THE RAVEN'S TALE, My New Novel about Edgar Allan Poe's Teen Years

Last week on Bustle.com I announced my newest book: The Raven’s Tale, a dark and dreamlike novel about Edgar Allan Poe’s life when he was a troubled but promising teenage poet.

The events of The Raven’s Tale are pulled straight from Poe’s letters, biographies, and firsthand accounts from the people who knew him as a teen, and the book is populated by his real-life friends, foes, and family members . . . as well as his muse.

Yes, the mythical kind of muse.

The novel blends poetry with prose, realism with Poe-esque Gothic horror, and it portrays the obstacles that hindered young Edgar "Eddy" Poe's writing career and happiness.

Me at the site of Poe's home from ages 16 to 18.

This past October, I traveled to Poe’s teenage home of Richmond, Virginia, where I explored the fabulous Poe Museum and other Poe-related sites, such as the graveyards he visited and the church he attended that doubled as a tomb for seventy-two victims of an infamous 1811 theater fire. I also made a trip to his dorm room at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

Poe shrine at the Poe Museum.

So much of Poe’s life has been tainted by character assassins who published false biographies of him, starting with lies printed in an obituary written by one of his literary rivals, the nineteenth-century editor and writer Rufus Wilmot Griswold.

My goal as an author is to introduce the world to the real Edgar Allan Poe as best I can. I think readers will be surprised to learn that he was an athletic young man filled with energy and a love of the outdoors, in addition to an angsty teen haunted by his homelife and the early deaths of two beautiful women who loved him in his youth.

Amulet Books/Abrams will release The Raven’s Tale in Spring 2019. I can’t wait to share more about the novel in the coming year!

For a little glimpse at what Poe was like as a teen, head to my article at Bustle, 10 Facts About Edgar Allan Poe That Will Completely Change How You Feel About The Mystery Writer.

To hear the music that inspired me during the writing of the initial draft, head to my Poe Spotify playlist. You can also take a peek at my Pinterest board for The Raven's Tale.

 

Shockoe Hill Cemetery, Richmond, VA

New Novel Announcement

I'm so excited to be able to announce my newest book, The Raven's Tale, a novel about Edgar Allan Poe's teenage years! Head to Bustle for the official announcement, which includes more details about the book and 10 strange and startling Poe facts in celebration of the iconic author's 209th birthday today. I'll post more info about The Raven's Tale over here next week.

The Raven's Tale on Goodreads

Announcing ODD & TRUE

I'm so happy to announce that I sold two more YA novels to my editor Maggie Lehrman at Amulet Books! My incredible agent, Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency, brokered the deal, and she just alerted me to the fact that news of the sale has already appeared in Publishers Marketplace. Here's the official announcement:

The first novel of this two-book deal is tentatively titled Odd & True, and it's currently slated to be published in Spring 2017. An official synopsis won't be available until approximately late 2016, and I still need to write most of the book, but I'll go ahead and share the synopsis that I created for the proposal.

ODD & TRUE

A dark Edwardian adventure involving corseted heroines, deadly beasts, and the war between reality and imagination.

Once upon a time there lived two sisters, Odette and Trudchen, known to all as Od and Tru. Younger sister Tru, a girl with a severely injured leg and a talent for reading tea leaves, has grown up believing she was born in a castle to a monster-slaying mother and a bohemian father, the latter of whom disappeared from their lives because of a magician’s curse. Older sister Od has fed such stories to Tru to protect her from the family’s secrets, which include scandal, heartbreak, violence, and murder.

Carrie (left) and me (right) in 1977.

I came up with the idea for Odd & True after visiting my own younger sister, Carrie, in San Diego in September 2014. While down there, I told her about various book ideas that had been kicking around in my head. We also drove past the freeway exit for an old "castle" in the hills of northern San Diego County, a fairy tale-like structure that had inspired my imagination as a child. After I came back home to Oregon, all of the those various ideas and experiences melded together and turned into a book plot.

Currently, I think of Odd & True as an Edwardian Big Fish meets Don Quixote meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer. After tackling some heavy-duty issues in my March 2016 YA novel, The Steep and Thorny Way, and delving into dark psychological horror for my Fall 2016 adult novel, Yesternight, I'm excited to dip a little bit more into the realms of fantasy and legends.

I have until July to finish writing Odd & True, and then I'll need to figure out what the second book of the contract will be.

The year 2016 looks to be another extremely busy one for me, with two new book releases, several yet-to-be-announced appearances around the U.S., and two more novels to write, but I'm extremely grateful that I get to continue to be a working author!

ADD TO GOODREADS

Introducing THE STEEP AND THORNY WAY!

I'm incredibly excited to announce that I sold a third young adult novel to Amulet Books: The Steep and Thorny Way. Here's the official announcement from Publishers Marketplace:

IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS and THE CURE FOR DREAMING author Cat Winters's THE STEEP AND THORNY WAY, pitched as inspired by HAMLET, a half-white, half-black girl in 1920's Oregon must deal with Prohibition, the KKK, and her father's murder, to Maggie Lehrman and Erica Finkel at Amulet, by Barbara Poelle at the Irene Goodman Agency (world English).
Translation: Baror International

The Steep and Thorny Way is slated to be released Spring 2016, and I'm thrilled to pieces that Amulet Books, the same publisher of my first two YAs, will be helping me bring it into the world. I'm so pleased with their work on my other novels.

Thank you to my indefatigable agent, Barbara Poelle, and Amulet Books for making this sale possible!

As always, keep an eye on this site for future updates about this book and my other projects.

ADD TO GOODREADS

Deadlines, Advance Copies, a TV Spotlight, and a Puppy: My Super-Busy Summer of 2014

June and the first half of July have rushed by in a blur. I've been astoundingly busy working on multiple books at once, as well as promoting both In the Shadow of Blackbirds and The Cure for Dreaming. I'm coming up for a quick breather to share my latest news.

The ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas. At the end of June I got to attend this amazing gathering of librarians and authors and saw the advance reading copies of The Cure for Dreaming for the first time. Thanks so much to my publisher Amulet Books/Abrams for sending me!

Here are two more photos of the advance copies:

The Uninvited. During the month of June and up to this past week, I worked diligently on edits for my William Morrow/HarperCollins adult novel, which is tentatively scheduled for publication on May 5, 2015. My HarperCollins editor, Lucia Macro, visited Portland in June, and I received the opportunity to have lunch with her and discuss her suggestions for the book. A cover should be in the works soon, and I'll also likely be able to share an official synopsis sometime in the coming months. For now, it's shrouded in a bit of mystery . . .

Filming! Last Thursday and Friday, a film crew came to my house and followed me around Portland for an upcoming episode of Oregon Art Beat, Oregon Public Broadcasting's Emmy Award-winning local arts series. My feature is tentatively scheduled to air in the fall, probably right around the time of the release date and launch party for The Cure for Dreaming. The segment will appear online as well as on TV. Below are some pictures from the filming, including one of me with my weekly Thursday-morning writing and coffee group, which will be included in the feature. 

(Left to right) Me, Teri Brown, Kelly Garrett, videographer Todd, and Miriam Forster.

 Producer Katrina Sarson, setting up an interview with me at Portland's White House.

The Secret Project! When I'm not working on my adult novel or running off somewhere to promote my books, I'm hard at work on a secret new project that I need to turn in to one of my editors by mid November. Hopefully, I'll get to talk more about it soon.

Me at the Tillamook County Library

Tillamook Library Talk! The wonderful Tillamook County Library in Tillamook, Oregon, spotlighted In the Shadow of Blackbirds for their 2014 Teen Summer Reading Program. Earlier this month, teens got to create their own spirit photographs, and last night I visited the library and chatted about the novel. Thanks to the library for hosting me and to all of the sharp and insightful teenagers who showed up and asked me questions.

Little Wilbur.

Wilbur! My family has a new puppy. His name is Wilbur, and he's a four-month-old American Eskimo. He's keeping us quite busy and entertained, and, luckily, my husband, a high school teacher, is home for the summer to help out with the training.

All right, back to work for me. I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the summer (or winter, if you're down in the Southern Hemisphere).

July Updates: News about My Next Book & Upcoming Events

First of all, thank you to those of you who participated in my Goodreads Q&A this week. The group is officially inactive at this point (I chose to run it for three days), but I'll leave it up there for a while in case you want to check out my answers. If a late question happens to creep in, I'll likely still answer it if I'm not having an overly busy moment. You can also always ask me questions via Twitter, Facebook, and email.

My big accomplishment of the summer, so far, has been sending my brilliant editor, Maggie Lehrman, the finished draft of my second novel, The Cure for Dreaming. If you're curious about that book, here's how I described the plot in that recent Goodreads chat:

 _____________________________

The Cure for Dreaming takes place in 1900 Portland, OR, and it's about a seventeen-year-old girl named Olivia whose father hires a young male hypnotist to remove her rebellious thoughts. Olivia's father is worried she's becoming a suffragist and a "modern woman," and he's terrified she'll turn into her mother, who abandoned their family to return to a life in the theater. The hypnotism cure, however, doesn't go quite as planned...and Olivia has to figure out if the hypnotist is a friend or a foe.  

_____________________________

The book is still scheduled for publication in Fall 2014, and I'll likely be launching into my intense revision stage this upcoming fall, once I receive my editor's letter. I have no idea what will be appearing on the cover of this one yet, but I'm looking forward to finding out. For now, I have a Pinterest page and a Spotify playlist to share for the book.

If you're in the Portland, OR, area, and you're an aspiring author, please consider joining me for a mansucript critique at the following event:

Saturday, July 20, 2013, 9:00 am:
The Great Summer Critique

 The Dining Room, TaborSpace
5441 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR

I'll be taking a break from appearances in August to spend time with family, but I already have events planned for September and October, with more in the works. You can find them all at my Events Page.

Last of all, I'm happy to report that I proposed an idea for a third standalone YA novel to my agent, and she's thrilled about the concept and title (both of which will remain tightly under wraps for now). I've already started a draft and look forward to working more on the project this summer.

December News (Including Launch Party Info)

I just realized it's been a couple weeks since I've posted anything new, but during that time I've compiled exciting In the Shadow of Blackbirds info to share. I'm dividing this post into items I can publicly announce, and teaser items I can't yet completely reveal.

What I can reveal:

I've scheduled my In the Shadow of Blackbirds launch party! I'll be discussing the novel, reading from the book, and giving away prizes and other goodies at the following location and time:

Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing
3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton, OR
Saturday, April 6, 2013
4:00 PM

More details and reminders will follow as April gets closer.

Also, I'm signing advance copies of In the Shadow of Blackbirds at the following event:

ALA Midwinter, Seattle, Washington
January 26-27, 2013
(Times TBA)

I can't wait to meet all the librarians attending the conference! I'll post my exact signing times once the ALA author schedule goes live.

In foreign-language rights news, In the Shadow of Blackbirds sold to Scolar Kiadó in Hungary! I'm thrilled the novel will be translated into another language and hope Hungarian readers enjoy the book. I'm keeping my fingers tightly crossed that more foreign rights sales will follow.

Save the date: Monday, December 17, 2012. I'm compiling a post at The Lucky 13s blog that you won't want to miss. I'm not just saying that because I'm organizing the post; you won't want to miss it because we're offering an extra-special sneak peek of close to fifty debut 2013 YA and kid-lit books.

What I can't completely reveal:  

We received more In the Shadow of Blackbirds cover blurbs, including one from a New York Times bestselling author. I'll be revealing those the week before the January ALA event.

Also in the works for January: The launch of an In the Shadow of Blackbirds website that will entail behind-the-scenes treats and plenty of extras, including an interactive In the Shadow of Blackbirds map of San Diego. I'll reveal the URL the very last week of January. 

And in February, the book trailer reveal tour will arrive...

Line Edits, Cover News, & Other Updates

I just wrapped up the latest revision stage for In the Shadow of Blackbirds, a process called line edits. My editor, Maggie Lehrman at Amulet Books/Abrams, went through the entire manuscript and commented about any actions or dialogue that didn't seem quite right, cleaned up awkward words and phrases, and addressed plot issues that still needed some work. Her notes were brilliant. I'm so thankful to be working with Maggie.

It was an intense process, especially with the colorful array of tracking changes showing all our edits throughout the document. But I'm extremely glad this stage exists. When you're writing a historical novel that involves a mystery, cleaning up plot holes and anachronisms is essential.

Toward the end of these revisions, I received a lovely surprise in my inbox: A peek at my cover art.

Gorgeous. 
Unique. 
Perfect!

That's all I can say about the cover for now, but I will share it as soon as I'm able. To ensure you don't miss out, sign up for my monthly newsletter (launching this fall) at http://www.catwinters.com/p/newsletter.html. You can also subscribe to my posts in the right sidebar of this page.

Other August news:

•  I'm a contributor at WriteOnCon, an online writer's conference that starts tomorrow (August 14 & 15). I'm giving writing advice, along with other members of The Lucky 13s.
• Later this month I'm being interviewed about the setting of In the Shadow of Blackbirds. I'll post a link as soon as that feature is live.

Many more updates are yet to come. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer! Don't suffer too much Olympics withdrawal.

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 reveals, the release of the official synopsis and publication date, giveaways, and other events—is yet to come. To ensure you don't miss out on anything, please sign up at www.catwinters.com/p/newsletter.html.

I'm planning to spend the next couple weeks blogging less and writing more. My kids' school district is getting hit hard by budget cut days this year, and it feels like five-day work weeks have become a rare commodity for me. If you need me, I'll be busily working on Dark & Eerie Historical YA Novel #2 before I need to submerge myself in my upcoming In the Shadow of Blackbirds revisions.

If I don't come up for a breather before February 14, Happy Valentine's Day! My husband and I are planning to see The Woman in Black for a dinner and movie date to celebrate. That's what happens when you marry a writer of Gothic fiction: even romantic holidays often get dominated by ghost tales.

Boo!

New title

Whoo hoo!!!  My agent loved the revised version of the manuscript, and she even admitted she cried twice at the end.  She suggested three minor fix-ups, and I need to prepare a bio and other such info to help with the submission, but then the novel is heading out to publishers.

She suggested an altered version of the title:

In the Shadow of Blackbirds

The new name certainly adds to the dark tone of the book, plus it's more original than the single-word title (there are a few books already called Blackbird).  I switched the name in the "Books" section of this site, and I like how it looks sitting there in big, bold print.

While the novel embarks upon its journey into the world, I'll be keeping busy with a month of guests and giveaways at Suburban Vampire in February.  We'll be celebrating vampire love over there.  Come over for a visit.