https://laurenhoughauthor.com/home daily 0.75 2015-09-15 https://laurenhoughauthor.com/video daily 0.75 2020-05-27 https://laurenhoughauthor.com/video/category/NYC monthly 0.5 https://laurenhoughauthor.com/video/category/Streets monthly 0.5 https://laurenhoughauthor.com/recent-work daily 0.75 2020-05-27 https://laurenhoughauthor.com/images-native daily 0.75 2025-05-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/4f6798afe4b097349e410d49/1383938787527-BODFT7PCTVYTFCBGLTP6/20130731_Trade+100_0220.jpg Images - .. . https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/4f6798afe4b097349e410d49/1383938787527-BODFT7PCTVYTFCBGLTP6/20130731_Trade+100_0220.jpg Images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/4f6798afe4b097349e410d49/1383938787669-XO42LAWHDOPHD70YRTA8/20130731_Trade+100_0239.jpg Images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/4f6798afe4b097349e410d49/1383938999974-E0G586LHZ1948LIQ57HT/20130731_Trade+100_0259.jpg Images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/4f6798afe4b097349e410d49/1383938787415-MRWCH62EW1JXXMFE2OO2/20130731_Trade+100_0193.jpg Images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/4f6798afe4b097349e410d49/1383938849802-QG62BNOG7BJ4LIKPZFRF/20130731_Trade+100_0315.jpg Images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/4f6798afe4b097349e410d49/1383938788084-MII9XLXRC7CLZHP6LYRU/20130731_Trade+100_0409.jpg Images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/4f6798afe4b097349e410d49/1383938788146-LSS7IT1EGRR17UPQRG2O/20130731_Trade+100_0416.jpg Images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/4f6798afe4b097349e410d49/1383938787351-WIVVCNANXVBEGUP90CDN/20130731_Trade+100_0196.jpg Images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/4f6798afe4b097349e410d49/1383938920217-GBXROIEOHWC2PY8HLK9V/20130731_Trade+100_0429.jpg Images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/4f6798afe4b097349e410d49/1383938787934-LDKO06NPQ0MW3HLX4XEI/20130731_Trade+100_0261.jpg Images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/4f6798afe4b097349e410d49/1383938788314-8UMW5RB2WIHBA8BMPZZL/20130731_Trade+100_0442.jpg Images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/4f6798afe4b097349e410d49/1383938867882-Z9ZZAI2LB37VRA5BHHMM/20130731_Trade+100_0265.jpg Images https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/4f6798afe4b097349e410d49/1383939056885-RRGC67LU28E57CGE7P50/20130731_Trade+100_0400.jpg Images https://laurenhoughauthor.com/about daily 1.0 2026-02-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/76311630-9241-41de-ab06-a128ee73cad1/9780593686621+%281%29.jpg Home - MONSTER OF A LAND NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE ORDER Release Date | June 16, 2026 From The New York Times bestselling author of a Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing comes an update of John Steinback’s trip in Travels with Charley, a cross-country journey exploring modern America with Lauren Hough’s signature observational wit, searing social commentary, and perspective as someone who knows what it’s like to truly exist on the margins in this country. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/c161a81a-4be4-4ec7-8da0-c0c0e27a3c9b/Lauren+B%26W.jpg Home - About Lauren "LAUREN HOUGH was born in Germany and raised in seven countries, and West Texas. She’s been an Air Force airman, a bartender, a bouncer, a construction laborer, a driver, a green-aproned barista, and a cable guy. She’s the author of the New York Times bestselling essay collection, Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Granta, Texas Highways, Huffpost, and The Guardian. She’s a writer at large for Texas Highways. She lives in Austin with a dog named Woody Guthrie." https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/ea9d3d25-c418-409a-a12e-e6f2c069224f/Screenshot+2025-12-05+at+11.27.23%E2%80%AFPM.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619728060545-O0SNITYWWNYN6W7BZXOJ/DJI_0747-3.jpg Home - PRESS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619728102618-P8LULOIIJXLCBZJJ3JLY/P1577648.jpg Home - REVIEWS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619728369657-CUMTPS7WJPC30F5THVB0/P1600263.jpg Home - RECENT WORK https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619731925855-C2JGYE7RACBGQDJYJ0PJ/Leaving-Isn%27t-the-Hardest-Thing-%281%29.png Home - LEAVING ISN’T THE HARDEST THING Searing and extremely personal essays from the heart of working-class America, shot through with the darkest elements the country can manifest–cults, homelessness, and hunger–while discovering light and humor in unexpected corners. A VINTAGE ORIGINAL. As an adult, Lauren Hough has had many identities: an airman in the U.S. Air Force, a cable guy, a bouncer at a gay club. As a child, however, she had none. Growing up as a member of the infamous cult The Children of God, Hough had her own self robbed from her. The cult took her all over the globe–to Germany, Japan, Texas, Chile–but it wasn’t until she finally left for good that Lauren understood she could have a life beyond “The Family.” Along the way, she’s loaded up her car and started over, trading one life for the next. She’s taken pilgrimages to the sights of her youth, been kept in solitary confinement, dated a lot of women, dabbled in drugs, and eventually found herself as what she always wanted to be: a writer. Here, as she sweeps through the underbelly of America–relying on friends, family, and strangers alike–she begins to excavate a new identity even as her past continues to trail her and color her world, relationships, and perceptions of self. At once razor-sharp, profoundly brave, and often very, very funny, the essays in Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing interrogate our notions of ecstasy, queerness, and what it means to live freely. Each piece is a reckoning: of survival, identity, and how to reclaim one’s past when carving out a future. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619713929087-LQC4V9FKYCDU5LQIA1VJ/CATE.png Home - AUDIO BOOK NOW AVAILABLE Cate Blanchett joins Lauren Hough in narrating “Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1764993390753-XEJ1NY6RJUR1CNE258VS/NYT+3.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1590548517643-C7SLHGN0Y27A04V58X06/huffpost.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619717155127-SZIPX0XIX5QJT0K76A7L/Leaving-Isn%27t-the-Hardest-Thing-%281%29.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1590548517325-5O7YEJQE06TGG7IYDCBJ/Grants.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619717003621-XGEOYEMEDQINLLFRVH4T/Leaving-Isn%27t-the-Hardest-Thing-%281%29.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1590548516999-H9Y1KVRUVWDW0KC402PI/Guardian.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1590548517721-UKD6VR3E1U8KPPEQ91U3/tedx-sqw.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1590548518032-6BS52R8ESFJAQQMCFZFB/WBT-LOGO-Square.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1590551707081-W8UK3JF9GBQSVNM4VIB5/gay-MAg-500.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1646082576090-DFDV652E1GIBQYMVK7R1/AUSTIN+MONTHLY.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1646082576097-S756BNCUO9KESGYSURRZ/Texas+Highways.png Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1590550709943-0XKZMQFW9JLXUAJWW0E4/Alyssa+Bday+%281+of+1%29-2.jpg Home - CONTACTS https://laurenhoughauthor.com/press daily 0.75 2025-12-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619718641642-0UPIKFT90CXL4R9WXZ3U/P1588214.jpg Press - PRESS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619718925493-M9U78DE7MY0K67H5659P/think-default-image.jpg Press https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619719794262-HISBX3FZ2MBPG5ZJD33G/Leaving-Isn%27t-the-Hardest-Thing-%281%29.png Press https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619721701034-OW9U84WZIQOSPQKXRXRV/fully-booked-logo-300x300-white.png Press https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619722058207-7ZUDUMI6ZZQXKRB5QIX2/31da23_6289325c1bdc403fa0cae63bfd600f8a_mv2.jpg Press https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619721189986-NW1HI3AGQRWMZBNOQWN1/square-texas-monthly.png Press https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619725959200-YQUX6QGL55HHP6YZKZ8E/salon.png Press https://laurenhoughauthor.com/recentwork daily 0.75 2025-12-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619710971246-HYWXRC1GXD293R7E5PS0/IMG_9224.JPG Recent Work - RECENT WORK https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/78bdcaad-7dae-446e-8724-733b83d76f95/NYT+3.png Recent Work - This Holiday I’m Going to a Gay Bar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/293a8277-a760-4285-8761-5e23f60ccace/Screenshot+2025-12-05+at+10.09.17%E2%80%AFPM.png Recent Work - The High road Texans have perfected the art of roadside rescues https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/6e1f984c-6176-454f-a426-d039169cd794/Texas+Highways.png Recent Work - Getaway Driver The author travels back to the Panhandle to investigate an old family legend. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/62ef1a3d-b249-41d6-91f5-ebab0fe67a97/AUSTIN+MONTHLY.png Recent Work - Texas Just Can’t Stop Punishing Women A scathing response to the new abortion restrictions in Texas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619712173687-DETHP2DJ7PPO942XMNHD/huffpost-logo.png Recent Work - I Was A Cable Guy. I Saw The Worst Of America. A glimpse of the suburban grotesque, featuring Russian mobsters, Fox News rage addicts, a caged man in a sex dungeon, and Dick Cheney. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619712729629-S4GX8ATYXU57LA552ZCX/Gay-Mag.png Recent Work - My Drug Dealer’s Snake “An essay on mental health, buying drugs as an adult, legalization, and why every suburban pot dealer wants you to watch him feed his snake.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619712843316-NTV3PN5HFQHXX1MA4DKO/Grants.png Recent Work - The Shepards “An Essay about friendship and secrets, power and freedom, rules and those who break them, and Michael Jackson.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619712996261-W2WWZYXMOW8WRJMB7ZHP/Guardian.png Recent Work - Work, pray, fear: my life in the Family cult “Reprint of the Shepards, an essay featured in Granta.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619713086028-0WHG8B9DCKSQGEFC4WK0/WBT-LOGO-Square.png Recent Work - Solitaire (Part I) “Part 1 of 2: Exploring the secrecy and fear, the lies told and the violence experienced by a gay woman serving under Don’t Ask; Don’t Tell.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619713110303-KUXD7GRCZANE4ISFFEFW/WBT-LOGO-Square.png Recent Work - Solitaire (Part II) “Part 2 of 2: Exploring the secrecy and fear, the lies told and the violence experienced by a gay woman serving under Don’t Ask; Don’t Tell.” https://laurenhoughauthor.com/contact daily 0.75 2021-04-28 https://laurenhoughauthor.com/reviews daily 0.75 2022-02-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1646096174675-RXV24S77D8S5S6N89CJ4/Lauren+B%26W.JPG Reviews https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619724088679-GFKIZ2TZRSALW6ZAEBIN/P1577632.jpg Reviews - BOOK REVIEWS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619723521256-72XB621TNXUAK8V7G043/Leaving-Isn%27t-the-Hardest-Thing-%281%29.png Reviews https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619723627692-FXYCWS42RVR5MNZFCPHB/wash-square.png Reviews https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/1619724244005-PUJZHCUKAWC2E30QLTP5/bookpage.png Reviews https://laurenhoughauthor.com/contact-1 daily 0.75 2025-12-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2ede0b71069951c23c355b/ed07db3b-2ab2-4e80-b23d-79cc47f1170e/Lauren+Powerlines+%281%29.jpg Contact - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.