I'm so excited today to bring to you, the author of Canary. Please give a warm welcome to Rachele Alpine! Canary is due to release at the beginning of August and published by Medallion Press. Rachele has been kind enough to let me share a giveaway with you so be sure to check that out!
Rachele Alpine is a lover of sushi, fake
mustaches, and Michael Jackson. One of her first jobs was at a library, but it
didn’t last long, because all she did was hide in the third-floor stacks and
read. Now she’s a little more careful about when and where she indulges her
reading habit. By day she’s a high school English teacher, and by night she
writes with the companionship of the world’s cutest dog, Radley, a big cup of
coffee, and a full bag of gummy peaches. Rachele lives with her husband in
Cleveland, Ohio, but dreams of moving back to Boston, the city she fell in love
with while attending graduate school there.
1. In Canary, Kate struggles with serious and difficult
issues at times. Did this effect your emotions at all?
Yes! My husband hates
when I’m writing difficult scenes, because they pull me down too! I feel like my characters are a part of me,
they’ve been living in my head for so long, so when I have to put them through
hard times, I really feel for them. I’m affected by what they are going through
too. I also like to listen to music
when I write, so that doesn’t help, because my soundtrack is always sad and
depressing songs. I think I need to go
see a comedian or funny movie after writing a hard scene!
2. How long did you have the idea for Canary before you put your thoughts onto
paper?
The idea was sparked when I was in undergraduate school, and
my teacher had us created a multi-genre paper.
The project required us to research a topic that occurs in schools (I
was an education major) and present it in a creative way using narratives,
poems, song lyrics, and art. I chose
sexual harassment in schools, and the story of Kate started from some of the
early pieces I wrote for that project.
In fact, one of the poems in CANARY is a poem I wrote for this
project. It wasn’t until about five
years later that I actually took these ideas and started to write CANARY.
3. What was the hardest part of Canary to write?
When I was writing my first drafts, there was a struggle
with what Kate (my main character) was really feeling and what she was hiding (even from herself). I felt like she was withholding stuff, but I
didn’t know how to express it. I had all
these poems/anecdotes/creative structures of narration that weren’t a part of
the story, but helped me define who Kate was.
It wasn’t until a few drafts in, that I realized I could use these
pieces in the book. That’s how the dual
narration was born…most of the book is written as a narrative, but there are
sections of poetry where Kate writes down her deepest and truest feelings that
she doesn’t even always share with herself.
Once I made these part of the story, I was able to understand who the
real Kate really was.
4. Did you think of changing any of it?
The biggest change that happened during drafting was making
Kate to a strong character throughout the whole book. In my early drafts, she was very passive and
allowed things to happen to her. That’s
not the type of person I felt like she was.
Once I gave her a backbone, she started to stand up for herself and I
loved who she was so much more. I got
that weak stuff outta there!
5. If you got to choose one celebrity to read Canary, who would it be?
This is a great question (and one I have never really
thought about until now!). I always like
seeing pictures or reading articles about what Barrack Obama’s girls are
reading. I wouldn’t call them celebrities,
but I think it would be really cool if they read CANARY. Or Ellen Degeneres! I have fantasies that she’d read the book,
love it, and then I’d get to go on her show and dance! I’m a bit obsessed with dancing!
6. Sunny days or thunderstorms?
Sunny days for sure…I HATE rain! It’s probably on my top five list of things I
hate in life (right next to waking up early!).
7. What's something that most people don't know about you?
When I was in high school, I lived with an Amish family for
three weeks as part of my senior graduation project. I was the only outsider ever let into their
community, and I had to fully integrate myself into their lives and live/dress
exactly like they did. It was such an
amazing experience, and afterward, I got to talk to groups of people about it
and published an article in The Cleveland Plain Dealer. I kept in touch with the family through
letters for years, until they moved away to Pennsylvania.
8. What's something you feel strongly in? (Feel free to go into detail)
I feel very strongly about the power of words. Words can do so much…they can tear down a
person when it’s comes to bullying (both cyber and face-to-face) or help a
person see how incredible he/she really is.
I’ve seen words destroy a person and save a person. I try to stress to my students how important
it is to think about what they are saying to others and the affect it may have
on them. I also constantly try to push
books into their hands, because I believe words can save a person
sometimes. I’m so fortunate to have a
book coming out that speaks to some subject matter that I think is so very very
important.
Follow Rachele Alpine
Now for the giveaway...
One winner will receive an awesome swag pack!
Rachele will be putting something special in there for the winner!
Rules:
13+
US Only
Winner must respond within 48 hours
a Rafflecopter giveaway
_2.jpg)
