Writer Spotlight: Meet Lamar Giles

Lamar Giles writes for teens and adults across multiple genres, with work appearing on numerous Best Of lists each and every year. He is the author of the acclaimed novels Fake ID, Endangered, Overturned, Spin, The Last Last-Day-of-Summer, Not So Pure and Simple, and The Last Mirror on the Left as well as numerous pieces of short fiction. He is a founding member of We Need Diverse Books and resides in Virginia with his wife. We chatted with Lamar to learn more about his writing career. He was the 2020 Winner of the JRW Emyl Jenkins Award.

LG: I was probably around 11 years old when I got an inkling, but it was incomplete. I’d finished IT by Stephen King and was sort of mesmerized by what he did there. Words, arranged on a page, made me afraid in real life and I wanted to understand how someone does that. I spent most of my teens tinkering with a clumsy novel and wrote clumsier short fiction–most of it mimicking King’s work. Nothing really serious because I didn’t understand how anyone made a living writing. Then in my early 20s, I began to get a clear picture of what my life was going to be. Meaning, I’d be working for the next several decades either doing something I loved (writing) or something I had to (anything to pay the bills). That’s when I got super serious about breaking into publishing and dedicated the years between 21 and 31 (when I sold my first novel) to improving and learning the business.

JRW: What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

LG: I’m dedicated to writing Black protagonists. Growing up, reading a lot, I rarely saw books where Black people were the hero. So, no matter the genre, format, length of the work, unless I take on some sort of work-for-hire situation (for instance, if someone ever said Lamar wanna write a Bruce Wayne/Batman story…then I’d likely write Bruce Wayne as he’s most familiar–a rich, damaged, white man), MY heroes are going to be Black.

JRW: What is one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

LG: How little a publisher can be willing to assist in the success of a book and/or the success of the writer. Not every publisher, mind you. And every author could probably tell their own unique set of good experiences vs horror stories, but I was very shocked to enter this business and learn publishers will sometimes completely abandon writers for reasons unknown.

JRW: What advice would you offer new writers?

LG: Depends on what you mean by “new.” If new means they’re just deciding to make an attempt at writing with the goal of publishing professionally, I’d say set small writing goals (one page, 4-times per week, for example) to start, and read 10x as much as they write. As they go on, if they maintain their desire to be a pro, those goals/thresholds will likely increase, and the writer will naturally improve. If “new” means they’ve just sold their first story/novel, I’d say be sure to celebrate the success and begin thinking about long-term financial goals. How do you want your life to be when you’re retirement age? Whatever that answer is, adjust your writing money expectations accordingly. That might mean starting a retirement account with that first advance while maintaining a day job (as I did for many years). It might be something else, depending. You have to decide, but know thinking about all the possibilities of your future and how to prepare for them is never a bad idea.