A big welcome to Rachel Corsini who joins the blog this week to chat about her novel, Sushi and Sea Lions

Author Name: Rachel Corsini 

Book Title: Sushi and Sea Lions

Book Genre: Women’s Fiction

Release Date: May 16, 2023

Publisher: Creative James Media 

Hello, Rachel! How would you describe Sushi and Sea Lions?

After the end of her ballet career and “situationship,” Daniela has to pick up the broken pieces, but what she didn’t count on was Queens being the place to heal her heart and find herself again.

What sparked the idea for this book?

Sushi and Sea Lions came about because I was going through an extremely hard emotional time. I hadn’t written anything in a long time and my aunt actually suggested to me that I do something to try and heal my heart. So, I did. I started by journaling and then those thoughts and ideas turned in Daniela, the main character in Sushi and Sea Lions.

How long did it take for you to write the book? Did you do any research?

The initial draft of Sushi and Sea Lions took around six months to complete. That was a really rough draft through. I edited for far longer than that and refined the story. I use my rough drafts as detailed outlines, so when I am revising I am expanding the story to have all the details that I’ve left out from that initial draft and really focusing in on the themes that have emerged from the draft. I didn’t do any research because the character and the topic was close to my own heart, however I made sure to double check some things.

What drew you to women’s fiction?

At first I hadn’t even realized that I wrote women’s fiction! I thought I was writing strictly romance. It wasn’t until I started querying agents and publishers, through the responses I received, that I realized…wait a minute? I don’t write genre romance. Women’s fiction to me is meaty. It has a lot of weight to it even if at some points in the story you’re laughing or smiling. There is an overall idea of learning something along with the main character of the story. I really gravitate toward that.

What’s your favorite part about writing/being an author? What do you find challenging?

My favorite part about being an author is the creation of my own world and characters and creating lives that live inside those pages. It’s amazing what happens when I’m imagining a story. The challenging part is always the initial draft for me. I am definitely an editor. One that draft is down and it seems like I have figured things out I’m good to go.

If you were speaking to someone who hasn’t read your writing before, why should they want to read Sushi and Sea Lions?

They should want to read Sushi and Sea Lions for the ballet references, hot mess millennials, the sassy cat, and of course the love story.

What do you hope readers will take away from this story?

I hope that readers will take away that there is always hope, even when you feel like you’ve been beaten down all the way to your lowest point. I wanted to show that with Daniela’s story. That there is always a way to find yourself again. We all struggle, but that doesn’t mean it will be that way forever.

What about the writing/editing/publishing process has been the most surprising to you so far?

How long it takes! I hadn’t realized all of the back end stuff that comes along with being a published writer. I don’t think we generally look at a book on a shelf and go wow, I wonder how long you took to get here? I assumed it was around six months but that is far from true! I didn’t realize the multiple rounds of professional edits and how long those can take to send back and forth. It’s been interesting.

Any words of wisdom you give your pre-published writer self (or to a new writer)?

Don’t compare your writing and your successes to others. You need to follow your own path.

What are your interests outside of writing and reading?

I have a few! The big one is ballet. I’ve been doing ballet since I was four years old. I still take class. It’s almost like mediation for me. I know I can stand at the barre and take the class to focus on myself, work on my alignment, and just…dance. It’s really freeing now especially since I’m not training pre-professionally. I just enjoy it.

Are you working on a new project? Please tell us about it.

I am! The main character in this story is Tricia (Daniela’s best friend from Sushi and Sea Lions) who is very successful in her career, but in love, not so much. It has been interesting to tackle a character like her because she is logical and calculated, which is the polar opposite of myself as well as Daniela.

Where can readers find you?

Readers can find me on Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram @madameraerae. My website is www.rachelcorsini.com where they can check if I am making appearances anywhere.

Thank you, Rachel! Sushi and Sea Lions is out now.

Sushi and Sea Lions

When a career-ending injury and a messy breakup send prima ballerina Daniela Verdi back to Queens, New York, she fills her days with countless distractions: meaningless sex, pinot grigio, and video games.
It takes a chance meeting with her brother’s best friend, Vincent LaBate, for her to remember who she was before the stage lights and distractions of the Upper West Side. She’s convinced that Vincent could never love a girl like her: broken, insecure, and stumbling her way through life. What Daniela didn’t count on is that Vincent is as scarred as she is after divorcing his cheating wife and going through an equally messy child custody fight. Soon enough, old vulnerabilities rear their ugly heads, opening a crack in Daniela’s perfectly imperfect romance.

As Daniela and Vincent’s relationship develops, will Daniela learn to accept that a dream life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be?

Author Bio:

After declaring herself a pretty pink princess during her first ballet class, Rachel dreamt of sugarplums and began pirouetting her way through life. While studying to become a ballerina, she compulsively read books under her covers by flashlight and scribbled in spiral-bound notebooks. The urge to tell stories culminated in her graduation from Columbia College Chicago with a B.F.A. in fiction writing.

Never one to keep her feet on the ground, she traveled the world from Prague to Cape Town. Once settled back in Queens, she dabbled in journalism before working as an Editorial Assistant for a medical publisher. Seeking a more fulfilling career, she earned her MAT from Queens College and currently works as an English teacher in an alternative program in NYC.

Rachel spends her time sipping coffee, trying to cook, and practicing her pirouettes. She currently resides in Freeport, Long Island.