Interview with Rachel Vincent and 1st CONTEST!!!

Hey everyone! I'm back with an interview with Rachel Vincent! One of my all time favorite authors! Of course I have many favorites because I am a BIG reader. Anyway, Rachel has been kind enough to take the time to answer some questions and this time I have a contest to go along with the interview!!!

You read right, Rachel has been kind enough to give away 1 signed copy of Shift to one lucky commenter. So read the interview and then leave a comment! That's all! Contest will run until 11:59 PM (Central) Tuesday, March 2. So that gives you a week to comment! Winner will be picked via randomizer and will contact Rachel to give her your address so she can send you your prize! The contest is open to anyone anywhere, so have at it!

Onto the interview!

What inspired you to be a writer?

RV: I don't know! I wrote short stories all the way through high school and college, but never did anything with them. And I always said I wanted to write a novel. So...a few years after college, my husband dared me to put my keyboard where my mouth was. And since I can't turn down a challenge, I wrote a book. He liked the book, and I liked writing the book, so I wrote another one. The rest is history!

What was the road to publication like for you? Long, hard?

RV: Hard, yes. Everything in publishing is hard. It's a job. But for me, that road wasn't really long. I wrote my first three novels in ten months, total, but never submitted the first two. They're still hidden on a shelf in my office, and in files on my computer. Stray was the third novel. After rewriting it for several months, with the help of a mentor, I messed around trying to hook one particular agent for a while, then decided to spread my net and try an entire targeted list of agents. It took me six weeks of querying in earnest to find my agent. I did a quick revision for her, then she sent the manuscript out, and we got our first offer in eleven days. Seventeen months later, Stray was released. That was two years and eight months ago, and I now have seven books on the shelf in two different series, with two more releases scheduled this year.

What process did you go through when seeking publication? Did you find an agent first, editor, publisher?

RV: I pitched to one editor at a conference, way back at the beginning of my efforts to get published. I got a rejection letter on my twenty-seventh birthday. After that, I targeted agents only. That's really the only way to do it, if you're writing anything other than category romance. Most of the major houses won't take submissions directly from authors, unless they come through pitch sessions at conferences.

So I signed with my agent, she sent my manuscript (Stray) out to several editors at several houses, and we got four offers.

Do you have to find your own editor?

RV: Um…. That’s not really how it works. Editors work for publishing houses. Literary agents represent authors. Your agent’s job is to have lots of contacts in publishing and to know who’d be best for your book. S/he will send the book out, and hopefully one of those editors (working for one of those publishing houses) will like it enough to make an offer.

What do you recommend to aspiring writers to find first (publisher, agent, etc) when readying to publish?

RV: Again, unless you’re writing category romance, you pretty much have to get an agent first, in order to get you book into the right editors’ hands at publishing houses.

How did you come up with werecats?

RV: I knew I wanted to write about shapeshifters (as opposed to witches, vampires, etc…) but didn’t have anything to add to the existing werewolf lore. But I love housecats. I also love the idea of big cats (Lions, tigers, cougars, etc…), though I’m actually afraid of them in reality. So, cats seemed a natural choice!

How much research do you do for your novels? What kinds of things do you have to look up?

RV: At first, I had to do a lot of research on cats. Instinct, physiology, listening to the sounds big cats make (Did you know a jaguar’s roar doesn’t sound like a lion’s? It’s more of a deep bleating sound), studying their social structure. I also researched plants in various regions of the country, so I’d know what my cats would smell and climb on, when they’re out in cat form. But for the last few books in the series, I already had notes on most of that.

Who is your favorite werecat?

RV: Oh, goodness. I think Ethan. Though I also love both of Faythe’s parents.

Are you sad to leave your characters already?

RV: Yes. Alpha is a very bittersweet book for me. I’m proud of what the series has become, and I want to end it on a high note, rather than running it into the ground. But I’ve lived with these characters in my head in one form or another for the past few years, and saying goodbye isn’t easy. It almost feels like betraying them. I’ll see something, or hear something, and think, “Faythe would wear that” or “Jace would say something like that,” but it’s too late. The last book is written and handed in. I still have revisions and edits, though, thank goodness.

Can you tell us about your next project? :)

RV: Um… no, actually. I can’t discuss the new series yet. Sorry!

Favorite ice-cream flavor?

RV:Right now, my favorite ice cream is Phish Food (Ben & Jerry). But that changes often.

Do you recommend seeing The Howling?

RV: Yeah! If you like cheesy shapeshifter horror. Which I do. But, honestly, I watch them for a laugh, not for a scare. ;-)

Don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win a signed copy of Shift! Comments close at 11:59PM (Central) Tuesday, March 2.

Shift releases March 1, but you can probably find it on the shelves by now if you can't wait. I couldn't wait!