Welcome back to BOOK AND A BEVERAGE!
Book and a Beverage was a featuring originally designed to spotlight book bloggers but I’m thrilled to extend the feature to interview authors and highlight their works as well! This is a special Author Edition of Book and a Beverage.
Give a big welcome to author RACHEL SHANE!
Name: Rachel Shane
You know her best as the author of… ALICE IN WONDERLAND HIGH (4/18/15), KASEY SCREWS UP THE WORLD (9/8/15), PREMATURE EVACUATION (9/29/15)
ALICE IN WONDERLAND HIGH: Amazon // Goodreads
KASEY SCREWS UP THE WORLD: Amazon // Goodreads
PREMATURE EVACUATION: Amazon // Goodreads
READING
What are you reading? I am reading and adoring THE NIGHT WE SAID YES by Lauren Gibaldi.
What’s important that we should know about this book? Would you recommend it? I’m a huge fan of dual timeline narratives and I love how this one follows the same characters throughout a pivotal night in their lives and then again a year later as they recreate it. I would definitely recommend it!
What are your top three books you would recommend to other people? The top 3 books I find myself recommending are ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS by Stephanie Perkins for the swoony love story, THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER which is my favorite of Sarah Dessen’s, The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater because…Ronan.
WRITING
What can you tell us about your current work in progress? My current work in progress, in very vague terms, is a contemporary YA in which a girl teams up with her enemy—the guy who got her expelled from school–in order to solve a mystery. There’s lots of witty banter, criminal activities, and a really epic kiss or two. That’s all I’m allowed to share at the moment!
Are you a pantser or a plotter? I am a huge plotter. I’m a Project Manager in my day job, so organization and careful planning is very important to me. My outlines are long and super detailed and if I start to stray from them while writing, I stop and re-outline to get back on track.
Do you have a favorite spot to read/write? I do most of my writing on my train commute into NYC. I wouldn’t say it’s a favorite spot, it can get kind of… awkward when I’m revising a sex scene for my NA series while sitting next to a stranger. Otherwise I usually just end up writing in my bed.
What are you drinking? I’m boring. Water!
What’s your favorite thing to drink while reading/writing? On my morning commute I always get a medium-sized Dunkin Donuts iced coffee with Chips Ahoy flavor and cream. YUM.
If you had one subplot or minor character that could go off on its own tangent, who or what would it be? The antagonist in ALICE IN WONDERLAND HIGH would be super fun to write a book about. I’ve heard from a lot of readers that he was their favorite part of the book. His voice would certainly be a challenge to tackle in narrative form—he’s based on the Mad Hatter from the original so he says some crazy things—but I’d love to explore his story more if I ever got the chance.
What type of scene is your favorite to write? My initial gut instinct to this question was KISSING! But that’s not exactly true. What I really love is writing witty sparing banter between a protagonist and love interest who totally hate each other but will clearly fall in love over the course of the novel.
Do you have any writing rituals or superstitions? Not writing rituals or superstitions per se but I do seem to have a habit of naming characters after future relatives. I named my daughter Quinn and there’s a villain named Quinn in ALICE IN WONDERLAND HIGH. The book came first but I liked the name so much that I still used it. Then my sister named her son Casey several years after I wrote the first draft of KASEY SCREWS UP THE WORLD. Can’t wait to see who names a child after my current WIP!
Thank you so much to Rachel Shane for the interview today! I LOVE your book recs! YES for ANNA! Yes for The Raven Cycle! (Ronan!) Your WIP sounds amazing too! Teaming up with the enemy + witty banter = calling my name!
There’s also a giveaway open on Goodreads for a copy of KASEY SCREWS UP THE WORLD so go forth and enter!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rachel Shane is the author of YA books ALICE IN WONDERLAND HIGH and KASEY SCREWS UP THE WORLD plus the New Adult Romance series that begins with PREMATURE EVACUATION (out Sept 29th). She’s been a computer animator, an ebook creator for a publisher, and now she works as a Project Manager for a software company where she enjoys telling people what to do. She lives in NJ with her husband, young daughter, and a basement full of books.
2 thoughts on “Book and a Beverage Author Edition | Rachel Shane”
Banter between characters is my favorite part to read and write, so I’m glad Rachel agrees!
And water, yes to that! I’m always drinking water. Or sometimes juice. Or tea, but mostly water. We can be boring together!! But I’ll probably be more boring because I’ve never had that iced coffee. It sounds amazing!
Hahaha, what a great post! I love that you can own up to being boring and drinking water. Reading is a great time to hydrate, so don’t feel alone in that! I’ll have my fun drinks with friends…when I’m in a book, I don’t need anything else exciting to make the experience fun XD
I’m not often a fan of dual-timeline narratives, but as someone who has spent a lot of mental energy thinking about anniversaries and the significance (or lack there of) in celebrating a day is an interesting facet of life. This sounds like it is set up in a solid way that could really resonate with me, and some of the nostalgic stunts I try to pull.