#50: Lauren Kate Was Rejected 76 Times Before Writing 'Fallen'
6/11/202650 min
This week on Off The Shelf, Morgann sits down with bestselling author Lauren Kate to talk about the teacher who inspired her to keep writing, the 76 rejection letters she still has, and how Fallen became a global phenomenon. Plus, Lauren shares the latest on the Fallen TV series and why she returned to the world of angels with her newest novel, White Lights.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction
01:04 International Emmy & The Fallen Legacy
02:04 Ballet, Books & Growing Up Creative
04:12 The Teacher Who Changed Everything
10:12 Discovering Writing in College
13:08 76 Rejection Letters Before Success
16:11 The Call That Changed Her Life
17:52 Working at HarperCollins
19:54 The Origins of Fallen
23:14 Building Luce, Daniel & Cam
30:44 The Fallen Movie Adaptation
36:54 Bringing Fallen to Television
40:04 Inside Lauren Kate's New Fantasy, White Lights
42:53 Why She Returned to Angels After Rom-Coms
46:06 Easter Eggs, Book Two & What's Next
49:15 The Lasting Impact of Fallen Readers
50:16 Outro
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Hosted by: Morgann Book
Created by: Bookish Media, Morgann Book, and Thomas Johnston
Executive Producers: Morgann Book & Thomas Johnston
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsLauren Kate· Guest0:00
It was like an embarrassing amount of rejections, and most of them were versions of like, "Dear writer, no." [laughs] [laughs] "Your book is a definite no." Like, "Go die." But every once in a while I would get one that would be like, "Dear Lauren, here's a couple things I really enjoyed. If you keep writing, you know, and send me something else, I'd be happy to look at it." I would call my parents in Texas, and I'd be like bouncing off the walls, and they'd be like, "Your book is accepted." I'd be like, "No, but they wrote my name [laughs] in the rejection letter, and they said they liked, you know, this thing about it." And that would keep me going for quite a while.
Morgann Book· Host0:34
[upbeat music] Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Off the Shelf. Today's guest is a New York Times bestselling author whose books have defined a generation of young adult readers, myself included. Lauren Kate is best known for her Fallen series, a global phenomenon that introduced readers to a world of angels, reincarnation, and a good old-fashioned love triangle. Since then, she's expanded into adult romance and fantasy with her newest release, White Lights. Lauren Kate, welcome to Off the Shelf.
Lauren Kate· Guest1:05
Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here.
Morgann Book· Host1:07
First of all, congratulations on the International Emmy last year. That is incredible. What does it feel like for you to have so many readers who have been following you and loving your books since 2009, and then a whole new generation since then who knows about this world?
Lauren Kate· Guest1:19
It's so lovely. Um, I mean, I was so surprised and delighted, obviously, when, um, the series was nominated,