains? beach
Phone call or email? email
Early bird or night owl? night owl
Dog or cat? cat
Messy or neat? neat
Ninjas or pirates? ninjas
My question to you, my lovely readers:
Wait! This author wrote thus book based on HER life? Wow.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview and this sounds like a touching story, thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your giveaway. I would love to read this book since it is based on the author's life.
ReplyDelete