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If you’re looking for your next binge-worthy read, look no further than Franklin resident Lauren Thoman’s new novel I’ll Stop the World. A timeslip mystery meets coming of age story, with a delightful dose of ‘80s nostalgia, I’ll Stop the World centers on two teens from two different times whose paths unexpectedly collide. The novel has already captured quite a bit of attention, including that of Mindy Kaling, and is the first debut to be released by Mindy’s Book Studio, Kaling’s eponymous imprint with Amazon Publishing. We chatted with Thoman about her inspiration, bringing this story to life, the coveted Kaling connection, and what it all means to her.
Unexpected Beginnings: I was always a reader, but I didn’t really get a hankering to start writing until I was an adult and the way it happened was truly a bit silly. We’d recently moved back to Tennessee, my youngest was in preschool, and I was in that perpetually tired, loopy mom-of-little- kids stage, which is the only way I can possibly explain my thought process for what comes next. I’d just torn through The Hunger Games trilogy, and I was trying to chase that high by picking up other books that the internet told me were similar. I just didn’t connect with any of them. Being frustrated, weirdly spiteful, and extremely naïve, I was like, “I guess I’ll just write my own then.” I think I got all of two pages into my brilliant dystopian idea before I gave up on it, because it was very bad, but that was enough to get me hooked on creating my own stories. It was a humbling process and was a lot harder and took a lot longer than Baby Writer Lauren, still fresh off her Hunger Games high, ever anticipated. I worked several remote part-time jobs, from financial transcription to writing medical posts for social media, just to bring in some income while I tried to make writing work. A few years ago, I decided to try my hand at freelance pop culture writing, which allowed me to combine writing with my love for movies and TV. That’s by far the side gig I’ve enjoyed the most, and although I took some time off after my book sold and I was going through edits, I’ve picked some of it back up again lately because I missed it. I can’t really say the same for financial transcription.
Page Turner: I’ll Stop the World is a timeslip mystery in which a modern teen finds himself inexplicably transported back to 1985, where he teams up with an ‘80s girl to solve the cold case surrounding his grandparents’ death a week before it happens. It’s a time travel adventure, it’s an ‘80s small-town ensemble drama, it’s a slow-burn mystery. Think Back to the Future meets Broadchurch. I describe it as a “time travel existential crisis.” It’s everything that fascinates me about time travel: how it might work, what it says about us, our relationships, the nature of the universe. It’s also about what fascinates me about people and how we relate to one another. It’s about parents and kids and siblings, best friends and first loves, bullying and heartbreak, and the anxiety of feeling like everyone around you has their life completely figured out while you’re barely holding on. (Did I mention this book has nine narrators?) It’s about the consequences of bad decisions, the power of forgiveness and second chances, and the ever- looming question of fate. Since those are all pretty heavy topics, I also tried to balance it with a lot of humor, quick pacing, and an intriguing mystery that I hope will keep readers on their toes. There’s a lot of banter. There are some really dumb puns. There are some twists that I’m pretty proud of. I wanted it to be a book that made readers think, but I also wanted it to be fun to read.
Iconic Inspiration: The inspiration came from my love of time travel stories in general, but mostly Back to the Future. I was thinking about what that story would look like without Doc Brown. If Marty was just there with his parents in 1955 and didn’t have a time machine or a mad scientist BFF to help him know what the rules were and what he was supposed to do, what would he do? I started thinking about all the time travel stories I loved and realized most of the time the protagonists have pretty clear objectives, or at least know how or why they traveled through time, so there’s not a lot of wrestling with the idea of, “Why is this happening to me and what am I supposed to do about it?” The mystery element— realizing he’s arrived in this time period right before this pivotal event in his family history is set to occur and wondering if maybe he’s there to prevent it— followed shortly thereafter. I thought it was interesting to send him down this path where he’s acting like he believes he’s there for a reason, but there’s a part of him that still doesn’t think that’s how it works. I think that’s a really relatable feeling, having to commit to a course of action even though you’re not totally sure it’s the right path, but doing the best you can with the information you have and hoping for the best. Most of us don’t have the time travel element thrown in, but I think we all have felt that tension at some point.
Big Name Backing: My brilliant agent, Holly Root, told me she was thinking of sending it to Mindy Kaling’s new imprint, which at the time hadn’t announced any acquisitions yet, so she wasn’t even sure I’ll Stop the World would fit in with the types of books Mindy would be publishing. But she knew the acquiring editor, Megha Parekh, and thought the book would be a fit for her, so it was worth a shot. We got a fair amount of interest in I’ll Stop the World from editors at several publishing houses, which was so lovely, and I absolutely was not expecting it. Before anything else could happen, Megha called Holly and said they wanted to pre- empt the book, which basically means they made an offer that was contingent on us not considering any other offers. When Holly told me, I literally went speechless for a minute. She asked me over the phone, “Did I lose you, or did you just forget how to make words?” I think I choked out that it was the latter. I just couldn’t pass up the chance to work with Mindy. We accepted the offer, and it still all feels a little surreal.
Biggest Hopes: I’m just so excited for people to read it. I hope [readers] fall in love with the characters. They’re all very different, but I think there are things to love about each of them. I hope they enjoy the banter, because that’s always the most fun thing for me to write. I hope they enjoy the mystery element and are excited by the twists and turns and ultimately, the conclusion. My hope with every story I write is that it inspires [readers] to think about something they haven’t really considered before. Maybe it’s a new concept or question. Maybe it’s a new understanding of experiences outside their own. Maybe it’s new empathy for a perspective or group they didn’t previously relate to. Maybe all of the above. My greatest wish for anyone reading my work is that they might come away from the experience a little more thoughtful, introspective, and compassionate than they were before. (laurenthomanwrites.com)