Cat Winters's Blog, page 19

Recap of the 2014 YALSA Morris Award Celebrations!

Me, signing books with Carrie Mesrobian.I'm back from the 2014 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, where I received the chance to celebrate being a 2014 YALSA Morris Award finalist, along with Carrie Mesrobian, Evan Roskos, Elizabeth Ross and 2014 Morris Award winner Stephanie Kuehn. Although my job is all about putting words and sentences together, I'm at a loss for how to sufficiently sum up the intensity of this experience.

On Sunday night I had dinner with all the Morris Award finalists...

Where I'll be at ALA Midwinter (Online Viewing Option Included)

The American Library Association graciously invited all of us YALSA Morris Award finalists to the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia. I'll be flying in during the evening of Sunday, January 26, and then dining with my fellow nominees, Stephanie Kuehn, Carrie Mesrobian, Evan Roskos, and Elizabeth Ross, as well as the 2014 William C. Morris Award Committee .

If you're also heading to ALA Midwinter, here's where you'll be able to find me on Monday, January 27:

8:00-9:00 am: ALA Youth Media Award...

Two More Interviews

You can catch two more interviews with me today:

Elizabeth Bunce, the inaugural YALSA Morris Award winner, chatted with me about my Morris nomination and my books over at Mirth & Matter .

Debut novelist Lindsay Currie, co-author of Creed (Fall 2014), asked me about my love of ghost tales and other In the Shadow of Blackbirds-related subjects at Scream Queens .

During both interviews, I revealed a few more details about The Cure for Dreaming ...as I'm apt to do while I'm eagerly waiting to share...

Morris Award Celebrations and Interviews

Three weeks from tomorrow I'm boarding a plane and flying to Philadelphia, PA, so I can attend the January 27 Youth Media Awards and speak at YALSA’s Morris & Nonfiction Award Program & Presentation. I'll also be signing copies of In the Shadow of Blackbirds . I'll post the exact times for everything once the author autographing schedule has gone live on the ALA Midwinter Meeting website.

Prior to that trip, some pre-awards celebrations are occurring online. Librarians at YALSA's The Hu...

A Holiday Letter to My Readers

1912 image, courtesy Library of CongressDear Readers,

Thank you for an amazing 2013. The way you embraced In the Shadow of Blackbirds far exceeded my wildest expectations. I'm so grateful for every single person who took a chance on my dark little tale with the ghostly cover.

This book has found an audience largely because of reader recommendations. Thank you to everyone who took the time to spread the word about the novel to someone else, whether online or in person, even if it was just a quic...

My Adult Fiction Novel, THE UNINVITED, Sold to William Morrow/HarperCollins!

I sold an adult fiction novel, The Uninvited , to Lucia Macro at William Morrow !

The official Publishers Weekly announcement :

Lucia Macro at HarperCollins’s William Morrow imprint acquired world English rights to Cat Winters’s novel, The Uninvited. The book, which Morrow compares to The Night Circus and The Thirteenth Tale, is a paranormal work set during the influenza pandemic of 1918. Winters, who was represented by Barbara Poelle at the Irene Goodman Literary Agency, was a finalist for the YA...

Book Sale News: SLASHER GIRLS & MONSTER BOYS, a YA Horror Anthology!

I'm excited to announce that I'm contributing a short story to the just-announced YA horror anthology, Slasher Girls & Monster Boys , coming Fall 2015 from Dial/Penguin . The collaboration is the brainchild of fellow horror-writing Oregonian April Genevieve Tucholke , author of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, and I am thrilled to bits to be a part of the project.

The official Publishers Weekly announcement:

Jessica Garrison at Dial bought world rights at auction to a YA horror antholo...

2014 William C. Morris Award Finalist

I'm blown away by today's news: In the Shadow of Blackbirds is a 2014 William C. Morris Award Finalist!

In case you're unfamiliar with this award, here's a quote about this incredibly surreal honor from today's official announcement at the YALSA website .

"YALSA selected five books as finalists for the 2014 William C. Morris Award, which honors a book written for young adults by a previously unpublished author. YALSA will name the 2014 award winner at the Youth Media Awards at 8 a.m. ET on...

Indie Bookstore Love on Black Friday & Small Business Saturday

Mary Shelley Black fans
at Georgia's FoxTale Book Shoppe.I hope everyone is surviving or has survived the frenzy that is Black Friday (which I personally avoid like the Spanish influenza). I've decided to take this day to give a tremendous shout-out to the indie bookstores that have strongly supported In the Shadow of Blackbirds by either hosting me for a signing or supporting the novel in other generous ways. Please help me thank these wonderful stores by visiting their websites, having a lo...

A School Library Journal Best Book of 2013

Last night School Library Journal announced their Best Books of 2013 list, and I'm stunned and honored to announce that In the Shadow of Blackbirds is on that list! I'm absolutely floored, and so extremely grateful.

I'm also sitting on a few other exciting news items that I can't yet reveal, but to say the least, I'm incredibly thankful for my writing career this Thanksgiving season. Thank you, readers, for being so amazing and loving!