Interview With Author L. Quattrochi
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I grew homeschooled in Illinois. At nineteen years old, I’m an undergrad student attending Waubonsee Community College, and when I’m not writing, I like to draw and paint, cut apart old-fashioned magazines, bake cookies, and go hiking.
My first love is poetry, but I’ve been self-publishing novels since age eleven. Growing up homeschooled, I spent most of the time alone with my 1940s textbooks, her mom, and my baby dolls. Today, I draw inspiration from my struggles as a homeschooler as I write poems, novels, and plays.
This is my fifth self-published book.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book is called “A Far Away House.” I started this book in the summer of 2021 before my senior year of high school; I meant it to be a sort-of-kind-of autobiography. I also wanted to defy the notions of what my strict homeschooling community viewed as acceptable writing. This book is a letter to my homeschooled past self, who didn’t find any representation in the books she had at home. It’s a reflection on what it means to grow up in a very isolated way with a dysfunctional family and how to find your identity.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I fill up one journal a month. I just try to get out all my thoughts on paper and accept them for what they are.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
When I was growing up, my favorite books were by Beverly Cleary (Ramon Quimby, anyone?), and by Maud Hart Lovelace (the Betsy-Tacy series). Later, I grew to love Anne of Green Gables and Little Women, then, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The House on Mango Street, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The Secret Life of Bees, and The Poisonwood Bible. Today, I mostly read poetry (Emily Dickinson, Ada Limón, and Pablo Neruda, anyone?) and I’m also into creative nonfiction such as Joan Didion’s A Year of Magical Thinking.
What are you working on now?
Nothing. I need a break!
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I haven’t promoted my book very much yet, but I would like to expand my platform, particularly through my poetry/writing Instagram account.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write like you have no audience watching and waiting. Write as though you were the only person in the entire world.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Normal people don’t know what they’re missing.” (Actually, this is advice I gave myself, but whatever!)
What are you reading now?
“An American Sunrise,” by Poet Laureate Joy Harjo.
What’s next for you as a writer?
A nap, hopefully.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I would take the Holy Bible, Betsy-Tacy, and The Time is Noon (by Pearl S. Buck).
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