On Feb. 15, author Ruta Sepetys (Lithuanian) spoke of her best-selling novel “Between Shades of Gray” and her new novel “Out of the Easy” in the auditorium, inspiring students with the stories behind them.

“These stories are human,” Sepetys said. “We laugh for them, we cry for them.”

Sepetys began her speech by explaining just how she got into writing. Originally, she wanted to manage musicians in Hollywood and earned a degree in International Finance. Upon finishing college, she moved to Los Angeles and began to work on “American Idol,” gathering stories about the contestants when one day, one of the contestants turned the tables and asked Sepetys what her story was. Sepetys replied by saying she was Lithuanian.

“He looked at me and said, ‘That’s a dumb story,’” Sepetys recalls. “I thought to myself, he’s right, that was a dumb story. And thus began my quest to discover the story of where I come from.”

Sepetys described her family’s history and the brutality in which her family suffered at the hands of Joseph Stalin, the dictator of Russia, when Stalin declared Ruta’s grandfather to be a traitor.

Out of the 17 family members he arrested, only one survived, Sepetys said.

Upon learning her family’s history, Sepetys decided she needed to write a novel to tell the world. And that’s when she did heavy amounts of researching including: talking to survivors, locking herself in a box car, and even willingly becoming a prisoner in a former Soviet Union prison, which resulted in her temporarily needing a wheelchair.

“Many of the survivors wouldn’t let me publish their names,” Sepetys said. “It was like Stalin was still hanging over them.”

After months of research and writing, Sepetys was excited to publish her debut novel. However, after sending the book to several publishers, months passed by and no one called.

“Most of the publishers said it was too scary to publish,” Sepetys said.

So after another few months of editing and submitting, Penguin called. Sepetys was overjoyed. And shortly after, other publishers began to contact her. Eventually, Sepetys’ agent held an action for her book. Although Penguin wasn’t the highest bidder, Sepetys decided to sell it to them.

“I would have sold the book to Penguin for only 10 bucks,” Sepetys said. “The instant they called me, I knew I wanted them to publish it.”

And that’s how “Between Shades of Gray,” the story of a young girl named Lina and her family who survives Stalin’s reign of terror came to print. The book has been published in several countries and languages, but not in Russia. Here in America, though, the book was received especially well.

“[‘Between Shades of Gray’ is a] harrowing page-turner, made all the more so for its basis in historical fact,” said Publisher’s Weekly in an article on their website.

But “Between Shades of Gray” is not the only inspiring story Sepetys has written. Sepetys also described the story behind her newest novel, “Out of the Easy.”

“The idea started when my friend gave me some opera glasses as a gift, and they had a strange name on them,” Sepetys said. “I kept asking myself why [the owner of the glasses, a hooker] did this and that, and it led down this exciting path that I couldn’t stop myself from going down. I knew I had to write another book.”

And that’s when Sepetys yet again put herself in danger for the sake of research. Of course she researched the time period and visited the brothel in which the book is based upon, but she also spent a whole day with a former New Orleans mafia leader.

“I asked the mobster if he had ever killed anyone,” Sepetys said. “He replied by saying, ‘What, like, today?’…I survived a whole day with a mobster.”

The book itself focuses on the child of a prostitute from the French Quarter (a brothel in New Orleans) in the 1950s named Josie, who has hopes and dreams for herself despite the low-class family she has been born into.

“Sometimes the families we build are just as strong as the families we’re born into,” Sepetys said.

Penguin published the book on Feb. 12 and surely hopes it will be just as successful as Sepetys’ first novel. In fact, they have decided to promote it by holding an essay contest in which seniors who qualify can win a $5,000 dollar scholarship. Click here for details.

“‘Out of the Easy’ is a satisfying novel, bringing to life the midcentury French Quarter,” said the New York Times.

Finally, Sepetys wrapped it up by sharing with students her take on bad reviews.

“Sometimes we fail, so what?” she said. “Who cares? It’s more important to try.”

As she walked out of the auditorium and into the book-signing room, Sepetys was met with a whole-hearted applause from the students who attended.

“I liked hearing the stories she told because they were from the heart,” sophomore Trenton Scipio said. “She definitely inspired me as a writer to write what I feel. Write what you feel.”