Author Interview with Shelley Coriell & Giveaway

I'm so excited to have Shelley Coriell, author of Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe on the blog today answering a few questions. You can read my review of the book HERE.  I also have an amazing giveaway for you!

Interview with Shelley:

How does it feel to have your first book published?

 Surprised and grateful. Let's be candid...stand-alone contemporary YA is the red-headed stepchild of the teen book world. I'm over-the-moon excited that Amulet took a chance on Chloe, Duncan, and the misfit gang at KDRS radio. And I'm humbled by the number of readers who fell in love with Chloe (an extremely different YA protag) and have become her champions. 

Chloe is such an energetic and charismatic character. Was it difficult to balance her energy and optimism against some of the more serious issues that are going on with other characters?

Balance is key. Could you imagine 300 pages of cheery Chloe? Um, no. Plus, the Parkinson's and drug addiction are threads necessary to Chloe's story journey. These issues force her to turn outward and ultimately to listen, which is at the core of her story transformation.  

I love Chloe's style! She's probably the only person on the planet who could pull off a burrito costume. What inspired her wardrobe? How about her thing for vintage shoes? 

At the beginning of the book, Chloe is a character who desperately needs people. The burrito costume screams, "Look at me...connect with me!" Likewise, her love affair with vintage shoes is about the people who once wore those old shoes. Chloe says of her fashionable footwear, "What stories these shoes could tell if only they had a different sort of tongue."

Chloe's predicaments stem from a falling out with her best friends. Do you have advice for those who are losing touch or growing apart from friends?

Two words: bits and pieces. Just after college a friend gave me a poem that basically said people will come and go in our lives but we will always hold bits and pieces of them in our head and hearts. I love this concept, even for friendships that may have ended in anger or hurt, because we have the power to choose which bits and pieces to hold close.

How long did it take you to write Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe?

About five months total writing time. Three months to write. Two months to revise, but I let each novel sit in my writerly dungeon for a number of months between first draft and revision.

Where is your favorite place to write?

In my home office with my dog, a clingy rescue weimaraner named Rylee, at my feet. Sometimes she sneaks into my lap...all 65 pounds of her. Did I mention she's a little needy?

What is something that has surprised you about writing or publishing a novel?

Writing is a solitary pursuit; publishing involves a ginormous army. 

Do you have any other projects in the works?

Just turned in my option book to my editor, a YA contemp called GOODBYE, REBEL BLUE. It's the story of a snarky rebel who reluctantly completes the bucket list of a recently deceased, do-gooder classmate. On the way she meets up with a gimpy dolphin, a boy with dimples, and a few pies. 

Find Shelley online: Website :: Blog :: Twitter :: Facebook

Thanks so much to Shelley for taking the time to answer my questions!
And for some more excitement - I'm giving away my ARC of Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe and Shelley has been generous enough to offer a swag pack including awesome goodies like a bookmark, postcard, a pen, a mousepad, and a way cute bottelcap necklace. The giveaway will be US/Canada only (sorry international friends but shipping costs are scary). You must be 13 or older. Giveaway ends on May 4 at 12:01 AM. a Rafflecopter giveaway