Stratford’s Lorien Lawrence Author of Popular Scary Books
“The chills come guaranteed.” – Stephen King
Sunday October 16th 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Stratford Library
Lorien Lawrence is an author of scary books for chapter book readers ages 8-14. She’ll be doing a book-signing and monster mask craft program for kids at the Stratford Library on October 16th.
She is the author of The Stitchers, The Collectors, and Unmasked (her latest book) The Stitchers and The Collectors are now also available in paperback.
Large sections of her books take place in a library based on ours. The Stratford Library an important part of her life. As a teenager, she spent many hours here, and was a member of the Library’s Creative Writing Group. It was that experience that led to her becoming a writer.
Lawrence, a graduate of Bunnell High School, grew up in Stratford, and took creative writing workshops in middle school, based on Stratford urban legends (Can you say Goody Bassett?). A Bunnell writing teacher turned her on to Stephen King, who is also a writer from Stratford. The fictional town of West Haven in her books is based on Stratford.
A writer and middle school English teacher in Connecticut, she has creative writing degrees from Wheaton College and Bath Spa University. When she’s not reading or writing, she can be found hunting ghosts with her family.
Five Facts About Lorien Lawrence
I pitched my first novel when I was eight years old. To James Howe! He wrote me back the sweetest letter. I wish I still had it!
I lived in England for a few years after college. (Talk about creepy ruins and abandoned buildings galore!)
My first name comes from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and it’s pronounced LORI-EN.
In terms of astrology I’m a Cancer sun, Taurus Moon, Cancer Rising.
I have unhealthy obsessions with iced tea, vampires, all things Disney, and watermelon flavored Sour Patch Kids.
Here is the summary for her latest book, Unmasked!
Lawrence’s latest book, Unmasked! Is the third book in the spine-chilling Fright Watch series follows the local monster mask maker—and a mask that comes to life on Halloween night.
Having suffered from anxiety attacks since she was eight years old, creating monsters has become a sort of therapy for Marion Jones: When she sculpts and paints, her fingers don’t tingle, the heaviness lifts from her chest, and she can actually breathe. So instead of grabbing pizza and milkshakes after school like most other kids in South Haven, Marion holes up in her room, working away on her monsters. And it’s paid off, because she’s just finished her first full-face mask: a gruesome sea monster she’s named Winston.
However, Halloween arrives with a Super Blue Blood Moon, and its powers somehow manage to bring Winston to life. To make matters worse, Marion’s crush, Tyler Dash, becomes the object of Winston’s possession as soon as he tries on the mask, turning him into a red-flannel and Converse high-top wearing Creature from Connecticut. Marion has no choice: She has to follow Tyler to the Halloween dance to try and stop him. Will she be able to figure out what’s happened to Tyler and stop the monster from wreaking further havoc on the school? Or has she made a real-life monster that’s here to stay?
What to know how it ends? Come to the Stratford Library on Sunday October 16th and find out!!
