0 Katrina Leno, author of THE LOST & FOUND, on being true to yourself

We're excited to have Katrina Leno here to tell us more about her latest novel THE LOST & FOUND.

Katrina, what do you hope readers will take away from THE LOST & FOUND?

Be true to yourself! I know, I know, that sounds like such a cliche, but I think it's really important to own what you like and who you are and what you want to do. Like Louis- tennis isn't exactly the most popular sport, but he's found something he's good at and something he enjoys, and he's stuck with it through years of practice and effort and things that work against it (like his anxiety). AND on that note, surround yourself with people who ACCEPT you for being true to yourself. Sure, we can all make fun of Arrow for being a little bit of a neat freak, but it's who we are, and we love her more for it.



What's your writing ritual like? Do you listen to music? Work at home or at a coffee shop or the library, etc?

I try not to get too married to any specific writing ritual because I like to be able to write anywhere, and not have to have it be a specific, set experience. So—sometimes I listen to music (something really low in the background) and sometimes I take my laptop to coffee shops and sometimes I write in bed in the morning and sometimes I write late into the night—whenever the mood strikes!

How long did you work on THE LOST & FOUND?

THE LOST & FOUND took me one very long, hot summer in LA to write. I feel like the characters of Louis and Willa would never have been born if I hadn't moved to LA. I wrote this book mostly from my bed, from morning to night, in my very first apartment in the city (sans AC). I was freshly graduated from a master's program, freshly relocated across the world, freshly done with a terrible job in retail, and just really ready to throw myself into the world of these characters.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Lost & Found
by Katrina Leno
Hardcover
HarperTeen
Released 7/5/2016

LOST:
Frannie and Louis met in an online support group when they were both younger. They have never met face-to-face. They don’t even know each other’s real names. All they know is that they both have a mysterious tendency to lose things. Well, not lose them, exactly. Things just seem to…disappear.

FOUND:
They each receive news in the mail that sets them off on a road trip to Austin, Texas, looking for answers—and each other. Along the way, each one begins to find, as if by magic, important things the other has lost. And by the time they finally meet in person, they realize that the things you lose might be things you weren’t meant to have at all, and that you never know what you might find if you just take a chance.

The Lost & Found is a bighearted novel about connections (missed and found), family (the kind you’re born with and the kind you make for yourself), and unexpected journeys (on the road, and of the heart), from an author who Publishers Weekly called “a fierce new presence.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Katrina Leno grew up in Connecticut and spent her childhood summers by the shore in Massachusetts, where The Half Life of Molly Pierce takes place. Katrina was first published at the age of sixteen in the Connecticut Review and now holds an MFA in creative writing. The Half Life of Molly Pierce is her first novel.

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Have you had a chance to read THE LOST & FOUND yet? Do you need a specific ritual to write or can you write whenever the mood strikes? Do you throw yourself into the world of your characters? Share your thoughts about the interview in the comments!

Happy reading,

Jocelyn, Shelly, Martina, Anisaa, Sam, Erin, Susan, Michelle, Laura, and Kristin