An Author a (Mon)day: Rebecca Serle

An Author a (Mon)day is my sporadic feature where I ask authors a few questions about anything - themselves, their books and writing, to name a few. While it doesn't happen on a regular basis, you can be rest assured that it always happens on a Monday!

I'm really excited to have the amazing Rebecca Serle for this week's An Author a (Mon)day! I really enjoyed her debut novel When You Were Mine, but really loved her upcoming sophomore novel The Edge of Falling (which releases next week! my review to come!). Rebecca is seriously one of the nicest, friendliest authors I know, and I've bonded with her on Twitter over a number of things (especially keeping up with The Vampire Diaries and other celebrity gossip). She's also seriously got beautiful hair (and I told her so when I first met her). Without further ado (and before I embarrass myself further), welcome Rebecca!

Alexa: Hi Rebecca! So, to kick things off, let's compare both your novels. How different was writing Rosaline in When You Were Mine and writing Caggie in The Edge of Falling?

Rebecca: I have said before that Rosaline is really me in high school -- who I was -- so she came very easily. Caggie isn't someone I was very familiar with when we started off together, and she really revealed herself to me as we went. Writing this book was challenging, because Caggie goes through a lot and I wanted to make sure I was truthful to her journey.

Alexa: I happen to really have enjoyed meeting them both, though I think I might have identified just a touch more with Caggie. So, since we've already started talking about its main character, why don't you tell my readers a little bit about The Edge of Falling? I loved the characters AND I loved that it was set in New York City!

Rebecca: The Edge of Falling is a book about what it means to be a hero -- and how we cannot save anyone until we've saved ourselves. It's definitely darker than When You Were Mine -- the character at the center is dealing with the loss of her younger sister, and the destruction of her world since. She's really struggling with her responsibility in it all, and what she could have done differently. It's a book about grief and joy and love and just the spectrum of life -- how real life has it all.

Yes, I was so excited to make NYC a character in this book. I have lived here for seven years but it was really only in the last few that I felt I knew the city well enough to set a book here. Caggie's New York is the storied New York, the New York of Gossip Girl -- but her New York also has some grit. And there is a bit of a spin on a classic novel in this one, too! Caggie Caulfield is Holden Caulfield's granddaughter...

Alexa: I really loved that New York touch you've added to it! Okay, so, books -- what are you currently reading?

Rebecca: I just finished Fangirl. I LOVED it. And I'm about to start Burn for Burn. Jenny Han is a friend and just the coolest.

Alexa: Fangirl was seriously adorable! I enjoyed that one tremendously. What's your next writing project about? Tell us anything at all -- genre, subject, setting.

Rebecca: My next writing project is called Famous in Love, and you don't have to wait too long -- it's out in October! It is SO MUCH FUN. It's about a girl who gets plucked from obscurity to star in the next major feature film franchise based on a book and the ensuing love triangles she gets into on-- and offscreen. I wrote it for anyone who obsesses over young Hollywood the way I do. I think you're going to love it!

Alexa: I was seriously excited when you first mentioned Famous in Love because it sounds FANTASTIC. I want to read it! Okay, so since it's February, let's talk about love. What was/is your favorite love song? Romantic movie? Romantic moment on TV, film or in a book?

Rebecca: Hmmm. I love The Counting Crows. And Frank Sinatra's Fly Me to the Moon is an old favorite.

Anything Nancy Meyer has ever made but my #1 is really Something's Gotta Give. My friends joke my favorite genre is love stories for the over-60.

PACEY AND JOEY. Every moment they have ever shared, ever.

Alexa: PACEY AND JOEY! Yes, yes, yes. I'm team Pacey all the way. Also, I love Fly Me to the Moon! Beautiful song choice.

Thank you so much, Rebecca! I'm seriously excited that you were able to be on the blog today, and super excited to grab a finished copy of The Edge of Falling and, come October, Famous in Love!

If you want to find Rebecca online, you can check out her official website, her Twitter, her Facebook page, and her Instagram. 

MORE ABOUT THE EDGE OF FALLING

The Edge of Falling

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication Dates: March 18, 2014

Growing up in privileged, Manhattan social circles, Caggie’s life should be perfect, and it almost was until the day that her younger sister drowned when Caggie was supposed to be watching her. Stricken by grief, Caggie pulls away from her friends and family, only to have everyone misinterpret a crucial moment when she supposedly saves a fellow classmate from suicide. Now she’s famous for something she didn’t do and everyone lauds her as a hero. But inside she still blames herself for the death of her sister and continues to pull away from everything in her life, best friend and perfect boyfriend included. Then Caggie meets Astor, the new boy at school, about whom rumours are swirling and known facts are few. In Astor she finds someone who just might understand her pain, because he has an inner pain of his own. But the more Caggie pulls away from her former life to be with Astor, the more she realises that his pain might be darker, and deeper, than anything she’s ever felt. His pain might be enough to end his life…and Caggie’s as well. (from Goodreads)

Why should you read this book?

If you loved Gossip Girl, love New York City and are interested in protagonists that are experiencing a lot of internal emotional conflict, you'll enjoy The Edge of Falling. The way Serle writes New York City, the way she really gets into Caggie's head and emotional journey is simply spot on.