Frequently Asked Questions

Do you see characters’ faces as you write?

Laura: I think to some extent I do see characters’ faces as I write. Usually it’s the face of someone who inspired the physical features of the character—a pretty babysitter who had a gap between her two front teeth, a disabled teenager I met 20 years ago at a community center, my Sunday School teacher when I was 12.

Tom: I don’t have complete images in mind, though I have real ideas of each character’s physical attitude—the way he or she might walk, sit, listen, or smile. One of the aspects of fiction that always seemed ingenious to me is the way the reader is asked to create most of the specific physical images to go with the character’s personality.

How do you write together?
When will your next book be published, and what's it about?
Do you divide up the characters by gender, with Tom writing the boys and Laura writing the girls?
Will there be a sequel to Crooked?
Where do you write?
Which ideas tend to come first—the characters that populate your books, or the storylines that drive them?
Do you see characters’ faces as you write?
Is the paper from Ms. Hekkity’s shop (in The Decoding of Lana Morris) truly magical, or are the events following the drawings merely coincidences?
How often do you revise?
What kinds of books did you read as a teenager, and what do you read now?

How do you write together?

When will your next book be published, and what's it about?

Do you divide up the characters by gender, with Tom writing the boys and Laura writing the girls?

Will there be a sequel to Crooked?

Where do you write?

Which ideas tend to come first—the characters that populate your books, or the storylines that drive them?

Do you see characters’ faces as you write?

Is the paper from Ms. Hekkity’s shop (in The Decoding of Lana Morris) truly magical, or are the events following the drawings merely coincidences?

How often do you revise?

What kinds of books did you read as a teenager, and what do you read now?