Happy Release Day, Kerry Schafer!

Today marks a very exciting day for a friend and colleague of mine, Kerry Schafer. As you may recall, back in January of last year, I came across Kerry's manuscript on Book Country and passed it along to the editorial staff at Penguin, who quickly fell in love with it as I had, acquiring a two-book deal from the debut author.

Now, the day has come that the fabulous manuscript is bound and hitting the shelves!

Vivian Maylor can’t sleep. Maybe it’s because she just broke up with her boyfriend and moved to a new town, or it could be the stress of her new job at the hospital. But perhaps it’s because her dreams have started to bleed through into her waking hours. 

All of her life Vivian has rejected her mother’s insane ramblings about Dreamworlds for concrete science and fact, until an emergency room patient ranting about dragons spontaneously combusts before her eyes—forcing Viv to consider the idea that her visions of mythical beasts might be real. 

And when a chance encounter leads her to a man she knows only from her dreams, Vivian finds herself falling into a world that seems strange and familiar all at once—a world where the line between dream and reality is hard to determine, and hard to control…

In honor of the release of BETWEEN (Ace Books), Kerry took time out of her busy blog tour schedule to do a little Q&A with me:

DP: So, the big question...how does it feel to be a published author?!

KS: Honestly? It feels like I've walked into my own book. Reality has become a little fuzzy, in all the good ways. I just can't believe my book is actually really going to be on bookshelves! I've been throwing around a lot of exclamation marks.

DP: What inspired the story behind BETWEEN?

KS: A lot of factors came together at just the right moment: an errant penguin (who happened to be named Vivian), my introduction to the works of MC Escher, and long, fascinating conversations on the nature of reality with my friend and co-worker, Jamie. Oh, and Nanowrimo! I'm pretty sure that writing fast and furiously had something to do with those disparate elements coalescing as they did.

DP: The revision process can be a tricky--and exhausting--one. What was the hardest thing for you to revise/rewrite? Did you have to kill any of your darlings?

KS: I have an entire graveyard full of darlings. Very few elements of the initial draft remain, in fact. I eliminated favorite characters and entire plot arcs and even my very favorite phrases.

DP: Tell us a little about your experience with the publishing process. Any particular likes, dislikes, surprises? Give it to me straight!

KS: Publishing is a strange animal. One of the fascinating (and frustrating) things about it is the aspect of "hurry up and wait." You are given some sort of a deadline. You clear your schedule, forego important aspects of daily living, and drive yourself to the finish line. You turn your manuscript or your revisions or copy edits or whatever in on time, excited by your success at meeting said deadline. Time then passes. Slowly. Two months later, your editor is just finding time to get to what you slaved away to turn in! I know this isn't just my story, because I hear it from my friends. Also? This isn't because editors are sitting around with their feet up, gossiping about their authors and drinking Margaritas. They too are busting their butts.

DP: Who, if anyone, guided you or acted as your mentor as you went from being an aspiring writer to a debut author?

KS: It wasn't just one person – sort of that "it takes a village" thing. My wonderful agent, Deidre Knight, for starters. And my friend Leigh Evans blazed the path for me – her debut (The Trouble with Fate, and you should definitely read this!) released about a month before Between. She was awesome about sharing information and her experience, which kept me from panic a few times, and from blunders a lot of times. Also, Julie Butcher, who has been through the book release experience with loved ones more times than I can easily count. My whole Twitter support team, people at work – the list is very long.

DP: Do you have a blog tour or any signings lined up that we should be putting on our calendars?

KS: I do have a fabulous blog tour lined up, which is currently ongoing. You can see the details of that here on my blog. I will be signing at Auntie's Bookstore in Spokane, WA on February 16 at 2 pm. And I'm planning to be at RT in Kansas City.

DP: What's up next??

KS: The second Book of the Between, tentatively titled Wakeworld. This is currently with my editor. (Reference question #4 and the whole waiting thing.)

Thank you so much for having me at your blog today! And thank you for discovering me on Book Country!!

Thank YOU for joining us, Kerry! 

HAPPY RELEASE DAY!