Welcome Christine Grabowski, young adult author and Four on 400 contest winner! We are excited to share news of your debut young adult novel and learn about your path to publication.

Let’s start with your novel. Tell us about Dickensen Academy. 

Dickensen Academy is a young YA contemporary fantasy that bridges the gap between MG and YA. It is about a fourteen-year-old girl, Autumn, who is invited to a fine arts boarding school in the secluded mountains of the Pacific Northwest. However, she soon realizes the faculty is secretly teaching dream telepathy.

Although the premise is considered a paranormal or a fantasy, the focus of the book is as much about Autumn’s relationships with her friends and family and her struggles in school and for independence—something many teens can relate to.

Most people take the path of write-query-agent-publisher. Tell us about your path to publishing.

That was the path I had hoped to take, but I ended up taking a detour. Like a lot of writers, I believed my book was ready for publication before it truly was, so I queried the first time too soon. The rejections forced me to discover where my manuscript faltered, and I stopped the query process, joined a critique group, and took more writing classes. Fast forward about 1.5 years and many revisions later and Dickensen Academy got the attention of small publisher, The Wild Rose Press, at the PNWA Writing Conference. The editor fell in love with my vision of the story, so I stopped my agent search and signed.

Speaking of critique groups, you were a Four on 400 contest winner. Can you tell us how critique partners have helped you in your writing career?

Yes, I was selected as a winner in February of this year. Although the pages they reviewed were from another work in progress, the critiques helped me with my overall writing. They stressed the importance of show not tell and making sure there are hints of the genre from page 1. I look forward to the Four on 400 critiques each month because I usually find some suggestions to integrate into my own writing. I’ve been thrilled to find over the years that I can now look at the writing samples and guess what the Winged Pen critiquers will say. I firmly believe critiquing improves your own writing.

I am glad you find the critiques helpful. I find critiquing other novels helps me with my own. What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve received? 

It’s a quote that has kept me going through the ups and downs of the publishing process. “Sometimes the only difference between a published writer and an unpublished writer is that one gave up.”

Wonderful advice! It’s all about writing and reading. Your book is a paranormal young adult story. Do you read this genre? Who are your favorite authors and what are your favorite books in this genre?

Yes, I read a lot of young adult and many of these are paranormal. Some or my recent favorites have been How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather and the Shadow Falls series by C.C. Hunter. To see all my favorites, check out Goodreads where I have close to 400 reviews, many of YA books.

As writers, we are always thinking, writing, and plotting. What are you working on now?

This past month, I set aside a fairy tale retelling to write the sequel to Dickensen Academy. I had plotted it out a couple of years ago but had taken the advice of some experts to wait to write it until I released the first book. As it turns out, the reviews have been fantastic, and my readers are clamoring for Book 2, so I’m scrambling to switch gears and refocus on the sequel. I hope to come back to the fairy tale retelling between revisions.

Thank you for sharing your writing journey with us. Congratulations on the release of your debut young adult novel!

Dickensen Academy is Christine’s debut YA novel. After graduating from the University of Washington, she earned her MBA at the University at Albany. She honed her technical writing skills in marketing and consulting but attributes the creative part of the process to her passion for reading. When she isn’t reading or writing, Christine can often be found running, skiing, or hiking. She lives in Newcastle, Washington, with her supportive husband, two avid teen readers, and their energetic wheaten terriers.

There are many ways to connect with Christine. Her website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Check out this book trailer! You can buy a copy of Dickensen Academy here.