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All About Shelley Coriell
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Connect with Shelley
Shelley's Fun Facts
Hometown:Tempe, Arizona GH Year(s) 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 (2x) Genre(s): Young Adult & Romantic Suspense Day Job: CEO of Boutique Communications Company |
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The Ruby Slippered Sisterhood
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Blog Posts from Shelley
Ruby Release: Pointe of No Return by Amanda BricePosted by Shelley Coriell May 15 2012, 12:01 am in amanda brice, new releases, Ruby Release Gotta Dance! or How Hobbies Sneak into Our Writing
Aspiring ballerina Dani Spevak’s visions of sugar plums are dashed when she’s assigned to understudy her nemesis, Hadley Taylor, in the Nutcracker. Pretty, popular, and rich, that girl has all the luck. Or so she thought. When Hadley mysteriously disappears with opening night just around the corner, Dani can’t sit idly by, even if it means losing the part. Now she’s running all over Phoenix in a race against the clock. From reality TV trophy wives to sleazy real estate developers to a possible drug ring, the cast of suspects begins to add up. Will she find Hadley before the curtain rises? Shelley: As the mother of three teen-aged ballerinas, I adored the dance world you created. Seriously, Amanda, you absolutely nailed the passions and pains I see daily in my daughters and their dancer friends. Why did you choose to write about dancers? Amanda: Amanda: Awww, thanks, Shelley! I’ve been dancing almost my entire life. My parents enrolled me in dance classes at age three because I used to jump up and dance around the room every time the Coke commercial came on. I got serious around eleven or twelve or so, and danced through my tween and teen years in a pre-pro company. I then took ballet, flamenco, and ballroom in college (and competed at the intercollegiate level in ballroom), but got away from it when I was in law school because I just didn’t have the time. Then I came back to ballet as an adult around age twenty eight, although actually I haven’t been to a class of my own since August when I was about five months pregnant. (And I totally hit those double pirouettes despite a messed up sense of balance, too! Go me!) But my almost two-and-a-half year-old is taking ballet these days, and while she doesn’t really pay too much attention during class, she’s constantly regaling us at home with her prowess at pliés, elevés, passés, and arabesques. As well she should.
Shelley: Are any of the scenes, characters, or plot threads yanked from your life as a dancer? Amanda: Well, it’s fiction, so I definitely made up a lot of it. I didn’t have a beyotchy nemesis like Hadley, nor did I ever solve mysteries like Dani, but when I gave the first book to some of my old dance friends, they agreed they felt like they were reading themselves on the page. Sadly, the eating disorder subplot was pulled from my own experience, and several of the scenes in dance class were as well. But the specific plots of each book are pure imagination. Shelley: Most of our Ruby Blog readers are writers, and I can’t help but point out that this is a classic case of “writing what you know.” What are the upsides of using your hobbies in your writing? Amanda: My dirty little secret is that I’m basically lazy. (My Ruby sisters are laughing at me, but it’s true!) Between a full-time job as a lawyer and a full-time job as a mommy to a rambunctious toddler and an adorable infant — as well as serving as president of my local chapter, Washington Romance Writers — I don’t have much time for writing, so I certainly don’t have time for research. Thus, I subscribe to the “write what you know” school of thought, and when it comes to my teen years “what I know” is dance. So it was the logical backdrop for my series. I think (hope) that it makes for a richer experience for the reader. I think you also write what you know, right? If I recall correctly, you were an editor for a food magazine, and I definitely noticed the prominent role that cooking and baking plays in Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe. I couldn’t imagine that book without tamales de dulce. Shelley: Guilty. I’m a food writer, restaurant reviewer, and avid foodie. I included the tamales de dulce recipe in my YA debut because Chloe cooking with her two best friends played a huge role in creating their friendship years ago. Honestly, I was shocked when my editor at Amulet allowed me to keep it in because not many YA books includes recipes. Now, any warnings to our blog readers who want to incorporate hobbies – like dancing or cooking – into their WIPs? Amanda: It can definitely put you in your comfort zone, but that runs the risk of becoming blind to the rest of the world’s knowledge of the subject — or lack thereof. Finding the right balance between too much lingo and not sounding authentic can be tricky. I can’t assume my readers are all dancers (although many are!), so I need to explain what the terms mean, but I don’t want to sound clunky, either. In my first drafts I tend to just write and then need to incorporate some in-text explanations in the second pass. Shelley: With so many young dancers out there, including my little band of pancake-tutu-obsessed ballerinas, it seems that this is a perfect opportunity to target the world-wide dance market.
I’m also finding success in using Facebook ads. I love these inexpensive ads, because you can narrowly target your audience (I like to show the ad only to people who have “liked” Dance Academy or the School of American Ballet because I know that these people are likely to be interested in a book set in a ballet boarding school). And you can run them for as little as $1/day. Shelley: Sounds like smart marketing, Amanda, and a great tip for our published blog readers to incorporate into their own promotions strategies. And thanks for the insiders’ look at your dance and story world. Now it’s your turn, Ruby Readers. Do your personal interests or hobbies sneak into your books? One commenter below will win a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble. Pointe of No Return has been chosen as a “Nook First Pick” by Barnes & Noble and released exclusively for the NOOK on May 14. It will be available everywhere else on June 13. You can visit Amanda and find out more about her Dani Spevak mysteries at www.amandabrice.net. |
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books from Shelley
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Young adult author Shelley Coriell writes stories about teens on the edge of love, life-changing moments, and a little bit of crazy. Her debut novel, WELCOME CALLER, THIS IS CHLOE, will be released in the Spring of 2012 from Amulet Books/Abrams. A five-time Romance Writers of America Golden Heart finalist, Shelley lives in Arizona with her family and the world's neediest rescue Weimaraner.
