In 2019, we made it our goal is to work with as many debut authors as possible and spread the word about their debut novels. It was such a success last year that we decided to continue the fun this year as well! Follow us this year as we pick the minds of the 2020 debuts and chat with them. Also stay tuned for news of giveaways, Twitter chats and more!
At the end of 2019, we Tweeted about wanting to discover more debut authors and their books. We ended up finding Rebecca Coffindaffer and her novel CROWNCHASERS, and we have been interested in it ever since. We are so excited to have Rebecca on the blog today to answer some of our questions!
Rebecca Coffindaffer grew up on Star Wars, Star Trek, fantastical movies and even more fantastical books. She waited a long time for her secret elemental powers to develop, and in the interim, she started writing stories about girls and magic and spaceships. These days she lives in Kansas with her family, surrounded by a lot of books and a lot of tabletop games and one big fuzzy dog.
Rebecca: Thank you! It's such a strange feeling! You're so excited to finally achieve this dream you've been working toward, but publishing takes time, so there's so much waiting, especially at the beginning, where it still doesn't feel real exactly. These last few months have been a lot busier -- more excitement to see it all coming together, more nerves because it's starting to go out into the world and be reviewed. Especially with all the stuff 2020 has brought to the table, so to speak, it's been a day-by-day navigation of emotions.The Book Bratz: In your opinion, what's the best part of the writing process? What's the hardest?
Rebecca: I am not a big fan of drafting, especially the first draft because it never comes out exactly right. I'm a big plotter, so I like the phase when I'm just scribbling down all my world-building and story ideas and trying to fit them together like a puzzle into a larger outline and goal.
The Book Bratz: Where did you get the inspiration for CROWNCHASERS?
Rebecca: I tend to approach a book from one of two directions -- either I think up the MC first and then develop the world around them or I think up the world first and then try to discover what story I want to tell inside it. CROWNCHASERS was definitely a character-first story -- Alyssa Farshot's voice and attitude, this kind of Han-Solo-meets-Kara-Thrace persona, that was the real driving force behind it.The Book Bratz: Who was your favorite character to write? Who was the hardest?
Rebecca: I don't generally default to first person, and I have to say that Alyssa's character naturally fit first person and was SO MUCH FUN to write. I could write her voice forever. I think writing some of the other crownchasers was more difficult -- giving them space to have nuance and their own arcs that are in constant development even when they're not on the page.
The Book Bratz: What made you choose to delve into writing a YA space opera? Was planning it difficult, since it's so complex?
Rebecca: I have such a longtime love of scifi, from Star Wars to Star Trek when I was little, to Battlestar: Galactica and The Expanse. Give me all the dramatic stories about humanity and love and politics all set on spaceships hurtling between planets. I'm in. And honestly, aside from having a very long list of planet names to keep track of, I don't mind the complexity. Figuring out new worlds and keeping all the connections straight is right up my alley.
The Book Bratz: What do you hope that readers will take away from CROWNCHASERS?
Rebecca: I think I mostly want readers to enjoy the ride. I want them to feel like they're onboard a spaceship with Alyssa and just getting swept up in her sense of fun and adventure. In my wildest dreams, I hope it drives a bunch more readers to explore YA scifi because I think it's such a fantastic genre to escape into.
The Book Bratz: Do you plan on returning to the world of CROWNCHASERS in the future, or do you have any other projects in mind? Can you tell us anything about them?
Rebecca: CROWNCHASERS is the first in a duology, so the sequel will be coming out Fall 2021. It'll focus on all the repercussions of Alyssa's decisions in the first book and how that affects the throne and the future of the empire. It's currently in the revision stage with my editor at HarperTeen. After that...well, I have lots of other ideas and projects, a lot of them stepping into that blended gray area of science fantasy, which is another favorite space of mine to play in. They're all in story infancy stage, though, so hopefully I can share more about them when they're fully formed.
Title: Crownchasers
Author: Rebecca Coffindaffer
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: September 29th, 2020
Summary: Alyssa Farshot has spent her whole life trying to outrun her family legacy. Her mother sacrificed everything to bring peace to the quadrant, and her uncle has successfully ruled as emperor for decades. But the last thing Alyssa wants is to follow in their footsteps as the next in line for the throne. Why would she choose to be trapped in a palace when she could be having wild adventures exploring a thousand-and-one planets in her own ship? But when Alyssa’s uncle becomes gravely ill, his dying wish surprises the entire galaxy. Instead of naming her as his successor, he calls for a crownchase, the first in seven centuries. Representatives from each of the empire’s prime families—including Alyssa—are thrown into a race to find the royal seal, which has been hidden somewhere in the empire. The first to find the seal wins the throne. Alyssa’s experience as an explorer makes her the favorite to win the crown she never wanted. And though she doesn’t want to be empress, her duty to her uncle compels her to participate in this one last epic adventure. But when the chase turns deadly, it’s clear that more than just the fate of the empire is at stake. Alyssa is on her most important quest yet—and only time will tell if she’ll survive it.
Thank you so much to Rebecca for stopping by and answering our questions! We are super excited about CROWNCHASEERS and can't wait for it to be out in the world on September 29th!
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