Cat Winters's Blog, page 30

Frankenweenie

There's a Frankenstein connection to In the Shadow of Blackbirds (I won't say how at this point—I'm sealing my lips closed about the plot until there's an official synopsis, remember?). Therefore, I have a soft spot for Frankenstein stories, especially Tim Burton's tributes to Mary Shelley's classic tale of horror. He's given us Edward Scissorhands and his short live-action film "Frankenweekie," and now he's created a full-length stop-motion version of Frankenweekie, which will hit movie thea...

How Food Can Convey a Character's Mood and Setting

If you're a writer and you've never thought too hard about what your characters eat, perhaps it's time for you to pull up a chair at your protagonist's dinner table. A character's food tells a wealth of information about who she is: the region of the world in which she lives, her time period, her financial status, her personal tastes, her health, her cultural background.

Moreover, how she eats can convey her mood and situation. Imagine a starving little boy in a war-torn world eating one of th...

My Seven-Year-Old's Cover Design for My Novel

My kids have been speculating what the cover of In the Shadow of Blackbirds will look like, and I've told them it will still be a while before we get to that stage, plus a professional designer will be involved. Not quite satisfied with that response, my seven-year-old son decided to design a cover of his own. I told him I'd share it on this site.


No, he hasn't read the novel (it's YA! He's seven!). He only knows some of the basic plot details. The half circle above the title is the moon, by t...

How Much Should Authors Share about Their Books in Advance?

Some writers choose to post long synopses for their novels on their websites before the official cover copy is even written. Some post synopses of their unsold novels. Others are more coy and don't even set up websites or Twitter accounts until a few months before a book's publication.

Where do I stand on the subject of sharing info about a pre-published book?

I'm leaning more on the secretive side. Anything I've revealed about the plot of In the Shadow of Blackbirds primarily comes from the sh...

Seduced by the Siren Call of Pinterest

Through fellow members of The Lucky 13s , I learned about Pinterest.com , a new social networking site where you create virtual "pin boards" filled with images from around the web. Because Pinterest is so visual compared to other networking sites, it's probably easier to show you a sample board instead of describing one. Here's a collection of inspirational photos and artwork for In the Shadow of Blackbirds :

http://pinterest.com/catwinters/in-the-shadow-of-blackbirds

Basically, the board is what ...

So...Does IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS Involve a Love Story?

Seeing that it's Valentine's Day, I thought I'd address the issue of romance in my upcoming novel, In the Shadow of Blackbirds. If you've read the mini-synopsis released through Publishers Marketplace, you'll know the book is "the story of a teen girl mourning the loss of her first love in 1918 California, where a flu has turned deadlier than a world war, and spirit communication has become a dark and dangerous obsession."

So, does that mean there's a love story in the book? Is it a depressing...

The Soar with Your Dreams Conference

I'm thrilled to be participating in Pacific University's Soar with Your Dreams conference for 5th through 8th graders, Saturday, March 3, 2012. The event will be held in Forest Grove, Oregon, west of Portland, and I'll be presenting two writing workshops.

Registration closes February 29, so students need to sign up soon. I'm the author mentioned in Sessions C and D of the brochure.

REGISTRATION INFO

This will be the first of hopefully many events where I'll get to speak to and prepare writing ac...

A Couple of Quick Announcements before I Burrow into My Writing Hole

First of all, the group of YA and kidlit authors I belong to, The Lucky 13s , now has a Facebook page. You can find news about all of our 2013 releases, plus view our shiny, happy faces, at www.facebook.com/TheLucky13s .

Second, I've created a new page on this site that gives info about my monthly newsletter, which I'll be sending out once I have more In the Shadow of Blackbirds info to share. Behind-the-scenes progress is definitely occurring with the book, but all the fun public stuff—cover re...

Read Books That Make You Squirm with Envy

I started reading John Green's new young adult novel, The Fault in Our Stars , today, and I immediately found myself hooked by his writing, his protagonist's memorable voice, and the novel's central predicament: a wisecracking, terminally ill young cancer patient named Hazel finds a new love in her life. Even as I sit here and type these words, I'm tempted to chuck all attempts at getting any writing done today and dive back into his story.

My instant love of Green's novel got me thinking abou...

Today at ADR3NALINE3, I Explain How an Orange County Childhood Turned Me into a Gothic Novelist

Fellow Amulet Books author A.G. Howard , author of Splintered (January 2013), invited me to be her guest today at ADR3NALINE3 , the new website for dark middle-grade and teen fiction.

Head over to my guest post to discover how my Orange County childhood, Walt Disney, Harry Houdini, and an elementary school library book all led to the creation of my upcoming Gothic novel, In the Shadow of Blackbirds .

If you've just arrived here from ADR3NALIN3, welcome! Feel free to have a look around my humble vi...