Emily Layden
Author Interview - Emily Layden
Author of Once More From The Top
Everyone in the world knows Dylan Read, or has at least heard her music: Since releasing her début album her senior year of high school, Dylan’s been a fixture on country and pop radio and in the celebrity discourse. A prodigiously-talented singer-songwriter, Dylan is defined by both her confessional lyricism and her good-girl image—a combination that’s kept her fans close, the label happy, and the media fed.
But the truth is that there’s one thing Dylan’s never explicitly written about before: Her childhood best friend Kelsey vanished when they were both in high school, shortly before Dylan became famous. Now, as Dylan’s at the height of her career, Kelsey’s body is found at the bottom of their hometown lake—forcing Dylan to return to the place they grew up, and to reckon with secrets that have stayed buried for decades.
Author Interview - Emily Layden
Author I draw inspiration from:
There are three books on my desk at all times: THE COMPLETE EMILY DICKINSON, Toni Morrison's BELOVED, and Joan Didion's SLOUCHING TOWARDS BETHLEHEM. I never stop learning from Emily Dickinson; I think BELOVED is the Great American Novel; I am a millennial woman who came of age in the era of the personal essay, and thus was raised on Joan.
Author Interview - Emily Layden | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
I spend a lot of time in a lake town in way upstate New York. There's a patch of grass by the water that catches the breeze on a summer afternoon, where the loons sometimes swim close to the shore, and I can't say anymore about it because then my favorite reading spot might become a favorite tourist spot!
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
If I ran into Amy Dunne from GONE GIRL, I would tell her that I think she's the greatest antihero of all time.
Author Interview - Emily Layden | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
My dad is a writer who has authored or co-authored over 40 books. I can't remember a time when I *didn't* want to do what he did.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
I love a hardback because I often can't resist buying a book when it's first available; paperbacks when traveling so I can fit more in my bag; e-readers for screenplays; audiobooks for the classics on road trips.
The last book I read:
Jesmyn Ward is one of the great contemporary novelists and one of the defining chroniclers of the American south, and her most recent book LET US DESCEND is classic Ward: lyrical, rhythmic, sensorial, evocative, brilliant.
Author Interview - Emily Layden | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
I wish I could write by hand because the computer holds so many distractions! But my brain works faster than my pen can move, and if I'm not typing I run the risk of losing a thought or phrase before I've finished writing it.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
The answer to this question is, also, Amy Dunne from GONE GIRL. Some of my closest friends are women I was a little afraid of at first.
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
I spent most of my twenties teaching high school English. My students were funny, brilliant, surprising, and often taught me more than I taught them. I miss that job, and am grateful every day for the gift of those lessons.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
The 1980s, especially as styled by Keri Russell as Elizabeth Jennings in FX's THE AMERICANS.
Place I’d most like to travel:
I really want to go to all 50 states. I currently have 43, so...the last seven on my list!
My signature drink:
Water. Seriously.
Favorite artist:
Taylor Swift.
Number one on my bucket list:
I've written a novel about music, so I'll answer this musically: I've never seen Springsteen live. I hope I get the chance.
Find more from the author:
About Emily Layden:
Author Interview - Emily Layden
Emily Layden is a screenwriter and the author of the novels ONCE MORE FROM THE TOP and ALL GIRLS. A graduate of Stanford University, her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Marie Claire, Runner’s World, and Town & Country. She lives in upstate New York.
