meet the editor: lauren
Lauren Thurman, Denver, CO
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We understand it’s all the rage for film and television actors to interview each other, asking lighthearted questions and being extremely #relatable online. So we’re doing the same.
In this Q&A, Dale asks Lauren a range of questions—from probing to nonsensical—to help you get to know half of the Lowercase team.
Q: What got you interested in this line of work? (I.e., what is your Villain Origin Story, but for editors?)
A: In the second or third grade, I turned in a writing assignment. I believe the prompt was to tell a story about something that happened over the weekend, and I essentially transcribed a conversation I’d had with my grandfather. The teacher praised my use of dialogue, but explained that each quote should be on its own line and that I should include tags to let the reader know who was talking. She wrote a few lines of examples for me, turning my one-paragraph word jumble into a coherent conversation.
This felt revelatory. Not only because we hadn’t learned those rules in class yet, and therefore I was gaining secret advanced knowledge, but also because I’d entered a new world where the way people arranged words on paper was just as important as the words themselves. From then on I was hooked.
Q: You’re a writer; how do you deal with some of the most common problems writers face? I’m talking about anything from a mild case of writer’s block to crippling self-doubt.
A: I don’t! 🙃
Q: If you could swap bodies (Freaky Friday style) with any famous author for a day, who would it be?
A: It would be fun to do a mutual bodysnatchers day with N. K. Jemisin, simply because I think she’d write an incredible story about the experience afterwards. I also wouldn’t mind swapping with You Know Who (yes you do know) so that I could permanently delete her Twitter account.
Q: What is your favorite word, what is your least favorite word, and why is the answer to both “moist”?
A: I’m fond of words that sound like the thing or feeling they represent, but aren’t really onomatopoeias. For example, flute is the sound a flute makes. That’s delightful! Also pleasing are titillate, resounding, and smooch. The word I hate most in this language is cluck. Nobody can say it without sounding like they’re choking on yogurt. It’s disgusting.
I am the rare person who has no problem with moist.
Q: If you had to choose one of your hobbies to turn into a profession (#hustleculture), which one would it be?
A: I often daydream about logging off forever to open a little bakery. It would offer fresh sourdough loaves and praline scones and sticky cardamom buns. Maybe it would also be a secondhand bookstore and I could call it The Bookery, or Loafers.
Q: What is the best Jane Austen film or TV adaptation? You may choose only one (so choose wisely).
A: Thank you (sarcastic) for outing me as someone who has only read two Jane Austen novels. Based on that significant handicap, I’ll put my money behind the 1995 Pride & Prejudice. It is true to the letter and the spirit of the novel, and I fully believe that Colin Firth was who Austen envisioned as she wrote the story down.
Q: What are your top five nicknames for your dog that have nothing to do with her actual name?
A: Thank you (earnest) for this opportunity to talk about my dog, Islay, the greatest dog in the world, who is often called Stinky, Miss Ma’am, Huntress Supreme, the Goober Pooch, and Texas Longnails. Here is an unsolicited dog pic:
The Supreme Stinkus herself.
