A: Yes! I would love to give you one! All you have to do is send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to this address:

Dayna Lorentz
P.O. Box 4525
Burlington, VT 05406-4525

A: I have partnered with my local independent bookstores: Phoenix Books in Burlington, and The Flying Pig in Shelburne, Vermont. If you order my book from them, I can sign it! You can add an inscription online through the Phoenix site, but call the Flying Pig to get a signed copy.

A: Yay! I love getting fan mail! Thank you for writing to me!

My address is:
Dayna Lorentz
P.O. Box 4525
Burlington, VT 05406-4525

You can also email me or leave me a message on Facebook or connect with me on Twitter or comment on one of my blogs.

There is one caveat: I can’t read your manuscript or story or pitch letter. I have some advice below for you, but for many reasons, some involving my already packed schedule and others involving laws and stuff, I can’t read your draft, though I’m sure it’s awesome!

A: And I want to see yours! All of my events and appearances are listed on my Events page. If you are a local bookstore interested in hosting an event with me, please contact one of my publicists, either at Scholastic or at Penguin Young Readers Group.
If I’m not coming to your area, talk to your teacher or local librarian about hosting me for an event at your school or library. Right now I am not travelling outside of Vermont, but I would love to do a virtual visit with you via Skype. Check my School Visits page for more information!

A: I would love to visit your school or library! Because I have tiny kidlets of my own, though, I do not physically travel outside of Vermont except for official tours and stuff. But I would love to do a virtual visit with you via Skype. Check my School Visits page for more information!

A: Thank you for writing about me! Here are the facts, just the facts:

• Where did you grow up? Ridgewood, NJ
• When were you born? I am a pisces. That’s all you’re getting! ☺
• Where do you live now? Burlington, Vermont
• Do you have any pets? I have three pets! Two dogs, Peter and Kerry, both pug mixes, and a purebred Maine Coon cat named Oscar.
• Did you grow up with pets? Yes! Lots! Check out My Life in Dogs for all their stories!
• Do you have any siblings? One brother.
• Are you married? Yes!
• Where did you go to High School? Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, NJ.
• Did you go to college? Yes! I went to Williams College in Williamstown, MA.
• Did you go to grad school? Yes! I have a law degree (J.D.) from Fordham University and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing and Literature from Bennington College in Bennington, VT.

A: Yes! I have two, and grew up with many other dogs. Check out My Life in Dogs for more information about my history with Canis lupus familiaris.

A: I had a cat, and I loved him, but he passed away in 2013:( I had a guinea pig when I was eight! I loved her/him. (There was some initial confusion regarding Petunia’s sex, resolved later through an inadvertent reveal.) I love fish, but have trouble keeping them alive. And horses, oh how I love horses. I used to be a pretty mean horsewoman back in the day, but unfortunately don’t get to ride all that often now.

A: I’m so glad you asked! I love movies. I have seen a lot of them. My husband and I spend a lot of time watching and commenting on them like the two old guys from The Muppet Show. So I feel like this is a loaded question. I have no favorite overall…just many movies I admire. So here’s a weird list:

• Favorite movie to watch over and over again:  Somewhere between Ghostbusters and When Harry Met Sally…
• Favorite Ingmar Bergman film:  Persona
• Favorite Animated Film:  Somewhere between All Dogs Go To Heaven and WALL-E
• Favorite Action Film:  The Fifth Element
• Favorite Movie Starring Katherine Hepburn:  Holiday, though Bringing Up Baby and Philadelphia Story are amazing.
• Favorite Hitchcock Film:  North by Northwest
• Favorite Stars Wars Film:  I know you’re supposed to say Empire, but I love the original Star Wars.
• Favorite Woody Allen Film:  Crimes and Misdemeanors
• Favorite Movie I’ve Seen In Recent Years:  Inglorious Basterds
• Favorite Movie From Childhood:  Legend, though I also loved Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, and also non-fantasy stuff like The Goonies, Weird Science, Better Off Dead, Say Anything, The Breakfast Club, and St. Elmo’s Fire. My girlfriends and I in fact sat around once casting ourselves in St. Elmo’s Fire. I ended up as the psycho, coke-abusing Demi Moore. As a side note, in college, when my a cappella group did a Spice Girls number, I was Scary Spice…I feel a trend building here…
• Favorite Kurosawa Film:  Throne of Blood
• Favorite Bond:  I love Daniel Craig, but plot wise, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is the most moving.
• Favorite Adam Sandler Film:  50 First Dates
• Favorite Movie Based on A Book:  The Neverending Story and The Princess Bride

Did I answer your question? ☺

A: Giant squid are one of the last great mysteries on this planet. We humans have rarely ever seen one alive. We know very little about them. They live in the deepest, darkest strata of the ocean. They are the symbol of the subconscious, those murky depths from which we writers dredge our creativity. That, my friend, is what’s with the giant squid.

A: I like them. And they look cool. And they’re kind of a writerly thing. And I can draw them.

A: Keep writing! Every day! Join or start a local critique group! Send things out! Collect rejections, then revise, rework, reimagine, and send it out again!

For more on this, check out my Blog — there’s a whole section on Writing.

(If you want to hear my thoughts on some aspect of writing I haven’t covered yet, please email me and let me know what you’d like to hear about…☺)