bauman“As brisk and refreshing as an ocean breeze,” Booklist said of Beth Bauman‘s Rosie and Skate (Random House), a young adult novel about two adolescents on the Jersey shore. Beth is also the author of the short story collection Beautiful Girls, and her work has appeared in numerous publications, including the Barcelona Review and the anthology Many Lights in Many Windows. She has received fellowships from the Jerome Foundation and the New York Foundation for the Arts.

If you weren’t a writer, how would you spend your time?

Lounging on the couch reading great books. Truly. If I had a trust fund. Without the trust fund, a children’s librarian, a wildlife photographer, or some kind of scientist.

Which book do you wish you’d written?

The Member of the Wedding. It’s pitch perfect, and interestingly, this slender novel about a 12-year-old contains the whole world.

What are the websites you couldn’t live without?

Actually I’d love to live without websites. I spend too much time on the computer.

What are you working on now?

I’m writing another YA novel based loosely on the title story of my collection Beautiful Girls. Beginnings are slow going for me. I’ve been working on five or six chapters for about a year now.

Do you listen to music while you write? What?

Music helps me when I’m thinking through my material, but not when I’m actually writing. Often when I’m leaping around the apt. to 70s rock, blues, or R&B (my aerobic workout), I get good ideas. Van Morrison, The Allman Brothers, Queen, Ray Charles…


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