Stuff
Leila Sales Revealed
About Leila Sales
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What is your birthdate?:4/20
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Previous occupations:I have been a bookseller, a camp counselor, and one of those people who dresses up in historical garb and gives tours of the Freedom Trail in Boston. I have also worked in book publishing, but I didn't get to wear Colonial costumes for that.
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High school and/or college:I went to the University of Chicago for college. We had a T-shirt that said, "The University of Chicago: Where fun comes to die." And we had another T-shirt that pictured a roughly sketched dinosaur stepping on a roughly sketched stick figure person, and the dinosaur was labeled "The University of Chicago," and the stick figure person was labeled, "My soul." That said, I had a lot of fun there.
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Name of your favorite composer or music artist?:Buddy Holly and the Crickets, the Supremes, Jackie Wilson, Paul Simon, the Stone Roses, the Cure, matchbox twenty, Pulp, Belle and Sebastian, Bloc Party, Razorlight... Okay, enough.
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Favorite movie:It's a tie between Waking Life and Wet Hot American Summer, even though they are two very different movies.
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Favorite television show:Green Wing, which is a fabulous British comedy show. Or maybe My So-Called Life. It never gets old for me!
Revealing Questions
- Q. How would you describe your life in only 8 words?
- A. I am like a walking, talking, breathing jukebox.
- Q. What is your motto or maxim?
- A. What I do best is drag other people into my fantasy world.
- Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
- A. Camp Emerson, the overnight camp in the Berkshires that I used to go to.
- Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
- A. "Efficacious." Like maybe if I say it a lot, then I will actually BE it!
- Q. What is your greatest achievement?
- A. I once organized 100 people to play Tetris in the windows of a building.
- Q. What’s your best quality?
- A. I am recklessly loyal. (Credit where credit is due: The phrase "recklessly loyal" comes from the book NICK OF TIME, by one of my favorite authors, Anne Spencer Lindbergh.)
- Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
- A. People who get off the escalator and IMMEDIATELY stop walking as they try to figure out which way to turn. Look, just move a few steps out of the way, then think it over. OTHERWISE I WILL CRASH INTO YOU.
- Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
- A. Dancing around my apartment until my neighbors complain.
- Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
- A. When I was little, I wanted to be a writer, actress, and singer. One out of three isn't bad, esp. considering that I can't sing.
- Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
- A. creativity, a sense of humor, and a willingness to be positive about things.
- Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
- A. Dark chocolate. My days would not be many, as I would probably die quickly from a lack of nutrients. But they would be a great last few days.
- Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
- A. I have way, way more than five favorite songs, so let's just go with five favorite bands: Buddy Holly and the Crickets, the Stone Roses, The Cure, matchbox twenty, and Pulp. Actually I have way more than five favorite bands, too.
On Books and Writing
- Q. Who are your favorite authors?
- A. Dorothy Parker, Oscar Wilde, Meg Cabot, Anne Spencer Lindbergh, Dave Barry, Simon Rich, A. A. Milne, Connie Willis, Chuck Klosterman
- Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
- A. At the risk of breaking some hearts: A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint Exupery, Eloise, by Kay Thompson, The Fragile Flag, by Jane Langton, Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White
- Q. Is there a book you love to reread?
- A. There are many. Among Friends, by Caroline B. Cooney, and Taking Care of Terrific, by Lois Lowry, would be two of them.
