No In Between

by Liv Stecker

Maybe it's the winding path through life that gave Kerry Schafer the material she needed to weave a storytelling spell, or maybe she just lives a little more in The Between than the rest of us. Either way, Schafer's trilogy, the Books of The Between, capture the imagination and draw the reader into a place that most of us have visited at least once or twice. 

Schafer's heroine,  Doctor Vivian Maylor, is an emergency room physician firmly grounded in reality until her father's untimely death, which catapults her into a world of blurred lines between real life and the dreamworld that she now possesses the power to control. Unexpected adventures await the doctor as she reels from every new revelation, including a more than casual relationship with the race of dragons, a pet penguin and a dashing hero who doubles as an artist in real life. Against her will, Vivian is thrust headlong into a race to save humanity as it is threatened by The Nothing - promising to swallow people alive as they drift off to sleep.

The Books of the Between begin with Vivian's startling discovery of a threat to her small town and the revelation of her own hand-me-down gift as a dreamshifter in the first novel, Between. As Vivian comes to terms with her destiny in both this world and beyond, her adventures are chronicled in Wakeworld, the second in the trilogy. The final novel, The Nothing, stretches the heroine beyond even her own wildest dreams into a final fight to save humanity. 

The Nothing was somewhat of a stretch for the author too, who turned to crowdfunding to publish book number three. When an editor suggested financing the publishing with the help of an online crowdfunding site, Schafer told him that she was scared to do it. In that statement, she had determined her fate. Operating on a certain rule in her life, Schafer says: "If I am scared to do something, I have to do it." And do it she did. 

Unlike most crowdfunding sites which solicit donations for various causes without payback or incentive, Kickstarter uses a process that rewards contributors in various ways. Utilizing Kickstarter, Kerry offered several levels of contribution with kickbacks that corresponded. For example, a $50 contribution to the campaign earned the donor signed copies of all three novels, a set of bookmarks, a mention in the acknowledgements of the final novel and a personal note from Kerry. For many readers, an investment of $50 for three books isn't unthinkable even without the other perks. Defying Schafer's expectation, the support came in quickly and The Nothing was out in print within months of the first pitch. A grassroots network of friends and family, co workers in the medical field, along with the many other stops along the path of Kerry's professional development, all played a key part in the success of her trilogy. 

Schafer herself is no stranger to a variety of lifestyles - after a nursing degree and a BA in English from Canadian Universities, Kerry moved to the United States and pursued an M.Ed. in counseling psychology, another facet to her unusual insight into the world of dreams. Currently, Kerry lives in Colville, where she works as a nurse. Her background in the fields of medicine and and psychology lend her a voice of authority in her novels, as she draws from her first hand knowledge of the subject matter. Her education in counseling piqued her interest in mental health and what reality looks like to different people. "I was fascinated by reality, our experiences in reality, and the dreamworld as a means to explore alternate realities." she says. 

Some of the stranger twists in her book draw from real life, including a penguin who was inspired by an actual bird who was caught in an oil spill, rescued, and tracked through a conservation website. Schafer adopted the small male penguin, who was oddly named Vivian, as an inspiration. She followed his progress through the website after his rescue and release. Vivian broke away from the rest of his flock and, after swimming in circles, sped up north while his comrades all swam south. "he is a mascot for those of us who go our own way, and do our own thing." she laughs. After she had written a penguin into her stories, she did some research and discovered that the small bird is considered a totem for dreamers and explorers - a moment of "synchronicity" that Shafer experiences when her imagination and reality cross paths. 

Looking at Kerry's own life of travel and accomplishment, it's safe to say that there is no in-between for her. Like her heroine, she hits life head on and makes it happen all around her in spite of obstacles or fears. Schafer has two more novels hitting the shelves in the spring of 2016, one titled Dead Before Dying, which is the first book in a paranormal mystery series, and will be released in February by Diversion Publishing. The second is a women's fiction novel called Closer Home under her pen name, Kerry Anne King, which is set to release from Lake Union Publishing in June. Visit kerrryshafer.com for more information or find her on her Facebook page: Kerry Schafer Books.