The Mountain Story is about the ordinary becoming extraordinary. Captivated by this tale of beauty, truth, life and death, we reached out to learn more:
Tell us a little bit about your new release, The Mountain Story.
It’s a story about four hikers lost together in the mountain wilderness that overlooks Palm Springs. Four people. Five days. Three survivors. Eighteen-year-old Wolf Truly goes up the mountain with the intention of taking his life and instead meets three strangers who change him forever.
What is the one movie that you can quote the most?
The Fault in Our Stars. My daughter is twelve. We shared the book, then the movie. Love. Sigh.
Are you an avid hiker?
We – my family and I – were city people until we moved to the Santa Monica Mountains in southern California. Here I fell in love with nature, the palms and the cactus, the bobcats in my backyard, the wild parrots and screech owls, the coyotes that prowl the creek beside the house. I don’t have as much time to hike as I’d like, but do enjoy a walk down the winding road in the canyon where I live.
Ever made a trip up the mountain yourself?
I made numerous trips up the mountain in the tram. I hiked on the mountain with a member of Riverside Mountain Search and Rescue, Matt Jordon, a guy who really knows the mountain and could answer my questions about logistics and believability. We hiked a few times a year over the course of my writing the book. He was a valuable advisor.
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I can remember wanting to be a writer from the time I was six years old and my mother gave me Hans Christen Anderson’s The Little Mermaid for my birthday.
What are you currently craving?
I am craving balance. Life feels so all or nothing.
If you had to pick one place to vacation for the rest of your life, where would you choose?
I’d go back to my hometown, Chatham, Ontario. It’s where I became a writer, where I set my first 3 books, where my family, my two brothers and my folks still live.
What’s on your writing desk?
A jar of dry erase markers that I use to update my schedule on the big white board above my plain black desk.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Quit. Encouragement is important but sometimes your greatest motivation comes from the detractors.
Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?
My husband and I have been together for more than thirty years and spent the first half of our union living like starving artists. I was writing and acting and he was acting and making short films. Our motto is and always has been, “We’re up now but we’ll down again.” In The Mountain Story, Wolf’s family motto is, “There will be sway.” Similar in that it’s a reminder that the pendulum swings wildly and randomly and we’re all just along for the ride.
Lori Lansens is the author of the new book The Mountain Story.
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