Guest Post: Eliot Schrefer (The Deadly Sister)

Everyone please welcome our talented visitor Eliot Schrefer, author of The Deadly Sister. Thank you so much for doing this guest post! I really love Eliot's writing and hope you all go out and snag his books. If you missed my book review of this thrilling read go here.

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Eliot Schrefer is a resident of New York City and a graduate of Harvard College. A contributor to The Huffington Post and a reviewer for USAToday, Eliot has been profiled in Newsweek, New York Magazine, the New York Post, WWD, and NPR's "Leonard Lopate Show." He was selected as one of the 2007 "Out 100," and as a fellow to the Sewanee Writers' Conference. He has written The School for Dangerous Girls, Glamorous Disaster, and The New Kid. Eliot does not have a sister.

For more info on Eliot, visit his site(s):
Website: http://www.eliotschrefer.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/schrefer

More books by Eliot:
-The New Kid
-Glamorous Disasters
-The School for Dangerous Girls
-A Geek Fantasy Novel (Coming in 2011)
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The Deadly Sister by Eliot Schrefer
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pages: 352

Summary: Abby Goodwin is sure her sister Maya isn't a murderer. But her parents don't agree. Her friends don't agree. And the cops definitely don't agree. Maya is a drop-out, a stoner, a girl who's obsessed with her tutor, Jefferson Andrews...until he ends up dead. Maya runs away, and leaves Abby following the trail of clues. Each piece of evidence points to Maya, but it also appears that Jefferson had secrets of his own. And enemies. Like his brother, who Abby becomes involved with...until he falls under suspicion. Is Abby getting closer to finding the true murderer? Or is someone leading her down a twisted false path?

Now Available in Bookstores!
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Guest Post:

1) Eliot, what inspired you to write The Deadly Sister?

ES: First, I want to thank you for having me on your blog. You have some really thoughtful and insightful reviews here. The Deadly Sister was actually born on a train platform in Paris . David Levithan (my editor) and I were discussing my plans for a book to follow The School for Dangerous Girls, and he suggested a struggle between two sisters over guilt and innocence. And there it went. Once I began writing, I was really intrigued by the question of "goodness" and "badness." Both sisters are really trapped in their respective roles, and anyone who wants to manipulate them can use that to their advantage.

2) I believe you have a great niche for grasping the attitude and behavior of female characters. Did you ever find it difficult to capture the essence of a female psyche, especially in your two novels, The Deadly Sister and The School for Dangerous Girls?

ES: I think the worst thing an author can do is to overdo gender. The similarities between the experiences of boys and girls far outnumber the differences. The worst thing I could do would be to continually drop in references to bras and Cosmo. I've written about more teen girls than teen boys. I think there's something so achingly interior about girls that age that lends itself to well to fiction.

3) Do you have any siblings you feel like you need to protect just like the relationship between Abby and Tabitha?

ES: I have an older brother. I never felt the need to protect him, but we definitely slotted into different roles in our childhood. Basically, I was Lisa and he was Bart.

4) I am eagerly anticipating your future releases, do you have any projects you’re currently working on?

ES: Yes! I'm writing a comedic fantasy, coming out next year from Scholastic, called A Geek Fantasy Novel, about the geekiest kid you could imagine thrust into the position of hero. Kind of similar in tone to The Princess Bride. Then it's onto an adult project, a scientific thriller.

Thanks for having me! Enjoy your day, everyone.