Author Chat with Sara Van Os

By another fabulous author on this episode of Lit Happens with Sid, Sarah Van Oss. Sarah, how are you? I'm good. How are you? I'm doing good. Thank you for taking the time to come and chat with me. So you have a pretty interesting novel called The Decomposition. But before we get into that, tell us a little bit about who you are, where you're from, and what really sparked your love into becoming an author. I don't really remember a time before I wanted to be a writer, to be honest. It was the second I knew that it was a job that you could have, I was like, that one. So I started writing stuff really, really young, like six or something. I'm originally from California. I have two cats and a wife. Super boring, kind of a homebody, but yeah. But that makes us the best people because I'm a homebody. Anything that has to do with a big, I'm like, that's okay. I'd rather be at home with my books, with some food. I'm like, what's wrong with that? Date night, order food. Now, what part of California are you in? Southern Orange County. I'm not there right now. I'm in New York. I'm New York based. I've been here for about 10 years. I grew up a little bit in San Diego because my dad was in the Navy. So we were out there for a little bit and then was here in Michigan, pretty much raised here. And then I went down to Florida for a little bit, started my career, and then now I'm back here. And so you're kind of on the same coast with the New Yorker. So you're used to the winters like I am, which are brutal and not so fun. Yeah. I mean, used to is a strong word. Every winter I call my mom and I'm like, mom, I'm dying. You need to come pick me up. It's like just that bitter cold. It's like, eh, no thank you. So your book, The Decomposition, it's very interesting. The cover page, I'm very intrigued. And so essentially it's like a humorous but serious book about a girl who discovers a dead body, but she can't get rid of its ghost. So tell us a little bit about what was the motivation behind this one? So it's not necessarily that she's trying to get rid of it. She wants to keep everything. She wants to keep the corpse. She wants to keep the ghost. But yeah, it's like, I don't know. I'm just weird. And I've written at the point that I went into writing this one, I was like, you know what, let me just do something crazy. And I had like three different books. Like I wanted to write about OCD. I wanted to write about a dead body that was just like rotting there. And I also wanted to write like a wilderness survival type thing. I was like, you know what, what if I just made all these books the same book and was just smashed them all together, you know? And that's kind of how it happened. And then after that, I was just like, you know what, whatever. I was trying to be like a writer TM, you know, be like fancy about it. And then I was just like, no, I'm just going to be, I'm just going to be like the most unhinged I can be and see what happens. And it went well. But we love the unhingedness. I think that's what like separates people from the crowd and everybody else is like, when you get to just show your authentic self, whether it's unhinged or not, people tend to like you more because it's your true authentic self. You're not faking it or, you know, being a wannabe, you're just being you. And I think you did a great job. And like I said, this book, just the cover alone, I was like, okay, this is kind of something different that's kind of going on. And then when I saw a dead body, I was like, oh, I'm in. That's my realm right there. Yeah, 100%. Me too. Every time there's a dead body or like cannibalism or anything like that, I'm like, let's go. Yeah, like, I want I want parts of that. So what's next for you in this literary world? Like, is there going to be a book to surrounding this? Or are you going to kind of venture off to something else? So it's not going to be a book to surrounding this, I do have a two book deal. So I have another book due in like a month, actually. But that one is going to be very different from this one. Well, it's not very different, because all of my books are going to revolve around like death. And also the idea that we're all kind of crazy. It's just that some people are better at hiding the crazy than others. But yeah, the next book is going to be about like capitalism, essentially. But it's going to be like you are dying at work, like you want at some point, basically. I'm sort of new to this book, so bear with me. But essentially, the point is that at some point, people just start dying at work. And nobody knows why nobody knows like, it's however you were supposed to die eventually is how you die at work. And nobody knows why nobody knows how to stop it. But obviously, like the rent is due, the bills are due, people need health insurance, but people are still have to go to work. And in this universe, like homelessness is criminalized. So if you don't go to work, and you end up homeless, then like they put you in jail, and you die at work in jail, you know? So super bleak, but it's like, everybody still has to show up to work, the people that can't put their jobs do put their jobs, like if they have enough money to. But the people that have to work just work, and then your co workers are just dying around you. And like, if you're in the service industry, like me, it's like, you know, if the colleague that's supposed to be the shift after you dies, then you just need to cover that shift, then you could die. So it's gonna be fun, a lot of fun, a lot of fun deaths in this one. Oh, my God, I need you to hurry up and finish this one. Because like, now I'm intrigued. And I'm like, Okay, so it's already noted. I'll put that on my calendar. So whenever that one comes out, I'm gonna have you back. So we can we can we can talk about that one. So before I let you go, is there anything else that you would like to say to future fans out there, current fans, or just book lovers in general? Oh, God, the idea of fans is so funny, and so new to me. Because I just like a bitch that works in the hotel. But um, I thank you like, I'm just so lucky to be able to do this. This is everything that I've ever wanted. I'm having the best time. It's going super, super well better than I expected for like, a debut out of nowhere. So I'm just really happy that people are reading it and loving it and resonating it with it. And I have two OCD diagnoses under my belt right now, which is fun. But yeah, thank you for reading. And thank you for like, I don't know, like resonating with it. Even if you hated it. Thank you. I love the hate reads. Because it's like you're still contributing to my stories and everything else anyway, whether you don't like it. So thank you anyway. And also like hate is an emotion. You know what I mean? Like if you read it, and you're pissed, then I still made you feel something. So I'm still happy about that. There we go. See that you and you're evoking all the emotions. I love it.