STAINED Book Launch and Blog Tour
Friends I am SO excited to be part of my Bestie Cheryl Rainfield’s new book tour!
I have an EXCLUSIVE interview with our author, to peep into her brain and see what’s going on in her world.
Check it out!
UNCONVENTIONAL LIBRARIAN: Do you drink coffee?
CHERYL RAINFIELD: No; I’ve never come to like the taste. I drink a lot of water, and I love hot chocolate (but have to have low glycemic).
UL: Do you like donuts or cookies? Do you dunk?
CR: I loooove cookies. Especially chocolate chip. I now have to have them gluten-free, but there are some really yummy ones. I never got into dunking; I don’t want soggy cookies. 🙂
UL: Yeah soggy cookies make me a sad panda too. How did your book get started?
CR: I write to have a voice. I write about the things I deeply care about. I had no voice growing up. My abusers frequently told me they would kill me if I talked, so writing became my way to talk. I also write because I love books–they helped me survive the abuse as a child and teen. And I write to try to create positive change–to help others know they’re not alone in their pain, to know that healing can happen. I always wrote as a child and teen, but I didn’t get serious about getting published until I took a children’s writing critique group.
UL: What was your first book?
CR: My first book was SCARS, about Kendra, a sexual abuse survivor who must face her past and stop hurting herself before it’s too late. It’s my own scarred arm on the cover; I write the books I needed as a teen and couldn’t find. Technically, my first book is Dragon Speaker: The Last Dragon–I think I got the contract a month before I got the contract for SCARS. But because I spent ten years writing, editing, and rewriting SCARS, submitting and resubmitting it and getting hundreds of rejections, and because so much of me is in SCARS, I consider it my first book.
UL: Powerful stuff. Will you write another one?
CR: I will always write. 🙂 I need to, and I love to.
UL: Good, more good stuff for us to read. If you could have any superpower what would it be?
CR: I always wanted to be a telepath like Caitlyn in my book HUNTED, and a precog like Kate in my book Parallel Visions, but after writing about both characters I think they could be hard to have. I also used to wish when I was a kid being abused that I could be invulnerable like Superman, so that I wouldn’t get hurt.
UL: Those are all good super powers. What makes you happy?
CR: Spending time with people I love and my little dog Petal. Getting hugs from people I love. Playing with Petal and cuddling her. Reading a great book. Blowing bubbles. Laughing with a friend.
UL: Those all sound good; who doesn’t love cuddling with a pooch? Anything else you wanna tell us?
CR: When I wrote STAINED, I drew on my own trauma and healing experience to write it. Like Sarah, I know what it’s like to be held captive, withheld food and water, repeatedly raped, and have my life be threatened. And like Sarah, I was able to protect others from bullies more than I could protect myself, I loved comics and tried to write them, and I worked on healing my body image issues. And like Sarah, I had to rescue myself over and over until I was safe. I hope that STAINED reminds readers that they are strong and they can survive many things, and that things will get better.
UL: I love that about your books.
She’s pretty awesome, non? Get more of Cheryl at CherylRainfield.com or follow her on Twitter.