Author Interview: Eliot Schrefer

Today I have a very exciting blog post for you all. I recently had the opportunity to interview the wonderfully talented Mr. Eliot Schrefer, author of The Deadly Sister.

The Deadly Sister is a tale of two sisters, one murder, and the lengths one will go to, to protect their loved ones.

This page turning thriller will have you guessing till the very end.  

I took this opportunity to ask Mr. Schrefer about the wonderful world of writing, how he got into it, and what advice he has for all you young writers out there.

Tell us a little about
yourself and
your background.

First of all: great to meet you! I’ve written a number of books for young adults from my home in New York City. The first two, The School for Dangerous Girls and The Deadly Sister, are suspense novels about young women in deep trouble. More recently I’ve been writing adventure stories about great apes. Endangered and Threatened. I suppose I like writing suspenseful stories about people who manage to get themselves into deep trouble.

Do you have a favourite YA author? Why is he/she your favourite?

My favorite YA author would have to be Rebecca Stead. Her works are quiet—no apocalypses there!—but very powerful at the same time. She tells stories about kids who feel like they’re really alive, that you could go out and meet them after you finish the book. But her novels also include elements of the supernatural, too. Really great reads.

What do you love most about being a writer/author?

I won’t lie—one great thing about being a writer is that I can only write for about four hours a day before I’m tapped out, which means I have an unusually large amount of the day free to play video games. But the real main reason I love it so much is that I get a chance to express things that I’d find it hard to express in everyday conversation. Telling stories allows me to feel like I’m accessing all parts of my personality.

What inspired you to write your first book?

I have a side job—I do standardized test tutoring to help kids get into college. My first year after college I was living in Harlem and paying off my college debt but working with upper class kids on Fifth Avenue New York. The contrast was so great that I felt like I had to put it down on paper. That was my first novel, for adults. (Glamorous Disasters)

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

You need to be really kind to yourself when you’re writing a first draft. No published writer I know can get it right on the first try. Just let yourself write, and move forward, and remember that you have all the time in the world to go back later and improve what you’ve written.

If you could suggest one book for a teen to read this summer, what would it be?

Have you read The Winners Curse, by Marie Rutkoski? Deeply romantic, full of swordplay and adventure, and very elegantly written. Check it out!

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A big thank you to Mr. Schrefer for taking the time to do this interview, Ms. Kritikos at Scholastic and our very own HD for setting this up and giving us this amazing opportunity.

Don't forget to check out The Deady Sister on my booklist here (http://torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com/word_out_2014/2014/05/the-deadly-sister-.html).

Cheers!