Your new book, FERAL,
was released on August 26. Can you
tell readers a bit about it?
The Lovely Bones meets Black Swan in this haunting psychological
thriller with twists and turns that will make you question everything you think
you know.
It’s too late for you. You’re dead. Those words continue to haunt Claire
Cain months after she barely survived a brutal beating in Chicago. So when her
father is offered a job in another state, Claire is hopeful that getting out
will offer her a way to start anew.
But when she arrives in Peculiar, Missouri, Claire feels an overwhelming sense
of danger, and her fears are confirmed when she discovers the body of a popular
high school student in the icy woods behind the school, surrounded by the
town’s feral cats. While everyone is quick to say it was an accident, Claire
knows there’s more to it, and vows to learn the truth about what happened.
But the closer she gets to uncovering the mystery, the closer she also gets to
realizing a frightening reality about herself and the damage she truly sustained
in that Chicago alley….
FERAL’s gripping story is filled with heart-stopping twists and turns that will
keep readers guessing until the very last page.
FERAL takes on a different
subject matter and genre than your past books. What inspired you to write a YA thriller?
You’re
right—FERAL is quite different from my previous releases (a YA literary problem
novel, a YA romance, an MG contemporary realistic read). I’m a serious fan of vintage
movies—especially Hitchcock. That
really helped shape FERAL, which is a psychological thriller, in the classic
sense.
Like
psychological thrillers, FERAL features mystery, horror, and paranormal
elements, but the emphasis is on the “psychological” rather than thriller /
action. The novel features a
Hitchcockian pace and focus on character development (here, we’re exploring the
inner workings of the main character, Claire Cain).
Essentially,
every aspect of FERAL is used to explore Claire’s inner workings—that even
includes the wintry Ozarks setting.
The water metaphor is employed frequently in psychological thrillers to
represent the subconscious, and in this instance is incorporated in the form of
a brutal ice storm (that represents Claire’s “frozen” inner state). The attempt to untangle what is real
from what is unreal (another frequently-used aspect of the psychological
thriller) also begins to highlight the extent to which Claire was hurt in that
Chicago alley. Even the
explanation of the odd occurrences in the town of Peculiar offers an
exploration into and portrait of Claire’s psyche.
Ultimately,
FERAL is a book about recovering from violence—that’s not just a lengthy or
hard process; it’s a terrifying process, too. The conventions of the classic psychological thriller
allowed me to explore that frightening process in detail.
Can you talk a bit about
your road to being published? How
do things change once you’re an established author?
My
road to the first publication was really long: it took seven and a half years
of full-time effort to land my first deal.
My
first two books (both YAs) were with a smaller house. I actually handled the first two deals myself; shortly
thereafter, I signed with an agent who wanted to represent my MG.
I
know most people assume an agent is a magical creature who can instantly open
doors in the publishing world. In
reality, it took my own agent a year and a half to sell my MG (THE JUNCTION OF
SUNSHINE AND LUCKY, which released with Dial / Penguin earlier this year). At that point, I knew I wanted to bring
the agent in on the rest of my work—including the YAs. We agreed that it was time to seek a
larger house to publish the YAs as well…But even with an agent and two YAs (one
of which was critically acclaimed, having earned a starred review and several
awards) on my side, it took a year to sell my third YA, FERAL, to
HarperTeen.
When
I started out, I assumed that selling the first book would change
everything. That once I’d inked
the first contract, I’d be “in” the publishing world, and my work would be
handled differently. Not so. Just as the world doesn’t magically
change by signing with the agent, the world doesn’t change once you’ve sold a
few books, either. It’s still a
process of submission and rejection.
That’s
an important distinction, though: the PROCESS remains the same. Am I the same person I was when I
jumped into my pursuit of publication?
No. I know myself as an
author far better than I did when I was starting out. I know what I want my books to say. And that makes the process far less
scary. I also don’t have the same
approach to finding a publishing house that I did when I was seeking my first
book deal. I don’t just want my
book to be accepted by a house, I want my book to find the RIGHT house, the
right editor who recognizes and connects with what I’m doing.
What are five books that you
would suggest every teen read?
1. CATCHER IN THE RYE –
Salinger. It’s considered, by
some, to be the first YA novel written.
2. SPEAK – Anderson. I consider it a seminal work in
contemporary YA literature.
3. ELSEWHERE – Zevin. My favorite YA read.
4. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD – Lee. You’ll probably get this one assigned
to you in class—I did. And it was
hands-down my favorite high school read.
5. A book outside of your usual
genre of preference. I think it’s
important to move outside of your comfort zone. Reading tastes are somewhat like food preferences—a lot of
it’s based on trial and error and multiple exposures. Just because you didn’t much care for literary reads a few
years ago doesn’t mean you won’t like them now. Give a new genre a shot, keeping an open mind.
What’s next for you, any new
books in the work?
Youbetcha! I’m always working on something new…In
fact, I recently finished both my next YA and MG, and I’m working on branching
out into new genres. Be sure to
follow along with me on Twitter: @Holly_Schindler and facebook.com/HollySchindlerAuthor
to keep up to date with the latest news!
Holly Schindler is
the author of the critically acclaimed A BLUE SO DARK (Booklist starred review, ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year silver
medal recipient, IPPY Awards gold medal recipient) as well as PLAYING HURT (both YAs).
Her
debut MG, THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY, also released in ’14, and became a favorite of teachers and
librarians, who used the book as a read-aloud. Kirkus Reviews called THE JUNCTION “...a heartwarming
and uplifting story...[that] shines...with vibrant themes of community,
self-empowerment and artistic vision delivered with a satisfying verve.”
FERAL
is Schindler’s third YA and first psychological thriller. Publishers Weekly gave FERAL a starred
review, stating, “Opening with
back-to-back scenes of exquisitely imagined yet very real horror, Schindler’s
third YA novel hearkens to the uncompromising demands of her debut, A BLUE SO
DARK…This time, the focus is on women’s voices and the consequences they suffer
for speaking…This is a story about reclaiming and healing, a process that is
scary, imperfect, and carries no guarantees.”
Schindler
encourages readers to get in touch.
Booksellers, teen librarians, and teachers can also contact her directly
regarding Skype visits. She can be
reached at hollyschindlerbooks (at) gmail (dot) com, and can also be found at
hollyschindler.com, hollyschindler.blogspot.com, @holly_schindler, Facebook.com/HollySchindlerAuthor,
and hollyschindler.tumblr.com
FERAL
Trailer:
Rafflectopter form for a
giveaway of a signed copy of FERAL (running from Sept. 27- Oct. 13):
Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst
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