Ask the Author: Laura Gaddis
Answered Questions (3)
Laura Gaddis
Thanks for this question, Cara! I love thinking about this as it is such a big part of my book. When I began writing this book, I found I was writing in bits--memories, thoughts, specific events. Nothing was connected--yet. It felt like shattered pieces. That's when I first thought of Mosaic as a title (fun fact: my original title was Rainbow Road). As I kept writing, there were clearly essays that fit in the first part of the book (Broken Pieces), others fit in the middle part (Tiling Pieces) and the rest went into the third part (Art in Pieces). By the time this structure took hold, I was convinced it was the perfect metaphor for the story I wanted to tell--life falls apart, then we put it back together into an imperfect (yet beautiful) version of what it once was.
Laura Gaddis
My current work-in-progress is a historical fiction based on my grandmother's story. I always knew some of her past growing up from listening to her stories. She grew up between the two world wars in Germany near the Polish border and survived some harrowing times. But when she passed away in 2020, I ended up with so many notes, cassette tapes of her talking, hand-drawn maps, and photographs that were perfect to starting to craft a story about a young German woman.
Laura Gaddis
If you want to be successful, you have to be very persistent. Write and keep writing. Edit and keep editing. Submit your work and keep submitting. There is a lot of rejection and disappointment, but stopping is the only way to ensure it never happens. It's those who persevere who end up getting some wins. And the wins are so worth it.
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