My TEDxJohannesburg talk is up – on why I write, the power of reading, the transportive nature of stories, which I cover by getting into a whole bunch of stories about my weird novel research adventures.
“Lauren writes stories for a living. In her own household, in fact, stories are sacred. So sacred that she would go just about anywhere to find the best of them. Recent escapades include hanging out with a vodou priest in the depths of Port-au-Prince in Haiti, or spending time with a colourful range of locals amidst the ruin porn of a decaying Detroit, and going shoulder-to-shoulder in a packed and tense refugee shelter in downtown Johannesburg. All of this in an effort to go beyond the cliche and to get underneath the skin. Amongst the rewards, she says, is the possibility of gaining a perspective that you wouldn’t otherwise come up with on your own. In this talk, delivered at TEDxJohannesburg 2015, Lauren takes us on a dizzying trip into her world. In the process, she gives us an enlightening glimpse of the mind of a wonder woman writer at the height of her powers.” -TEDx Talks