Hi! I’m Lauren, author of THE NIGHT WE SAID YES, which is scheduled for a summer 2015 release with HaperTeen / HarperCollins. To say i’m excited is an understatement. I guess I’ve always wanted to be a writer, ever since documenting my third grade day-to-day activities in my tiny, pink and white, locked notebook. (Obviously what I was writing was highly confidential, thus the lock).
I got more serious about it in college when I majored in English and started writing for local newspapers and magazines. After a few careers (high school English teacher, marketing copywriter, magazine editor), I jumped ship and became a librarian. I guess it’s then that everything kind of came together. I wasn’t writing for a living, so I was able to focus on my own creative ideas. Plus, I worked at a library – what better place for inspiration, right? (I still do work there, and I still love it. A lot.)
THE NIGHT WE SAID YES came from a simple idea – can one night change everything? I always loved the thought that anything was possible after the sun went down. When my friends and I went out in high school (to the mall, to each others houses, to visit friends at work…), we never knew what would happen. Would that guy finally notice me? Would there be an epic fight? Would we do something crazy? Would things change? Even today I find myself getting excited as soon as the sky starts to turn orange, red, purple, blue.
TNWSY is a product of NaNoWriMo and many months of editing (because, really, that first draft was not good). I found a wonderful agent who helped me shape the book to what it is today. And she found me a terrific editor, who is helping me make the book even better. And somehow those dreams written in a third grader’s locked journal started to come true.
And so, THE NIGHT WE SAID YES.
Then and Now chapters chronicle the giddy, magical night two people first meet and spark to one another, and the night they reunite one year after their break-up, questioning if second chances are possible.
It’s about living in the moment. It’s about four friends saying yes to crazy ideas they have. It’s about friendship and love and pop punk bands. And, mostly, it’s about trusting yourself to make the right decision, despite the challenges and fears.
And I can’t wait for you all to read it.
 Lauren Gibaldi is an author and public librarian who lives in Orlando, FL with her husband and overflowing collection of books. She likes dinosaurs, musicals, and the circus (two of which she’s participated in. Hint: It’s not being a dinosaur). Her debut YA novel, THE NIGHT WE SAID YES, will be released summer 2015 with HarperTeen/HarperCollins. |
2015 YA & MG Debut Authors 