Kimberly Pauley

Book Launch Party: Day 13: Debra Garfinkle

All About D. L. Garfinkle
My guest today is the very talented Debra L. Garfinkle. I loved her first book Storky and she’s done great things since then, like Stuck in the 70’s and The Band books for teens and the children’s series, Supernatural Rubber Chicken (I smile every time I say that). Believe it or not, she was an Economics major and also worked as an attorney for nine yers. Go figure! Today she lives in Orange County with her family where she’s also an award-winning humor columnist for the Aliso Viejo News and the Laguna Niguel News sections of the Orange County Register.

You can learn more about Debra at her official website, www.dlgarfinkle.com.

All About Poultry in Motion…
Poultry in Motion, the third book in the Supernatural Rubber Chicken series, comes out September 9. It features mean girl cliques, insect-loving boys, dogs who lick too much, and of course, an ornery, wish-granting, talking rubber chicken. The series has been compared to Captain Underpants, which Debra thinks is a terrific compliment.
 
The Q&A

Here’s my question for Debra…

Your first book, Storky, has a male protagonist. Was it hard to “write like a boy”?

And her answer…

It really wasn’t. I have two younger brothers and I’ve always had a tomboy side. I am also a big believer in critiques, and the two guys in my critique group and my male editor stopped me from sounding too female.

For my Supernatural Rubber Chicken series, I read all the books out loud to my sons and had them raise their hands when they were bored or didn’t understand something. Having  male kid feedback was really helpful.

And Debra’s question for me…

I love your book Sucks to Be Me. It’s so funny and unique! Did the first publisher who saw it snatch it up, or was it a more arduous process to get published?

And my answer…

Thanks! As for your question…hmmm…well, both, kind of. Mirrorstone was the first publisher to see the book, but the whole process was a little arduous and it did take a while…I started off sending the manuscript out to agents and they all basically told me that they liked it but didn’t think vampires were a good bet (this was before Twilight hit it huge). Then a friend of mine that had written books for Mirrorstone said her editor was looking for paranormal YA and offered to introduce me. They considered it for a good long time before I heard back (I think roughly 9 months? Maybe more, I can’t remember now). So technically it was the first publisher…but it wasn’t an overnight kind of thing.

I’d actually given up on the book and was working on other, non-vampire related stuff. But I’m really glad Mirrorstone picked it up as the staff there are all wonderful, wonderful people. I hope that they’ll be able (& willing!) to publish the sequel (there’ve been some direction changes there back towards their core fantasy stuff, so there’s no guarantee…hey, everyone reading this who loves STBM…feel free to write Mirrorstone and tell ‘em how much you want to see a sequel! I’ve got all kinds of craziness planned for Mina, so I really do hope the sequel sees the light of day.).

The Giveaway

Want to win a copy of Poultry in Motion? All you’ve got to do to win a copy is visit Debra’s website and then email me at kim @ kimberlypauley.com with the subject line “Debra Goes Supernatural!” and tell me…what was your favorite writer’s tip out of the ones she gives on her site? Be sure to enter by September 14th!

And don’t forget to check out all the Sucks to Be Me Book Launch details for more giveaways!