Arts & Entertainment

Palatine Author Pauline Gruber Publishes First Young Adult Novel

Get to know young adult author Pauline Gruber, whose new book, "The Girl and the Raven," is being sold on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble.

Fans of the young adult, supernatural genre—think Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight"—will want to check out Palatine writer Pauline Gruber, who recently self-published her first novel, "The Girl and the Raven," which is being sold on Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble.

The book tells the story of 16-year-old Lucy Walker, a half-witch, half-demon who falls in love with a boy who turns out to be a gargoyle assigned to protect her.

Reviews on Amazon have been stellar:

I loved this book. It kept me guessing until the last page. I hope the author continues the story. I will have to be on lookout for it.

It was easy reading and I fell in love with the characters. I did not want to put it down and did not want it to end.

Forever Young

Gruber, 44, is a big fan of young adult paranormal romance, fantasy and dystopian novels, listing Hunger Games, Twilight and Harry Potter, among her favorites.

"I probably read four young adult novels to every one adult novel," she said.

However, the first novel Gruber wrote, but did not publish, was an adult paranormal romance, or what would now be considered "New Adult."

Halfway through writing it, though, Gruber said a new story idea took hold that she couldn't shake. It turned out the be "The Girl and the Raven," which took two years to complete.

With a full-time job as a legal assistant for a Chicago law firm, Gruber said she writes on the train during her commute, on her lunch hour, in the evenings and on weekends. Even vacation days are primarily spent writing and attending writer's conferences, she said.

Instead of submitting her novel to a publishing house, Gruber decided she wanted to self-publish, to "retain creative control," though she did hire a professional editor and worked with a digital artist and layout/font artist for the cover art.

"Then I worked with a formatter for the paperback version of the book and all the e-book versions. It's an incredible learning process. Difficult is an understatement, but it's also incredibly rewarding," she said.

Gruber is currently working on the second book in what is becoming a series. "The Girl and the Gargoyle" continues Lucy's story while delving further into the story of boyfriend Marcus. The book is slated for a Dec. 2014 release.

"I'm very excited about it!" she said.

Learn more about author Pauline Gruber at www.paulinegruber.com.


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