Laura Sibony
Who are you, and what did you write?
I am Laura Sibony and I wrote Lab, a contemporary classics novel, much inspired by artificial intelligence. I am also the author of Old Europe's Club, L'École de la Parole (Hachette), Bien parler en public (Marabout), and currently writing a non-fiction of AI, to be titled Fantasia (Grasset).
What hardware and software do you write with?
Lab has been quite inspired by my experience in Google… in and out! To this point, Google should claim royalties on Lab: I am mostly writing on my Chromebook, using the Drive suite - Docs, indeed, very useful for keeping comments in mind along the way, but also Sheets for organizing chapters, and Keep for scribbling down ideas on the go (helpful for preserving the geist of a conversation!)
Nothing too fancy, no elaborate apps… my models, in Literature, wrote their masterpieces with feathers, ink and paper. Sophistication is too often the excuse of procrastination!
For French speakers, I also recommend the CNRTL's website, a serious Linguistics database run by Université de Lorraine, that displays lists of synonyms, antonyms, and use cases.
When and where do you write?
I write anywhere, anytime! And I shouldn't. But sticking to a routine, amidst the many unpredictable sollicitations and notifications of a freelancer's life, is not an easy task. I am still amazed by your example - discovering Fahrenheit 52, what a discipline!
But one sure thing, though: however hectic the day has been, I'll always make time, at the end of it, for reading.
What's your dream writing setup?
If only I could get rid of computers! I'd write in a pool of clementines, in absolute silence, in a nice summer morning's light.