Ramin TalaieWhy it's notable: The book sold for a reported seven figures, and it's been optioned for the movies and has earned early rave reviews.Memorable line: "We were here."Quick bio: Walker, 32, a resident of Brooklyn, N.Y., grew up in San Diego. She worked in book publishing while writing her first novel.Real-life inspiration: "In 2004, shortly after the earthquake that caused the tsunami in Indonesia, I read that the earthquake was so powerful that it had affected the rotation of the earth, shortening our 24-hour days by a fraction of a second. I was really stunned by that news, by the idea that something I had always taken for granted — the steady rising and setting of the sun — was actually in flux."On the threat of "the big one": "Sometimes I think I might not have written The Age of Miracles if I hadn't grown up in California, if I hadn't been exposed to its very particular blend of beauty and disaster, of danger and denial."On the popularity of end-of-the-world scenarios: "My own pet theory is that there's actually a certain kind of unexpected pleasure in reading about a world radically altered by disaster. In these kinds of stories, a lot of the ordinary things we take for granted have fallen away — food in the grocery stores, hot showers, the predictable rising and setting of the sun. … As a result, all of the ordinary things begin to look a little miraculous. There's a pleasure in being reminded of the value of ordinary life."For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com. Thursday, July 12, 2012
New Voices: Author Karen Thompson Walker
Karen Thompson Walker's The Age of Miracles (Random House, $26) is set in a once-placid California suburb facing solar radiation, dying species, failing crops and social disintegration after Earth's rotation slows. Ramin TalaieWhy it's notable: The book sold for a reported seven figures, and it's been optioned for the movies and has earned early rave reviews.Memorable line: "We were here."Quick bio: Walker, 32, a resident of Brooklyn, N.Y., grew up in San Diego. She worked in book publishing while writing her first novel.Real-life inspiration: "In 2004, shortly after the earthquake that caused the tsunami in Indonesia, I read that the earthquake was so powerful that it had affected the rotation of the earth, shortening our 24-hour days by a fraction of a second. I was really stunned by that news, by the idea that something I had always taken for granted — the steady rising and setting of the sun — was actually in flux."On the threat of "the big one": "Sometimes I think I might not have written The Age of Miracles if I hadn't grown up in California, if I hadn't been exposed to its very particular blend of beauty and disaster, of danger and denial."On the popularity of end-of-the-world scenarios: "My own pet theory is that there's actually a certain kind of unexpected pleasure in reading about a world radically altered by disaster. In these kinds of stories, a lot of the ordinary things we take for granted have fallen away — food in the grocery stores, hot showers, the predictable rising and setting of the sun. … As a result, all of the ordinary things begin to look a little miraculous. There's a pleasure in being reminded of the value of ordinary life."For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.
Ramin TalaieWhy it's notable: The book sold for a reported seven figures, and it's been optioned for the movies and has earned early rave reviews.Memorable line: "We were here."Quick bio: Walker, 32, a resident of Brooklyn, N.Y., grew up in San Diego. She worked in book publishing while writing her first novel.Real-life inspiration: "In 2004, shortly after the earthquake that caused the tsunami in Indonesia, I read that the earthquake was so powerful that it had affected the rotation of the earth, shortening our 24-hour days by a fraction of a second. I was really stunned by that news, by the idea that something I had always taken for granted — the steady rising and setting of the sun — was actually in flux."On the threat of "the big one": "Sometimes I think I might not have written The Age of Miracles if I hadn't grown up in California, if I hadn't been exposed to its very particular blend of beauty and disaster, of danger and denial."On the popularity of end-of-the-world scenarios: "My own pet theory is that there's actually a certain kind of unexpected pleasure in reading about a world radically altered by disaster. In these kinds of stories, a lot of the ordinary things we take for granted have fallen away — food in the grocery stores, hot showers, the predictable rising and setting of the sun. … As a result, all of the ordinary things begin to look a little miraculous. There's a pleasure in being reminded of the value of ordinary life."For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com. 
