Greetings, all! It's your girl Cari! Today, I'm interviewing Rachel Scheller, one of the instructors for the writing community Erin and I are members of.
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Q: When did you start writing, and how did that influence your writing journey?
A: I started writing seriously around age 18. As a younger teen, I wrote a lot of things for fun like kids’ Christmas plays and articles. I was just dabbling around since I spent all of my teen years as a cadet in Civil Air Patrol, which took most of my time—but it also taught me the discipline I needed for the writing journey. It wasn’t until I finished a novella-length fanfiction at age 18 that I realized I could write a whole novel. After a couple attempts, I finally finished a first draft about a year later, and that was the launchpad I needed to complete many more.
Q: I heard you wrote a book. What is it called, and what is it about? Did you indie or traditionally publish?
A: Right now, I’m releasing a series called Extension Squad. It takes place in a country where the law says it’s a life for a life… no matter the circumstances. When hero-in-training Austin takes a life in defense of another person, he’s thrown in with the criminals on death row. But their superpowered society still has a use for these convicts. By doing the gruntwork for the heroes, they can save up more time to live. Now, treated like a criminal and with no chance of returning to the life he once knew, Austin needs to learn what it truly means to live like a hero. The first volume came out last year, and Vol. 2 releases in August 2023! It’s an original-English light novel series illustrated by Heather Rose, recommended for ages 14+.
Like most original-English light novels, it’s an indie-published series.
Q: How have you gone about building your platform?
A: Much of my platform building has happened through bonding over shared interests. It started by connecting with friends in the How to Train Your Dragon fandom, and expanded to talking with other readers and writers about books we love. Now, I’m surrounded by so many insanely skilled writers who craft incredible stories (that I sometimes get to help them with as a beta reader or critique partner!) From a very practical aspect, much of my platform building has taken place on Instagram. That’s how I find people!
Q: Do you have a piece of advice for young writers?
A: A piece of advice I would give young writers is to come at your stories with the assumption that you can do it. You can’t maybe write a novel, you can. You can’t maybe publish, you can. It might take years—it was five years for me from the time I started writing seriously to the time I published. You might not publish the first book you wrote immediately—I published my fifth book first; my first one needs lots of revisions. You might face setbacks, discouragement, and sometimes feel a little lost. But look at those as just part of the journey. Don’t think of them as signs that you can’t do it; work off the assumption that you can, because every writer faces those things.
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That's it! I hope this interview was super encouraging. Let me know what you think in the comments.
Do you have any authors you'd like to be interviewed? Feel free to post suggestions in the comments.
Bye!
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