Shani Petroff is Here!

Hi Everyone!

Now that debut year is up and the last of the interviews are in, we’re changing things up a bit! Some of the 2009 Debs have 2010 releases, so I’m starting a whole new blog tour: similar format, new questions.

I swear, at some point I will return to blogging as my neurotic self. The sad fact is that between working and revising and all of my other responsibilities, blogging has seriously taken a back seat. Soon, though. I’ll be back soon: I Promise!

In the meantime, I have Shani Petroff on the blog today (this week, probably). :)

Shani is celebrating the release of her latest novel.

You know the routine!

About BEDEVILED: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY DRESS

Angel Garrett knows two things for sure. The first is that she inherited her devil-dad’s powers. The second is that she wreaks havoc whenever she tries to use them. Especially when she’s trying to impress her crush, Cole. Angel’s only solution is to stay as far away as possible from him until she learns how to harness this new gift. But how do you avoid someone and get him to ask you to the school dance at the same time?

About Shani

Shani Petroff is a writer living in New York City. In addition to tween and teen books, Shani writes for news programs and several other venues. When she’s not locked in her apartment typing away, she spends a whole lot of time on books, boys, TV, daydreaming, and shopping online. She has no devil lineage as far as she knows.

On to the Interview!

Me: What was the inspiration/where did you get the idea for this latest story, and when did you realize it could become a novel?

Shani: I watch a lot of TV. Too much TV. And the show REAPER came on. It’s not on the air anymore, but it was about a guy forced to catch escaped souls for the devil. I remember thinking the show would be even better if the main character was the devil’s son. Then I thought, I’d actually prefer to see a show about the devil’s daughter. That idea kept floating around in my head, and I thought, well, why not just write it myself? I mentioned to a friend in my writing class, and she was like you have to write this. And I said maybe later. And she said, no—now! This is the book! So I took her advice and wrote a few chapters, and within a month or two I had interest from my editor! (FYI, in a later season of REAPER they actually made the main character the devil’s son. I guess I was on to something!)

Me: And people say that TV is a waste of time. Clearly not! Now that you’re a seasoned author, if there is one thing you could go back and tell your “debut author” self, what would it be?

Shani: Hmm. That’s tough. Because I have a feeling the me of then wouldn’t have listened to the me of now. I would overanalyze the advice—something I do way too often—and get nervous that it would change the future and alter something that shouldn’t be altered. The whole butterfly effect. (I told you—too much TV).

Me: Smart. I probably wouldn’t have listened to me, either. I’m always looking for new ways to tackle revisions. What is your tried and true revision strategy and why does it work?

Shani: I work really well with deadlines (I hate being late—a major pet peeve of mine). And often I don’t get too much time to turn in my revisions. So I just force myself to sit down and do them—even when I don’t want to. And with the deadline fast approaching, I know I have to make the revisions a priority. So I don’t allow myself to go out unless I’ve made some progress on them.

Me: Awesome!

Readers . . . You can visit Shani at her home on the web: http://www.shanipetroff.com

And . . . BEDEVILED: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY DRESS is officially on sale. You can buy it here: Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Good-Bad-Ugly-Dress-Bedeviled/dp/0448451123/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249766592&sr=1-2

Thank you so much for stopping by, Shani!