GBF Author Q&A with... Tayari Jones

Name: Tayari Jones
Books: Silver Sparrow, Leaving Atlanta, The Untelling,

Jones' Website

Where do you find inspiration?
I often find inspiration from fragments of overheard conversations. I love stumbling across stories from strangers because I don’t feel self conscious about filling in the gaps. I also can get sucked in by the tiniest story in the back of a newspaper. For me, the less information, the better. I just like to borrow a spark.

What advice do you have for aspiring authors?
Don’t be afraid to fail. Safe fiction is boring fiction. Try big and sometimes fail big. But you want to thrill yourself and that way you will thrill readers. Art should be reckless and fun. It should be painful sometimes. It is supposed to make you feel something. Creating art should be an experience that matters.

What are you reading right now?
Pictures of You by Caroline Leavitt. [Editor's note: Caroline Leavitt also will be at the Gaithersburg Book Festival.] It’s a beautiful, beautiful, book. She breaks your heart, and I mean that in a good way.

If you could sit down at dinner with three other authors, living or dead, which three authors would you choose?
Toni Morrison, Toni Morrison, Toni Morrison.