#5Questions

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Author Bio  

Rachel grew up in a tiny town in Minnesota. She still lives there, with her husband and their four kids. She coaches high school speech and theater, rides Arabian horses, reads as much as she can, and writes stories.

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Title: Don't Fall

Author: Rachel Schieffelbein

Publishing Date: May 27th 2014
Publisher: Swoon Romance

In which a teenage girl endures the over-protective love of her adoptive mother until she falls for a boy who has her wanting to spread her wings, pitched as a contemporary retelling of Rapunzel.
Seventeen-year-old Anya leads a very secluded life in a house on the edge of town with her adopted mother. She doesn't go to school, but instead has a private tutor. Her over-protective mom keeps her so sheltered that she doesn't even have a best friend. 
But Anya doesn't seem to mind. She has her books, her photography, and her daydreams, and would do anything to please her mom. Until one day at the library, the only place she's allowed to go, she takes a picture of a beautiful boy.
Before long she's lying to her mom, and sneaking out late at night to meet Zander. But Zander wants more than a secret romance. If Anya wants to be with the boy of her dreams, she will have to risk her relationship with the only other person she's ever cared about.

Check out my review for Don't Fall by 
CLICKING HERE

1. How did you get into writing?

I've always enjoyed writing, but I hadn't thought about doing it in the pursuit of getting published until about eight or nine years ago. I can't draw at all, but I had this idea to do a picture book with photographs. It's funny because now I know you don't need to be an artist to write picture books. I also know I'm not great at writing picture books! Lol. I got into middle grade and young adult after that and realized that's where I need to be.

2. When starting a book how much of it comes straight from your imagination and how much is research?

Most of it comes from my imagination. Or in the case of Run for the Roses, from my own experiences. I've shown Arabian horses for about twenty years, so it was really fun to write about that world. But different stories come from different places, sometimes the idea for a situation hits me, sometimes a character.

3. Who is your favourite character you have written and why?

This is hard! I've loved them all for different reasons, but Lance, from Secondary Characters, was one of my favorite guys to write because he's such a guy. He reminds me a lot of my husband, actually. And Anya, from my new novel, Don't Fall, is one of my favorite girls. Don't Fall is a contemporary Rapunzel retelling, and Anya is rather naïve in some ways, but full of energy, and she's finding her wings. It was always fun getting into her brain.

4. Do you go into a book knowing how you want it to end?

Sometimes yes, sometimes not so much. With Run for the Roses, I didn't know whether Abby would win until the very end. And in the story I'm working on now I have a character who has a big decision to make and I don't know which way she's going to go yet. The more I write, the more I get into her head, I'll know the right way to go when I get there. Or at least I hope I will! Lol.

5. What 5 books would you recommend for your readers?

I would recommend Eleanor and Park, because it's amazing and such a great portrait of first love.

Wonder by R.J. Palacio, because it's so wonderfully heartwarming.

The Book Thief by Mark Zusak, because it's one of the most beautiful books I've ever read.

The How To Date a Nerd series by Cassie Mae, because she's hilarious and awesome and you'll want something to make you laugh after reading that last one! Lol.

And if you like middle grade, Horns and Wrinkles by Joseph Helgerson. It's funny and super imaginative. I hope to be able to write middle grade like that some day.

Rachel has also been VERY generous and we have a e-book copy of her Rapunzel retelling Don't Fall up for grabs. So make sure to enter, it's a great little book perfect for summer AND it even has cupcakes in it! What more could you want?

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