'Getting intensely into the story'

 

“For me, being a writer was never a choice.  I was born one.  All through my childhood I wrote short stories and stuffed them in drawers.  I wrote on everything.  I didn’t do my homework so I could write.” – Laura Hillenbrand

 

Born in Fairfax, VA in May of 1967, Hillenbrand wrote massive bestselling stories about two amazing sports figures from the 1930s; one the great horse Seabiscuit, the other the great 1930s Olympian Louis Zamperini. 

 

The first story became the bestselling book and award-winning movie Seabiscuit.  The second, one of the most gripping reads of the past two decades and also a popular movie, was Unbroken.  The books have dominated bestseller lists in both hardback and paperback with combined sales (to date) of more than 15 million.

    

Hillenbrand’s own story is probably also worthy of a book as she wrote her bestsellers while experiencing debilitating pain and isolation.  Confined to her home for 20 years with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, she still pressed on to create these two remarkable works.   She says being confined while writing helped her “live” her stories more completely in her mind.

 

“I'm attracted to subjects who overcome tremendous suffering and learn to cope emotionally with it,” she said.  “I'm living someone else's life. I get very intensely into the story, into the interviews and the research. I'm experiencing things along with my subjects. I have a freedom I don't have in my physical life.”