Laini Taylor on ‘Dreams of Gods & Monsters’ and more [Video]

Laini Taylor’s “Dreams of Gods & Monsters,” the conclusion of the “Daughter of Smoke and Bone” trilogy, was published just four days before the start of the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. At the festival, she sat down with Times features editor Alice Short to talk about the novel and beginning the series when she was supposed to be writing something else.

Taylor talks about when she decided to be a writer and what books made a big impression on her growing up. Her family moved around a lot so she didn’t have a regular source of books, but one author in particular stands out. Listen to find out who.

Before the festival, we polled about 200 writers about their influences -- and lots more -- and built an online game so you can live the writer’s life. Give it a try: Will you be Shakespeare or Ayn Rand?

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