20 Questions is a Q&A interview series with authors, musicians, and everyone in between, celebrating experiences both shared and individual in the messy game of being human.
“Writing requires you to stay in the discomfort longer than feels sane.” Lara Love Hardin is a literary agent, author, and president of True Literary. Her bestselling memoir The Many Lives of Mama Love was selected as an Oprah’s Book Club pick in 2024. She has an MFA in creative writing and is also a four-time New York Times bestselling collaborative writer, including Designing Your Life and The Sun Does Shine, which she coauthored with Anthony Ray Hinton. In 2019, she won a Christopher Award for her work “affirming the highest values of the human spirit,” was nominated for an NAACP Image Award, and short-listed for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. She is also the co-founder of The Gemma Project, helping incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women. I had the privilege of getting to speak with and learn more about Lara for a new edition of 20 Questions.
What is the earliest memory you have of wanting to be a writer?
I had to be about seven or eight. I was an avid reader and I remember thinking I wanted to write words that made people feel things. I also wanted to be an astronaut, a lawyer, and an actress at the same time, so I devised a masterful plan to write a book about an actress who goes into space and then becomes a lawyer because of it.
What time of day are you most inspired?
Early morning — before the world wakes up, when it’s just me and the quiet. That liminal space between dream and duty is when I hear the truest voice.
Favorite book of all time?
I don’t have a favorite book of all time, I have favorite books of certain times. The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo is one of my faves when times are tough. The Gift of Imperfection by Brené Brown is another go-to when I’m feeling stressed.
Where is your favorite place in the world to be?
Kona, Hawaii. My new home and a place I’ve wanted to live since I was 21 years old. It’s the only place where the ocean, the air, and the light all feel like a homecoming.
One movie that will always make you cry?
Not a lot of movies make me cry. When I want or need to cry I watch soldier homecoming videos. If I had to pick a movie, it would probably be E.T. or The Notebook. Very different tears, but tears nonetheless.
What’s the most challenging part of writing for you?
The silence before it’s working. When you’ve told the truth and it’s still not enough. Writing requires you to stay in the discomfort longer than feels sane.
The best book you’ve read in the last year?
I want to list a very literary book — I’ve read a lot of literary fiction this past year — but if we’re talking the best book for sheer escapism, well then give me the ACOTAR series all day.
How did you come to the decision that your story needed telling in the form of The Many Lives of Mama Love?
For years, I carried the shame of my past like a secret I could never tell. Then I realized: secrets lose their power when you tell the truth out loud. I wanted to reclaim my story — not as confession, but as connection.
The last series you binge-watched?
The Bear. It’s chaotic, brilliant, and deeply human.
The best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
“Tell the truth, but tell it beautifully.” It’s something I remind myself of every day — in writing, in love, in life.
If you could have one writer, dead or alive, to compose your obituary, who would it be and why?
Anne Lamott. She’d find the humor in my mess, the holiness in my mistakes, and somehow make everyone cry and laugh in the same sentence.
One song that you will never be sick of?
“Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac. It’s every woman’s song — the reckoning of time, the surrender to change, the grace of still being here.
Laptop or desktop?
Laptop. Always. Writing is portable and unpredictable — I like to chase the words wherever they show up.
How would you describe the importance of storytelling in an age of social isolation?
Stories are the bridge back to one another. In a world that scrolls past nuance, storytelling slows us down long enough to feel something real and to remember we belong to each other.
What’s your current read?
I’m reading scripts right now, lots of scripts — and that’s all I can say about that!
As the founder of True Literary, what’s the most important piece of the puzzle in bringing an author’s vision to life?
It is a mix of message, messenger, and culture. You have to have all three in perfect harmony to bring a big book to the world. After that, my job is always to find the heartbeat of a story and the greater purpose behind bringing that story to life.
You’re stuck on a long flight. Which world-famous musician would you want sitting next to you and why?
Dolly Parton. She’s a legend, she’s herself, and I could listen to her accent for hours and hours on a plane! Plus I’m guessing she’d be the perfect mix of the profound and the profane.
Favorite quote of all time?
Leonard Cohen: “Ring the bells that still can ring / Forget your perfect offering / There is a crack in everything / That’s how the light gets in.” (Okay, it’s song lyrics, but still a quote.) Also, it’s hard to pick my favorite of anything. I’m a different person every single day.
As a writer and artist, what would you say is the best way to rest or decompress?
Silence, ocean, daydreaming and when that fails… reality television!
What can we expect to see next from you?
My first novel. Title to be determined, but tentatively called Landslide (see my favorite song). It’s about the secrets women keep, and the lies we tell ourselves to survive.
Follow Lara Love Hardin on Instagram and get her memoir The Many Lives of Mama Love from your local indie bookstore or library.
Jeffrey Reads 