The Secrets We Kept <\/em>fate? What inspired you to write this book?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
LP<\/span><\/span><\/strong>: I\u2019m sure my mother would say that it was fate! My parents did<\/em> name me after Boris Pasternak\u2019s heroine Lara Antipova. They had loved David Lean’s film adaptation of Doctor Zhivago<\/em>. I, too, loved the movie, but it wasn\u2019t until I actually read the novel as a teenager that I felt such a strong connection with the material. And in 2014, my father sent me a Washington Post<\/em> article titled \u201cDuring Cold War, CIA used \u2018Doctor Zhivago\u2019 as a tool to undermine Soviet Union.\u201d I devoured the incredible true story behind the novel\u2019s publication\u2014a story involving clandestine propaganda missions, vying governments, books used as weapons, personal intrigue, and heartache. From that point on, I wanted to find out everything I could about the story behind the story. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
LSLL: Considering the truism that truth is stranger than fiction, which is certainly so in this instance, how did you go about fictionalizing what was already the most unlikely of stories? <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
LP<\/span><\/span><\/strong>: When I first read that CIA officers had posed as Catholic clergy and distributed copies of Doctor Zhivago<\/em> at the Vatican pavilion during the Brussels World\u2019s Fair, I almost couldn\u2019t believe it. It truly was stranger than fiction. Part of my process was imaging those officers whose names had been redacted from history and how they must\u2019ve felt engaging in such a mission. From there, characters began to come alive for me.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
LSLL: I first learned of this CIA operation when I read The Zhivago Affair: The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle Over a Forbidden Book<\/em> (Harvill Secker, 2014) by Peter Finn and Petra Couv\u00e9e, which I understand was part of your research. Please tell us about the process.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
LP<\/span><\/span><\/strong>: I subscribe to the thought: \u201cRead a hundred books, write one.\u201d And I did exactly that, pouring over book after book about the Cold War, propaganda, CIA history, the lavender scare, Russian history, Boris Pasternak, and much more.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
In the Western thread of my novel, most of the characters are fictional. But peppered throughout are historically accurate details, including some real names, as well as direct quotes and descriptions pertaining to the Zhivago<\/em> mission. For this thread, Peter Finn and Petra Couv\u00e9e\u2019s The Zhivago Affair<\/em> proved an indispensable asset. In 2014, thanks to Finn and Couv\u00e9e\u2019s petitioning, the CIA released ninety-nine memos pertaining to its secret Zhivago<\/em> mission. And it was seeing the declassified documents\u2014with their blacked-out and redacted names and details\u2014that first inspired me to want to fill in the blanks with fiction.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
LSLL: The first chapter of The Stories We Kept<\/em> won Crazyhorse Review\u2019s<\/em> fiction prize in 2016. Why and how did you make the decision to submit to literary journals? What is your advice to writers who are considering submitting their work? What are your current favorite literary magazines and why?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
LP<\/span><\/span><\/strong>: The Secrets We Kept<\/em> began as a short story in Elizabeth McCracken’s fiction workshop at the Michener Center for Writers. When I finished, I submitted the piece to several of my favorite literary magazines and was lucky enough to have been picked for the Crazyhorse Review<\/em>\u2019s fiction prize. But after I wrote the story, I knew there was much more left to explore, so I began expanding it into a novel. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
My advice to writers considering submitting their work to literary magazines is to just do it! Make sure your piece is as perfect as you can get it and be organized about where you send it and what the response was. And don\u2019t be defeated if it doesn\u2019t get published right away. It likely will be rejected at first. My first published story in The Southern Review<\/em> was rejected twenty times before it got picked up. Some of my favorite literary magazines are American Short Fiction<\/em>, A Public Space<\/em>, The Paris Review<\/em>, and Oxford American<\/em>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
LSLL: Please tell us about the film-optioning process\u2014I think most people don\u2019t necessarily understand what it is or how it works. What advice do you have for other writers just embarking on this adventure? <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
LP<\/span><\/span><\/strong>: Hollywood is still a bit of a mystery to me, so I\u2019m not sure I can offer much advice to writers! And what happened to me isn\u2019t the average path to the big screen. The rights to my novel were sold to Marc Platt Productions (Bridge of Spies<\/em>, La La Land, Drive<\/em>) and The Ink Factory (The Night Manager<\/em>, Billy<\/em> Lynn\u2019s Long Halftime Walk<\/em>) after I\u2019d spoken with a few other interested production companies. The offer came fast after my book had been sold to Knopf, and I hadn\u2019t put much thought into it ever becoming a TV show or movie, so it was a fast learning process for me. The key was to surround myself with a team who could help guide me through it all and offer good advice, and to trust the people whose hands you are putting your work in.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
LSLL: You have an eclectic mix of educational pursuits\u2014you studied political science in D.C., international development in South Africa and Namibia, and your MFA is from the Michener Center for Writers in Austin. How do these varied interests and disciplines come together for you?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
LP<\/span><\/span><\/strong>: The books I love to read most take me to another place, another time, or help me understand the world a little better. Those are also the kind of books I set out to write. I think my background in politics, international studies, and extensive travel have shaped and expanded my ongoing interests and curiosities, which is fodder for my writing. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
LSLL: Can art change the world?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
LP<\/span><\/span><\/strong>: I know this much to be true: art has certainly changed my own life. Books like Edward P. Jones\u2019s The Known World<\/em>, Toni Morrison\u2019s The Bluest Eye<\/em>, J. M. Coetzee\u2019s Disgrace<\/em>, and Patricia Highsmith\u2019s The Price of Salt<\/em> all had a hand in changing the way I view the world. To me, there is no greater way to build empathy than storytelling. Books allow us to experience others\u2019 lives, visit other time periods, and walk the streets of places we\u2019ve never been. In a time where there is so much talk of building walls and vitriolic rhetoric that emphasizes all that makes us different, it is almost a revolutionary act to imagine all that makes us similar.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
LSLL: Can you tell us what you\u2019re working on now and what\u2019s next for you?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
LP<\/span><\/span><\/strong>: I\u2019m working on a new novel, but the topic is secret for now!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
LSLL: What books are on your nightstand?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
LP<\/span><\/span><\/strong>: Bowlaway<\/em> by Elizabeth McCracken, Sula<\/em> by Toni Morrison, and Furious Hours<\/em> by Casey Cep.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An interview with Austin author Lara Prescott<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[811,875,810,813,830,812],"class_list":["post-1747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-author-interview","tag-interview","tag-lone-star-listens","tag-lone-star-literary-life","tag-lonestarliterarycom","tag-texas-author"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1747\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}