I grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, went to Harvard and moved to LA. (My name was Claire Scovell for a large part of all that.) I’ve written three novels: Same as It Never Was, Knitting under the Influence, and The Smart One and the Pretty One. With Lynn Koegel (who’s absolutely brilliant), I co-wrote Overcoming Autism: Finding the Answers, Strategies and Hope That Can Transform a Child’s Life and the upcoming (out in March) Growing up on the Spectrum: A guide to life, love and learning for young adults with autism and Asperger’s.
I live in the Pacific Palisades with my husband Rob (who writes for “The Simpsons”), my four kids (Max, Johnny, Annie and Will) and too many pets to keep track of.
Email me at cslazebnik@gmail.com. Please. I promise I’ll answer! I love e-mail. And if you’re in the area and have a book club, I’ll come visit if you do my book. Or maybe just if you’re doing Austen. I love Austen.
And if you read one of my books and liked it, it would be wonderful if you’d post a positive review on Amazon. It’s not a make-or-break kind of thing, but it helps. And it makes me happy. Thanks.
If you’re interested in having me sign a copy of one of my books for you, let me know and I’ll send you a signed adhesive bookplate. The next best thing to being there, right? I only do book signings when a book first comes out, so I’m happy to “sign” them this other way. I remember once reading that a writer–I think it was Margaret Atwood–had some kind of contraption that allowed her to autograph books at home while some kind of computerized link would make a motorized pen do the exact same strokes and movements out at a public booksigning. Something like that. So she could sign people’s books from a distance. Every writer’s dream–I swear most of us are agoraphobes who just want to hide in a corner somewhere and hunch over our computers. (I can hear legions of writers screaming at me now, “Speak for yourself!” Okay, I will. I’M an agoraphobe who would just like to hide in a corner somewhere and hunch over my computer. So there.) Since I don’t have one of those, the bookplates will have to do. Or you can drop by the Starbucks at Montana and 15th–there’s a good chance you’ll find me there. I’ll be the one in the corner, hunched over my computer . . .
23 Comments
May 22, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Great site mom!!!!!
August 15, 2008 at 5:43 am
Hello
First i’m sorry for my aproximative english but i’m french. I just ask you about the translation of all your books in french because i’can just read same as it never was and i really love it.
It’s my favorite book !!!
Thanks for all
Friendly
August 15, 2008 at 6:17 am
Your English is great and I’m so glad you liked SAME AS IT NEVER WAS. Was it MA SOEUR, CE BOULET when you read it? I would love to get the other books translated into French, but I need a French publisher to pick them up! Thanks for writing.
September 6, 2008 at 10:00 am
What an amazing, revealing, heartfelt biography~! I got bogged down a little in the middle because of how you go on and on, bragging about yourself, but that’s you, brag brag brag. Only you forgot to mention the part where you somehow manage to produce all these books sort of simultaneously, while every other writer watches jealously. How everyone who knows you thinks of you as their best friend, and how your house is always open to huge crowds of people who seem to more or less live with you. How even your DOGS are special people, that everyone wants to adopt your children, how your husband has invented a special treatment for wood floors. Your novels are wonderful. You are an amazingly talented writer. Your web site is cool. How many books are you working on now?
September 6, 2008 at 11:44 am
I’ve never met this Bruce person in my life. But he does make a good point: my dogs are very special people.
December 2, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Dear Claire:
Enjoyed the book the smart one and the pretty one. Lots of great relationship material there between the sitsters and the parents and their relationships with men…..
What is your next project……….
December 3, 2008 at 8:11 am
Thanks so much, Margie! My next project is also somewhat family based, but it’s a more unusual family, with second marriages and, well, other stuff I’m not ready to give away yet. I’m still in the early stages but I think I’m working it out. Hope so.
December 31, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I just finished reading ‘the smart one and the pretty one’ and truly enjoyed it. I wanted to let you know that the reason I purchased it was because the back of the book said you were coauthor of Overcoming Autism. I instinctively knew that you had been touched as I have by the spectrum disorder, my 5 yr old daughter has PDD-NOS. I am looking forward to getting Knitting Under the Influence. Thank you for the very entertaining read Santa put in my stocking this Christmas. I think there is enough for a follow up on the book, it was excellent!
December 31, 2008 at 2:05 pm
P.S. I’m from your homestate of Massachusetts!
January 1, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Thanks so much, Nicole! KNITTING has a whole autism storyline so it may speak to you. Let me know what you think. Where in Mass are you from? Thanks for writing! My wifi has been out so I’m slower than usual in responding but it should be fixed tomorrow (fingers crossed!).
January 2, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Excellent. I’m going to have to order it on Amazon this weekend along with your other book on Autism. I will let you know what I think, absolutely. I live in Leominster, about 50 miles northwest of Boston. For us with out daughter, it’s been a great place to live to help her with the support she needs. although her brother who is one year older is probably the best things she has going for her.
I must say that I think you did a very good job at developing the characters in your book–it helps that I have two sisters of my own and felt connected to the different personalities as we three are as well. Looking forward to the books!
Happy New Year 2009!
May 7, 2009 at 4:46 pm
I love your books! I can’t put them down I have read them all. When is your next one coming out!!!! I loved knitting under the influence. I am not one to get involved in reading I used to hate the thought but there is something about your writing that keeps me focused. I can’t wait for the next one!
May 7, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Aw, thanks, Katie! I’m finishing up another novel for 5 Spot but it isn’t slated for publication until 2010, I’m afraid–and possibly not until that fall. I’m so glad my books hold your attention. I find that’s the most important thing for me with books these days. I love that feeling of being riveted to the page.
August 6, 2009 at 5:32 am
Bonjour,
Dsl pour mon Francais mais je ne parle pas l’anglais, je viens de lire votre livre ma soeur ce boulet et j’ai adoré j’ai dévoré le livre en 2 jours alors que d’ordinnaire je n’aime pas specialement lire. Voila je souhaiterais vous suivre, et lire vos autres livres sont ils dans le meme esprit ? Sont il disponible en France ? et traduit en Francais ?
Encore felicitation pour votre livre je vois que vous l’avez ecrit à 20 ans j’ai environ le meme age que vous 22 ans, et je trouve cela admirable que si jeune vous avez autant de talent bravo et j’attend avec impatience vos prochains livres.
August 6, 2009 at 5:32 am
Bonjour,
Dsl pour mon Francais mais je ne parle pas l’anglais, je viens de lire votre livre ma soeur ce boulet et j’ai adoré j’ai dévoré le livre en 2 jours alors que d’ordinnaire je n’aime pas specialement lire. Voila je souhaiterais vous suivre, et lire vos autres livres sont ils dans le meme esprit ? Sont il disponible en France ? et traduit en Francais ?
Encore felicitation pour votre livre je vois que vous l’avez ecrit à 20 ans j’ai environ le meme age que vous 22 ans, et je trouve cela admirable que si jeune vous avez autant de talent bravo et j’attend avec impatience vos prochains livres.
merci
August 6, 2009 at 9:55 am
Merci, Sophie! Je ne peut pas ecriver bien en francais mais je peut l’entender. (J’espere que ce dit ce que je pense!) Mes autres livres ne sont pas traduit en francais–seulement le premier, Ma Soeur, Ce Boulet. Peut-etre un jour . . . Encore merci!
April 28, 2010 at 11:14 am
Hi Claire,
I’m currently reading The Smart One and The Pretty One. I am loving it! I can’t put it down. Except now, cause I’m writing. Where do you find your inspiration? What did you do before becoming a writer?
Well, thanks for keeping me entertained
Sandra
April 28, 2010 at 2:48 pm
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you like it. I wrote essays for magazines for a while, worked at one point for a production company, and mostly raised kids before becoming a writer. I never really had any other career–lucky for me this one worked out.
June 17, 2010 at 7:02 pm
I just found you via your sister’s FB posting of your newest book. Your voice is strong here and makes me want to read your books….so I will!
Thanks
Marla
June 17, 2010 at 7:30 pm
Thank you, Marla! That makes me very happy.
June 20, 2010 at 2:44 pm
I absolutely loved “Knitting Under the Influence”!! Myself and two other ladies actually knit together once a week at a local diner that is quite tolerant of our hours of talking, laughing, and knitting (so long as we eat pancakes). I personally have a son who is on the Spectrum (Asperger’s Syndrome) who also knits up a storm (a pair of camoflouge socks at the moment). We actually picked up and moved states just so he could get good services. So your book was a delight on three fronts: friendship, knitting, and ASD.
June 26, 2010 at 12:58 pm
I just wanted to say I just finished your book The Smart One and The Pretty One and LOVED it! I feel like I can really relate to the characters because I have an older sister that was always the “pretty one” with all the boyfriends. And then there was me.
I was the only one in my family that went to college, so I guess you could call me the smart one (although definitely not as smart as Ava). But I really enjoyed how the focus of the book was not primarily on the relationship with the guys, but on sisters and family relationships. I think that’s really refreshing! I’m a huge chic-lit fan, so this hit the spot, but was a little different, so I loved that! I was a bit disappointed with the ending for Lauren – I felt like we were left hanging! Any chance of a continuation of her story?
(PS – I left a review on Amazon too)
June 26, 2010 at 2:03 pm
Oh, thank you, Angela! I’m so torn about the sequel. Here’s the thing about where I leave Lauren: I LIKE that she’s realizing life isn’t about finding a guy or being with a guy. Sometimes it’s about just loving your family and being there for them. That’s kind of what she needed to realize. But sometimes I want to revisit the family . . .