Paula McLain
Author Interview - Paula McLain
Author I draw inspiration from: Ann Patchett.
Author Interview - Paula McLain
Favorite place to read a book: Anywhere outside--on my back porch, at a coffee shop with a patio, under a nice wide umbrella at the beach, by a campfire, or in a hammock.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: Jo March.
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: When I was 19, I had a stray, brave idea to send a poem I'd written to Cosmopolitan magazine, which occasionally published poems WAY back then. I'd never done anything of the kind before, but the magazine sent me back a letter telling me they were going to print my work, and a check for twenty-five dollars. I almost couldn't cash it, I was so excited. Someone out there in the universe thought I was a real writer! Maybe I was.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: Hardback, absolutely. 100 percent.
The last book I read: Less, by Andrew Sean Greer. Loved it!
Pen & paper or computer: Computer.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: Liz Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love.
If I wasn’t an author, I’d be a: Chef, maybe. Or editor a food magazine. Or I'd just eat a lot of great food and call that my job.
Favorite decade in fashion history: 1930's and 40's. Think Katharine Hepburn in trousers, and Audrey Hepburn in anything.
Place I’d most like to travel: Australia and New Zealand.
My signature drink: Gin and tonic with Hendricks. Lately I've also been super into whisky sours made with rye and a garnish of Luxardo cherries. They're amazing.
Favorite artist: I just visited Arles, France, where Vincent van Gogh lived, with my kids this summer and have been reading his letters to his brother, Theo. What an amazing human he was. He'd be my number one right now. I also love Cezanne.
Number one on my bucket list: To learn to fly fish.
