A Bookish Chat with Arielle Strauss, author of The Wraith series #YA #paranormal

Arielle Strauss is a twenty-two year old author, actress, and percussionist originally from Freehold, New Jersey. She graduated with a BA in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College, where she began to write "The Wraith Trilogy." She's pleased to finally share her first novel, The Wraith, and the sequel, The Huntress, with the world.

For More Information

• Visit Arielle Strauss’ website.
• Connect with Arielle on Facebook and Twitter.

Can you tell us what your book is about?

Ophelia Weller never believed in ghosts until the night she became one. But when the aftermath of a frat party on the most haunted campus in America leaves her face to face

with her own naked corpse, she really has no other option. Now a wraith, Ophelia is a spirit hidden amongst the living. Forced to conceal her undead identity from the world, and struggling to remain visible to the humans around her, how will she ever manage to convince her dearest friend of the truth? Or muster the courage to tell her beautiful gym partner that she just may be in love with her? And, with no memory of her death, how will Ophelia solve the mystery of her murder?

Why did you write your book?

It was a sort of challenge I set for myself because I’d never written a full-length novel before, and I’d been wanting to my entire life. In 2010, I found a website called “Antwinowrimo,” which stands for Anti-Twilight Novel Writing Month. The goal was to write a fifty-thousand-word novel in 28 days, but the catch was that it had to be a paranormal romance novel, which bested The Twilight Saga. I’ve read all the Twilight books, and liked them, so this was the perfect challenge for me. I did it every February for three years, and thus The Wraith Trilogy was born.

Do you tend to base your characters on real people or are they totally from your imagination?

Lila and Sari are based on my college roommates. I started writing the series my freshman year, and we’d read chapters aloud together at night. I wanted them to see themselves in the story for a bit of fun. Other characters have traits of people I know and love, but are not directly based on anyone.

Open the book to page 69.  What is happening?

Lenora and Ophelia are finally getting to know each other better. They’ve been friends for a few weeks, but this page kicks it up a notch in kickboxing class. ;)

Which holiday is your favorite and why?

Halloween. In case you can’t tell, I’m a fan of scary, misunderstood things. I wanted to put this book out in October because tis the season of the spooky.

What kind of advice would you give other fiction authors?

Have fun! I know that’s a cliché, but it is so for a reason. Writing is supposed to be something to look forward to, not to stress over. Save the “perfectionist” part of you for the editing process.