Halloween Blog Tour & Treats

Bloggers have been very kind about inviting me to participate in guest posts and interviews this Halloween season. Here's a list of my visits, many of which include giveaways.

October 4 - "The Ghosts in my House"

Horror Writers Association

October 7- Top 10 Favorite Ghost Songs

Bookish

October 20 - Top 10 Favorite Ghost Books

Ruth Silver's Paranormal Palooza

October 22 - Interview
The Book Wars

October 23 - Top 10 Favorite Creepy Characters
Candace's Book Blog

October 23 - Interview

Appraising Pages' Month of the Macabre

October 29 - Top 10 Favorite Haunted Sites

Beauty and the Bookshelf

October 30 - How to Give Your Readers Chills

Daisy Chain Book Reviews

Special Halloween Treat: If you dress like an In the Shadow of Blackbirds character for Halloween, please send me a link to a photo of you in costume. I will mail a signed bookplate and bookmark to anyone who does so. Send photos to catwintersbooks AT gmail.com, or send your link via Twitter (@catwinters).

Friday Updates: Launch Party, ebook, & the Latest Giveaways

My launch party for In the Shadow of Blackbirds will be held tomorrow, Saturday, April 6, 4:00 pm, at Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing in Beaverton, Oregon! If you live in the area and can make it, I'd love to see you there. If you can't make it, you can still pre-order a signed copy, which Powell's will ship to you after the event.

Here's a photo of the novel, waiting on the Upcoming Events shelf at Powell's. I'm a huge fan of Karen Russell's, so I'm thrilled to see In the Shadow of Blackbirds sitting next to her latest release.

I'm still waiting to hear the latest updates about the Nook version of In the Shadow of Blackbirds! You can order the Kindle edition, but unfortunately, there has been a delay with the other ebook versions.

Here are the latest guest posts, interviews, and giveaways:

A&C Kids UK:

The Nocturnal Library:

Guest Post: 10 Ways I Researched the Past for In the Shadow of Blackbirds. International giveaway for a finished copy included.

A.L. Davroe's website:

A Feature Friday interview and two giveaways for finished copies.

Emily's Crammed Bookshelf:

A lovely five-star review from a teen blogger. She's offering a giveaway of a finished copy.

You can also find guest stops and giveaways on the In the Shadow of Blackbirds Blog Tour, which ends tomorrow. See also my Tuesday and Wednesday posts for other places I've visited during this busy, amazing book release week.

If I've visited your blog during the past week or so, and you don't see a mention of it, please send me a reminder and I'll add a link!

Ebook & B&N Updates...and My Latest Blog Stops

The ebook edition of In the Shadow of Blackbirds got delayed, but I've just been informed it's now available on Kindle! My publisher assured me other ebook versions will likely be available at some point today. Please check back here for updates.

Also, there's been a misshelving problem at some Barnes & Noble stores, but I've been assured that this issue is getting resolved, too. If you're looking for In the Shadow of Blackbirds at a Barnes & Noble and can't find it in the YA section, please check with a staff member. It was mistakenly labeled as juvenile fiction for kids ages 7 to 12.

Be sure to check out yesterday's post for all my latest interview and giveaway stops. Here are three more places I visited today:

I Like These Books:

A character interview with Mary Shelley Black that includes a sample of WWI-era jazz.

The post is part of the 2013 Standalone Reading Challenge.

The Lucky 13s:

I'm vlogging about the Spanish influenza aspect of In the Shadow of Blackbirds...while wearing a flu mask.

Ink Skies:

A This or That interview, part of the In the Shadow of Blackbirds blog tour and giveaway.

On display at Powell's Books in Beaverton, OR.

The IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS Blog Tour!

The In the Shadow of Blackbirds Blog Tour is now underway! Gabrielle at Mod Podge Blog Tours has helped me arrange 13 haunting days of guest posts, giveaways, and interviews.

Here's where I'll be visiting and what you'll find at each stop:

March 25 - Recreate the Cover Contest @ The Mod Podge Bookshelf

March 26 - Interview @ Icey Books

March 27 - Review @ Novels, News & Notes

March 28 - An Introduction to My Ghost, Stephen Embers @ Two Chicks on Books

March 29 - Interview @ Hobbitsies

March 30 - This or That Questions @ Carina's Books

March 31 - Interview @ Book Whales

April 1 - Character Interview with Julius Embers, Spiritualist Photographer @ Read, Write and Read Some More

April 2 - PUBLICATION DAY! The Strange Story of Spirit Photography @ Mundie Moms

April 3 - This or That Questions @ Ink Skies

April 4 - In the Shadow of Blackbirds Trivia @ Teen Librarian

April 5 - Interview @ A.L. Davroe

April 6 - Character Interview with Mary Shelley Black @ IB Teen Blog

We'll be giving away finished copies of the novel and other treats!

Publishers Weekly's Starred Review of "Deliciously Creepy" IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS!

I've already been sharing the news at Twitter, Facebook, and BlackbirdsNovel.com, so please forgive me if you already heard my announcement earlier today: Publishers Weekly gave In the Shadow of Blackbirds a starred review!

If you're wondering what a starred review even means—and why authors make such a big deal out of them when only one star appears next to the review—here's a quick answer from a newbie author still working on understanding the full meaning herself:

Major review publications like Kirkus and Publishers Weekly place a single star next to the reviews of the books they particularly liked. Whether a starred review for In the Shadow of Blackbirds will help its sales after its April 2 release date remains to be seen, but I'm thrilled to pieces that the book received such an honor!

Here's a quote from the review:

"Winters’s masterful debut novel is an impressively researched marriage of the tragedies of wartime, the 1918 flu epidemic, the contemporaneous Spiritualism craze, and a chilling love story and mystery...
Deliciously creepy."

—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

For the full review, please visit publishersweekly.com.

In other news, the In the Shadow of Blackbirds trailer reveal tour and giveaway is still going strong. Click here for the latest stops. The actual book trailer reveal will take place this Thursday (Valentine's Day) at The Mod Podge Bookshelf.

IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS Halloween Week Giveaways

I'm gathering In the Shadow of Blackbirds treats to share with readers this Halloween season. Visit the following sites during the last week in October, and you can enter three ghostly giveaways that will include chances to win an advance copy of my novel.

Monday, October 29

IceyBooks

Sarah Skilton, author of Bruised, will be joining me for a combined Amulet Books guest post and giveaway.

Tuesday, October 30

Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire

Mindy McGinnis, author of Not a Drop to Drink, will be interviewing me about the In the Shadow of Blackbirds cover...and offering prize packages.

Wednesday, October 31, Halloween

My Own Website

Return here to learn about a giveaway that will involve the name of one of my major characters. It seems highly appropriate to reveal his name on Halloween.



Feel free to share the banner at the top of this post on your own site.

If you need a little extra help getting into the Halloween spirit,
here's a dark and spooky sample of one of Kristen Lawrence's  
Halloween Carols:

My Giveaway Winners...plus News about Upcoming Giveaways & Halloween Blog Stops

Thanks so much to everyone who entered my cover reveal giveaway!

The winner of a Halloween prize package that includes a copy of Kristen Lawrence's Poe-inspired CD, The Raven, four vintage-style crow bookmarks, and a signed bookplate featuring a line spoken by my In the Shadow of Blackbirds spirit photographer character during the scene pictured on the book cover:

Tonja D.

The winners of signed In the Shadow of Blackbirds bookplates:

Jana

Petra

Caterina T.

Dannielle B.

Susan R.

Congratulations! I'll be sending all of you an email with more details soon.

If you didn't win this time, do not despair! Anyone who's taken a good look at my cover can probably guess that the Halloween season is the perfect time for me to be traveling around the blogosphere to discuss In the Shadow of Blackbirds. Here are my October blog stops, some of which contain more giveaways:

Oct. 5 - The Lucky 13s
I belong to this wonderful group of 2013 debut YA and children's book authors, and tomorrow we're all answering a single book-related question on the blog.

October 8 - Corsets, Cutlasses, & Candlesticks
I'll be chatting about my favorite historical time periods. And Disneyland.

Oct. 29 - IceyBooks
Fellow Amulet Books author Sarah Skilton (Bruised) and I will be teaming up for a post. GIVEAWAY INCLUDED!

Oct. 30 - Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire
Fellow 2013 debut novelist Mindy McGinnis (Not a Drop to Drink) will be interviewing me about the In the Shadow of Blackbirds cover. GIVEAWAY INCLUDED!

Oct. 31 - Corsets, Cutlasses, & Candlesticks
I'll be celebrating Halloween by sharing some of the spookiness you'll find in In the Shadow of Blackbirds.

The dates are subject to change, of course. Please stop by and visit if you can.