Paperfury shares a secret! Interview: Cait Drews aka Paperfury

Happy Happy Day people! Umm...actually today is a really happy day for me cause I am interviewing my favorite blogger and bookstagrammer Paperfury! (Yay!)

Only if you don't know...

Cait Drews aka Paperfury is the author of A Thousand Perfect Notes and The Boy Who Steals Houses.

Okay, first things first, let's start with the interview.

Helllowww Cait,

since this is going to be a long interview dear, just find yourself something to eat and tolerate my silliness for a while.

Let's start the interview with something you wanna say to your 55.3 k followers on Instagram. Probably just a big "thank you" to everyone who supports my work and enjoys my photos!

Most people know you as Paperfury (I love this name!), how did this word struck your mind?

When I was trying to come up with my username (and ultimately my brand name) my main criteria was (1) to have something short and easy to remember, and (2) be a little bit ferocious because I'm a passionate blogger...as one can tell from my explosive love of rainbows and books! I really liked how the word "fury" sounded, and put it with "paper" for a book blogger feel....and ta-da! Paper Fury.

Before starting bookstagram, we all search for some bookstagram inspirations to follow.Who has been your bookstagram inspiration till now? Ooh I'm not actually sure I remember who or what caused me to start instagramming books. But I did start when bookstagram was very new, so we were all bumbling around learning together.

Book blogging/ Bookstagramming seems terribly hard at the beginning. Did you ever feel like giving up on book blogging/ bookstagram? Oh definitely. It can be discouraging to fight for space, for views, for people's attention, in a world swarmed with content and other creators. You have to stand out and also create content you love (or else what's the point?!), so when you work hard and reap little reward, it can be hard to keep going. But I always press on because I genuinely just love sharing my adoration for books with the world.

Do you think book blogging like other niche blogs can be a source of income in the near future? To be honest, I haven't found a way to make an income via book blogging, but I know some people do!

Is there any incident which inspired you to write the book The Boy Who Steals Houses? My inspiration for it came from so many sources...like how I wanted to write a genderbent fairy tale (and an unusual one, hence picking Goldilocks). And how, when I'd go walking with my dog, I'd see empty houses and my imagination took off to ask the question: "What if a teen broke in, not to steal, but to live?" Gradually The Boy Who Steals Houses began to take shape.

Who is your favorite character from your own book A Thousand Perfect Notes and why so? Aw I can't pick favorites! My three main characters, Beck (my protagonist), Joey (his 5 y/o little firecracker sister) and August (the carefree, loving best friend) are all part of my heart.

Sometimes when we read a book, it reminds us of some other book written by a different author. It happens because sometimes the plot and the writing styles coincidentally collide. Do you think such coincidences happened to your books as well? Or you would say your books are exceptional in every way?

I don't think any book can be wholly "original" because most things are based on life and life is full of shared experiences. I hope my style and voice will make my books stand out, but I'm sure they remind readers of other books too!

Share a secret which you have never shared with your followers before. Oh wow, haha, let me seeeee...in the first draft of The Boy Who Steals Houses, Vin (my villain) didn't exist!

I am so shocked!

What has taken your blog to this level where it is today? Was it SEO, twitter, pinterest or basically dark magic as you say? Definitely dark magic. That's my entire marketing plan. Also....I also attribute a lot of its success to networking: being friendly, blog-hopping, making relationships and spending time on others' blogs to boost them too!

Define bookstagram in one word. Beautiful. Who is your author inspiration and why? I always have admired Maggie Stiefvater! Not only is she an interesting human who manages to live a life that is both unconventional and quite magical, but her books make my imagination soar and her words mean so much to me. Lastly, please share some tips with us about book blogging, bookstagram and writing awesome books.

Definitely to make sure your heart is in your work! If you're doing things in ways or styles you think you "should", instead of doing things how you want, it can be hard to stay motivated. Don't be afraid to work hard, make friends, and be your own magical self. 

Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it!!

Cait

About Cait:

An extraordinary 25 year old Aussie book blogger and bookstagrammer who is also an author. She has been known to eat whole books for breakfast and talk extensively about the dark side and how many cookies it contains. She can read 200+ books a year. She sells origami paper creations on Etsy and she is gem of a person.

I feel so lucky to interview her here on my not-so-famous blog. Thanks a lot Cait for being here.