Lindsay Eagar

As a child

I was born in Salt Lake City and raised in Lehi, UT (about 15 minutes south of SLC). I am the oldest of four, and my childhood was happy, adventurous, and full of books and stories. My parents fostered all my strange interests, including marine biology, Greek mythology, classical music, or Irish culture (all things I loved dearly as a child and still do!).

As an adult

I now live only ten minutes away from my childhood home! Writing stories was always part of my life, but when I had my daughter at age 22, I wanted to get serious about publication! I spent the next three years writing YA and MG novels, and when I finished BEES in 2013, I knew this would be the book that would be on shelves someday. I am lucky enough to write full-time and be a stay-at-home-mom; I also teach weekly piano lessons to a dozen brilliant little musicians. I live surrounded by mountains, and one of my favourite ways to jumpstart my brain when I am launching into a new writing project (or stuck on an old one!) is to take a drive through the canyon with good music blasting and the windows rolled down. The natural world is something that inspires my work greatly—most of my writing projects have started with a terrain, an animal, a plant, or an entire ecosystem, and I build out from there. I also live down the street from my state’s aquarium, and it is a fantastic one! They have a South American fish display that always refills my creative well.

As an author

I am an extremely flexible writer. Since I was a single parent for the first five years of my daughter’s life, I had to learn to make time for work when I could—five minutes here or there, getting up extra early for quiet revision time, or foregoing TV time so I could brainstorm. I write longhand in notebooks with blue Cristal Bic pens, and that’s really all I need. I’ve written at parks, in cars, on planes, in restaurants, in the bathtub, with a feverish daughter sleeping on my shoulder, and of course, at my desk (a refurbished Art Deco piece from the 1930s). Most days, I wake up and read. I believe reading is fuel for a writer’s tank, so I make sure to fill up before I open my own work! My favourite part of the writing process is whatever part is coming up next. So if I’m in the middle of drafting, I can’t wait to get to revisions. If I’m revising, I’m itching to finish so I can brainstorm something new. Writing is a vicious cycle of self-doubt and blind courage, but it results in books, and so I am always willing to charge into the thicket bravely and fight the good fight!

Things you didn't know about Lindsay Eagar

1. When I was younger, I wanted to be a marine biologist and study sharks. My favourite species are great whites and black tip reefs. I adopted a whale shark through a special Australian marine biology program and named her Rosie. I was even a shark once for Halloween!
point2>My favourite book is Danny, the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl. It was my favourite when I was a kid, and it’s still my favourite as a grown-up! I re-read it every year.
2. I was in junior high school when the Lord of the Rings movies were first coming out. I had read the books when I was eleven and was SO excited, I wore my one ring on a necklace every day to school to show what a huge fan I was!
3. My favourite foods are mushroom omelettes, Mexican food (the spicier, the better!), and anything chocolate. When I work, I pop a huge bowl of popcorn and get a bar of dark chocolate for a reward when I’m finished. I also make a mean spaghetti and meatballs.
4. I was a classically trained pianist when I was a kid, meaning I played Rachmaninoff and Chopin and Liszt. When I was thirteen, my grandfather, who was my piano teacher, died unexpectedly, so I stopped playing the piano for a while and played rock and roll guitar instead! I still play both as a grown-up.
5. When I was twelve, I had to fill out a worksheet for school that listed my dream career. I wrote “writer.” My teacher told me it was too unrealistic. So I wrote down “shark scientist/professional football player” instead, and that was accepted! Guess what I do for a living now?!
6. I have a six-year-old daughter who has been obsessed with finding Bigfoot since she was old enough to walk. She has binoculars, flags for evidence, footprint moulds, scat bags, and she knows her Bigfoot trivia inside out! I’m going to write a book about Bigfoot someday, inspired by her.
7. When working on HOUR OF THE BEES (my debut MG novel), my editor and I went through five rounds of edits before it was ready to print. My next book is about to go through its twelfth round of edits! Writing is lots of hard work, but sometimes when I feel like I can’t possibly write another word, I pretend like I’m five years old again, and just making up stories for fun. Then I remember why I do this job.
8. I started college as a biology major. I always knew I wanted to write books, but I thought I would get my degree in something “useful” so I could actually work and earn a living. When I took my first English class, I knew I needed to switch my major to literature. If my college had an art history degree available, that’s what I would have done—it’s fascinating to me, and history is all about stories!
9. I am really, really terrified of snakes when they’re right in front of me. But I love to read about them and watch nature shows about them. The creepier the snake, the better—just not in person!