Laura Vogt
Author Interview - Laura Vogt
Author of In the Great Quiet
A pioneer unwaveringly endures the Oklahoma frontier in an epic adventure about a woman haunted by secrets and searching for home.
A cannon booms at high noon, and the race begins in the Oklahoma land rush of 1893.
Amid the crowd is Minnie Hoopes. Tenacious and fiercely independent, she is determined to endure the brutal frontier and create a life of her own. Guarding her solitude, she distances herself from bordering homesteaders and finds peace under the starry nights of the vast frontier. But this is outlaw country, and Minnie soon has the blood of two gunfighters on her hands. After a renegade outlaw named Stot discovers her secrets, she forms an unlikely friendship with him. With each passing season, Minnie’s past grows more haunting and threatens the future she has risked everything to build.
Based on the true story of the author’s great-great-grandparents, this sweeping and transportive survival story explores a woman’s connection with the land, her reconciliation with the past, and her elemental search for home against all odds.
Settle in, I’ve stories to tell.
Author Interview - Laura Vogt
Author I draw inspiration from:
Charles Fraizer. Cold Mountain is gobsmackingly gorgeous. I’m continually stunned by Fraizer’s prose. He can spend a page describing shoelaces, but it’s not boring. He infuses plot and character, stake and mood into his description. It’s beautiful and stunning.
From Frazier, I’m inspired to take my time. To not rush my prose.
If Frazier shares two paragraphs about a blue bird then it’s necessary to the story. In my work, I make sure my descriptions always fulfill a clear purpose (character development, world building, theme) and are not simply “darlings.” But reading Frazier, I’m encouraged to trust myself—and my readers—more. To allow myself to pause. Relish. Frazier’s stories are taut, with tension and stakes woven into the plot, but his sentences are slow, careful, and exquisite.
Author Interview - Laura Vogt | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
Cozy in my bed. With rain pattering the windowpanes, candleflame flickering, and either early in the morning or late at night, when my home has a deep quiet.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Kaz Brekker from Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows, because he’d get me out.
First, because Kaz is such a complicated, fascinating character. And second, because I think his rag tag crew will be in the middle of some elaborate heist, and I’ll get swept along in the adventure.
I imagine Inej will be haunting nearby, probably scaling the cables, and I’m sure Jesper will be shooting someone, somewhere. But Kaz will have a plan. It will be unhinged, dangerous, and something I would never have thought of. And I’d love to be brought alongside, watching some of my favorite characters in their devious genius.
Author Interview - Laura Vogt | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
There wasn’t a pivotal moment for me. The dream of becoming an author was something that slowly revealed, until it became something I recognized.
I’ve always been a dreamer, lost in my own worlds. Being a reader and storyteller is fundamental to who I am as a person. It wasn’t something I decided but something I discovered in myself. In college, as a literature and history double major, during my first creative writing course, I knew: I wanted to publish a novel, someday.
In my twenties I worked on several novels, haphazardly, when inspiration struck. I was a wedding photographer, and my job depleted my creative well. It wasn’t until my early thirties, pregnant with my second daughter, that I realized: I would never stumble upon time. I would never find more time. And so, I began to chase my dream of becoming a published author with clarity and resolve.
And so, I would say the moment I knew, with certainty, that I wanted to be an author was in my early thirties. Pregnant and under-slept, I knew that publishing novels was something important, something that wasn’t going away, something that I needed to hunt down.
A decade later, I’m publishing my debut novel. I think, if you’re a writer, you’re a writer. It doesn’t just come. But the desire and choice to pursue traditional publishing was a decision and goal that came with lots of tenacity, courage, and hard work.
If you’re a writer, in the midst of finding your path toward publication: Keep going. You’ll find a home for your stories. I’m rooting for you.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
Paperback! I adore a floppy, gorgeous paperback. I love slim ones that easily slip into my purse.
I enjoy ebooks at night, when I’m falling asleep. And audiobooks as I clean or drive. I do not enjoy reading hardbacks—they’re just too clunky. For hardbacks, my favorite are the shelf trophy special editions.
The last book I read:
In the Distance by Hernán Díaz. Oh, it was just beautiful. Expansive and devastating. His prose is gorgeous, and his character development observed.
Author Interview - Laura Vogt | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
Computer for drafting prose, pen and paper for revisions or poetry.
I’m a fast typer, so I draft novels on the computer. I edit my first draft on my computer, until the story feels fleshed out. Then I prefer to revise with pen and paper. I also have a Kindle Scribe which I mark up with a stylus. I tend to toggle between drafts on my computer, when I’m moving large pieces or undergoing huge developmental edits, and then paper for more granular edits. I also like to listen to my drafts. I’m always looking for a new way to interact with the text, to hopefully open another avenue on strengthening the story.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
Poppy from Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation.
I’m very in-my-head and deeply emotional, a classic introverted Pisces, enneagram 4w5, INFJ. And so, I gravitate toward loud, warm-hearted extroverts. I adore friends who pull me out of my dreamy thinking and get me laughing. I enjoy whimsical, outlandish fun, just like the sort of chaos that Poppy inspires. While I’m not as reserved as Alex, I do enjoy friends who tug me out of my comfort zone. Someone bold and extravagant, with lots of opinions and spunk—but also lots of heart. Friends who won’t speed past the hard moments but who will sit with me in my sorrow.
My debut In the Great Quiet explores the complexity and depth of female friendships. My best friend moved away from home while I was drafting, and I folded some of my ache about living life without her into the pages.
Author Interview - Laura Vogt | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
Anthropologist. I’ve always wanted to be a storyteller and to chase down lost, forgotten history.
I have history and literature degrees, so perhaps the answer could simply be an academic. I had thought, for a time, of becoming a Shakespearean. But now, I’d choose an anthropologist. To be out there, physically chasing down the past. Attending a dig is a huge bucket list item for me.
Some day.
And then, of course, I’ll write a novel about it.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
I adore the delicate, romantic fashion of the 1830s, after the Regency era of empire waists but before that sharper Victorian dress. Think interesting, voluminous sleeves; wide, swooping, necklines; intricate, textured details; something very romantic and like gossamer.
And in the 1900s, I am fully, whole-heartedly a girl of the ‘90s. I loved how casually artistic everything was: the deep moody lipstick, the comfortable clothes, all the drama.
Place I’d most like to travel:
New Zealand. The wide, wild expanses. It looks stunning and magical. And also, I’m the largest of dorkiest of Lord of the Rings’ fans.
My signature drink:
Brown Sugar Shaken Espresso
½ tbs brown sugar
½ tsp vanilla
double shot of espresso
milk of choice & ice
Brown sugar and vanilla into a glass. Pull shot of espresso over sugar and vanilla. Shake for one minute. Add milk of choice and ice. Then, you can be magical and caffeinated!
Favorite artist:
My daughter Hava. I know this sounds sappy, but she's is incredibly talented. I’m continually stunned and awed by what she can create with a few quick flicks of her pencil.
Number one on my bucket list:
A romantic, adventurous trip with my husband. We’ve been in a season of raising our children, and I cannot wait to go on a vacation just us two. Our twenty-year anniversary is in 2028, so I’m planning an epic trip.
On our honeymoon, we were young and broke. We spent every penny we had on a trip to Europe. We went to Switzerland, France, and Italy. I’d enjoy returning to the same small towns, and perhaps, a couple new places.
Anything else you'd like to add:
I’m honored and thrilled to be debuting this spring. I have a book club guide on my website, and I look forward to connecting with readers.
Also, if you’re a writer: Keep on dreaming, friend. Pursuing publication can be brutal, but every hard revision, every time you rework your story, every novel “shelved” is not lost work. You are honing your craft and learning how you like to write a sentence, how you like to tell a story. Keep going, and I cannot wait to read your work.
Find more from the author:
Instagram: @lauravogtbooks | https://www.instagram.com/lauravogtbooks/
Tiktok: @lauravogtbooks | https://www.tiktok.com/@lauravogtbooks
Substack: @lauravogtbooks | https://lauravogtbooks.substack.com/
Facebook: @lauravogtbooks | https://www.facebook.com/people/Laura-Vogt-Books
About Laura Vogt:
Laura Vogt
Laura Vogt is a historian, storyteller, and poet. She loves all things wild and beautiful. She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with her husband and three children.
