New: A Fan Art Page

I've just launched The Embers Gallery: a brand-new page for In the Shadow of Blackbirds artwork, spirit photography, and book trailers, all made by fans of the novel. The gallery is located at www.blackbirdsnovel.com/p/embers-gallery.html, and it's a little sparse right now, but I really wanted to start showcasing the readers who have already paid tribute to the novel. I greatly appreciate fans' creativity and enjoyment of In the Shadow of Blackbirds.

Here's the very first piece of fan art I received:

"A Happy Ending," by Danielle-chan

I love it! Feel free to send your own In the Shadow of Blackbirds artwork and reader-inspired book trailers to catwintersbooks AT gmail.com. You must own the rights to anything you submit.

Thank you, readers!

Interview with Cover Photographer Symon Chow

Symon Chow and cover model Olive.

My guest today is the talented Symon Chow, the photographer behind the In the Shadow of Blackbirds cover. Photography plays an enormous role in the plot of this novel, so I'm thrilled to feature someone who is both familiar with the art form and skilled at capturing the haunting look of the early-twentieth-century spirit photographs that are integral to this book.

Here is my interview with Symon.

Thank you so much for joining me today, Symon! As soon as my editor, Maggie Lehrman, gave me the link to your website and I saw your haunting, unique, vintage-style photographs, I knew you were the perfect photographer for the In the Shadow of Blackbirds cover. When and how did you first become drawn to this particular style of photography?

I guess it would have had to be in college when I started learning how to shoot “Alternative Process” photography. I have always been fascinated by old cameras and lenses, though even before college, I was fascinated by turn-of-the-century photography. But back then wasn’t as much about the gear and the process as it was about the subject. I have always had an affinity for the fashion of the era. If I had to pinpoint its beginning, it actually came from a shirt that my mother wore when I was a child. The shirt had a very intricate Art Nouveau pattern of sirens swirling through ribbons of fabric. I still remember it fondly and it has stuck with me though all of my creative endeavors.

When ABRAMS designer Maria T. Middleton approached you about photographing the cover of In the Shadow of Blackbirds, what were the first steps you went through to design and prepare for the shoot?

The first step of most covers I have worked on is to, of course, discuss what the designer and editor envision. I like to get as much details about the feeling they want to convey, so that I can get an idea of what kind of lighting will be involved. Then I like to ask about what types of props they want to incorporate. With that information, and the actual story for reference, I try to get as much detail before I work on “sketches.” I present as many different options as I can, focusing on different key elements that we’ve discussed. When the sketch is approved I can then concentrate on putting together the actual elements of the composition and source props and setups. The process is very much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It can at times be very fun and at times a little frustrating, but in the end, ALWAYS super fulfilling!

Your online portfolio shows a variety of costumes and eclectic Victorian/early 1900s-style backdrops and props. For the In the Shadow of Blackbirds cover, did you provide the costumes and all the accessories, including the goggles? 

I did actually, but not as much as I normally would have. Maggie and Maria already had a very particular outfit in mind before I even got involved in this project and had the costume pretty much sorted out. The only thing they didn’t have were the goggles...which I just happened to have sitting around (I collect old military goggles). On the day of the shoot we also played with different shoes and accessories. We have a fairly large collection of turn-of-the-century, pre- and post-WWI outfits and props that we’ve been collecting for years.

Did you use various costumes and backdrops for this shoot, or was there one particular look that you wanted most?

I believe we did a number of set-ups for this cover. Mostly wardrobe changes, different lighting set-ups, and positioning. We wanted to keep the setup simple in terms of the pose, because we wanted to focus on atmosphere. We were going for haunting, but also at the same time, inviting. We wanted the reader to get sucked into Mary’s world, and actually want to stay a while

Early-twentieth-century spirit photography plays an enormous role in the novel. Decades before the Photoshop era, photographers used methods such as double exposures to create ghostly images in the developed pictures. Are you able to divulge how you and Maria created the spirit lurking behind the model on the cover? 

Smoke and Mirrors.

If you lived in the early 1900s, would you still have been a photographer and designer? Do you think it would have been easier or harder to make a living with that art form back then?

I believe I would absolutely be working in photography and/or design in some shape or form. Especially in my photography, I use much of the same equipment, technics, and chemicals that were being used back then. It would be a toss-up as far as ease goes. While it would be easier to do the work of actually taking the picture and developing, it would be much harder to have the picture altered, press ready, and reproduced. This type of work is just in my blood, whether it be taking photos or making a sign or creating a book. I think if I were alive back then, and given the choice, my job would have been in the arts/technical field.

Thank you so much for joining me, Symon! I love hearing about the creation of this highly unique cover.

Visit Symon Chow online at www.SymonChow.com.

For more behind-the-scenes In the Shadow of Blackbirds cover info, please see my interview with the book's designer, Maria T. Middleton.

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

A.B. Westrick, author of Brotherhood (Viking/Putnam, Fall 2013), tagged me in The Next Big Thing Blog Hop—a meme involving a set of questions for writers about what they’re working on. Because details about my work-in-progress are being kept under wraps, I'll answer the questions based on my April 2013 release, In the Shadow of Blackbirds.

What is your working title of your book (or story)?

The working title was Blackbirds; the final title is In the Shadow of Blackbirds.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

In 1918 San Diego, sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black must face a world war, the deadly Spanish influenza, and the ghost of her first love.

Where did the idea for the book come from?

The earliest seeds for this story were planted way back when I was twelve. I watched an episode of the TV show Ripley's Believe It or Not and learned that during the World War I period two girls in Cottingley, England, claimed to photograph fairies in the countryside. Adults who were devastated by the war wholeheartedly believed the photos were genuine, including scholars and expert photographers. That struck me as a sad yet fascinating nugget of history.

It took nearly three decades, a couple manuscript attempts, and a conversation with my agent, Barbara Poelle, before the plot of In the Shadow of Blackbirds fell into place, but that show about those phony fairy photos and the widespread grief during the WWI time period is where everything first began.

What genre does your book fall under?

It's a YA historical, paranormal, apocalyptic, romantic, coming-of-age mystery/horror story. Is that a genre yet?

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Hailee Steinfeld

First of all, let me clarify that no movie rights have yet been optioned. But if we're talking pure fantasy casting, I'd probably pick Hailee Steinfeld from True Grit to play Mary Shelley Black. I watched that movie after I finished the first drafts of the novel and felt that Steinfeld's ability to handle an articulate, precocious character at such a young age would work well for my Mary Shelley.

I don't have any suggestions for the love interest, Stephen Embers (a young, dark-haired, budding photographer who enlists for war when he's seventeen), or his older brother, Julius (a troublemaking fellow who claims to photograph the spirits of his customers' loved ones). For Mary Shelley's aunt Eva, I sort of imagine a cross between Michelle Williams and the teacher Miss Wilder from the old Little House on the Prairie TV series.

Michelle Williams +

Eliza Jane Wilder (Lucy Lee Flippin) =
Aunt Eva

And I always picture a character named Mr. Darning, a man who exposes fake spirit photographers, as looking like a cross between Jude Law in Sherlock Holmes and Michael Fassbender in A Dangerous Method.

Jude Law +

Michael Fassbender =
Mr. Aloysius Darning

 Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I’m represented by Barbara Poelle of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency, and In the Shadow of Blackbirds will be published by Amulet Books/ABRAMS. My editor there is Maggie Lehrman.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

About six to seven months. However, I had thoroughly researched the time period for other potential book plots before I even started writing this novel.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

After I finished writing In the Shadow of Blackbirds, I discovered Adele Griffin and Lisa Brown's Picture the Dead, a YA novel that deals with the spirit photography craze during the Civil War (mine deals with the WWI version of the craze). Other books with themes in common with In the Shadow of Blackbirds include Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, Libba Bray's The Diviners, Teri Brown's upcoming Born of Illusion, and even Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

The more I researched 1918 America, the more similarities I found with our modern, post-9/11 world. It's often hard reassuring my own kids that we're living in a country that's safe and good, and I really feel for today's youth, who are subjected to images of terrorism, random acts of violence, and fear all the time. One of my driving forces for writing this book was to show teens that young people have been surviving and overcoming the world's darkest moments throughout the ages.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

The book contains actual photographs from the time period—images that are both haunting and mesmerizing.

I included the pictures for three reasons: (1) Photography plays an enormous role in this plot. (2) The history of 1918 (the fear and paranoia from the war, the lethal flu pandemic, and the desperate search for spirits through séances and photographs) is so surreal and stranger-than-fiction that I felt the need to prove that I wasn't making up those particular details. (3) I want to invite readers to step completely inside this dark and incredibly fascinating era.

_________________________________________

For a future Next Big Thing post, I'm tagging Sharon Biggs Waller, a fellow member of Corsets, Cutlasses, & Candlesticks and the author of A Mad, Wicked Folly.

The IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS Cover Reveal & Giveaway!!!!

In 1918, the world seems on the verge of apocalypse. Americans roam the streets in gauze masks to ward off the deadly Spanish influenza, and the government ships young men to the front lines of a brutal war, creating an atmosphere of fear and confusion. Sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches as desperate mourners flock to séances and spirit photographers for comfort, but she herself has never believed in ghosts. During her bleakest moment, however, she’s forced to rethink her entire way of looking at life and death, for her first love—a boy who died in battle—returns in spirit form. But what does he want from her?

Featuring haunting archival early-twentieth-century photographs, this is a tense, romantic story set in a past that is eerily like our own time.

Coming April 2013 from Amulet Books/Abrams.

Add to Goodreads.

Pre-order at Amazon.

______________________________________ 

I'm trembling with excitement as I type up this post to reveal the hauntingly beautiful cover for In the Shadow of Blackbirds and to finally share an official synopsis for the novel. The cover was designed by the talented Maria T. Middleton, and the photography is by Symon Chow.  The lovely cover model is portraying a scene in which my protagonist, Mary Shelley Black, begrudgingly poses for a photographer who claims to capture the spirits of lost loved ones with his camera.

In celebration of the cover reveal, I'm giving away an In the Shadow of Blackbirds prize package. I don't have advance copies of the book available yet—those will wait for a future giveaway. But I do have some pre-Halloween treats involving creepy dark birds, which play a major role in my novel:

If you enter my giveaway using the Rafflecopter form below, you'll have a chance to win 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. I'll run the giveaway until Thursday, October 4. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

December Question of the Month: Have You Ever Captured a Ghostly Image?

One of my ghostly Maine photos.

I'm launching a new feature today: The Question of the Month. Unless I'm bogged down with revisions, I'll try to launch a reading, movie, or ghost-related question on the first day of every month.

Here's the December question:




Spirit communication, especially spirit photography, plays a huge role in the plot of In the Shadow of Blackbirds. In the future I'll be sharing some highly entertaining spirit photos from the heyday of the Spiritualist movement, but for now let's talk about YOUR experiences with capturing ghosts. Have you ever come across a misty figure that wasn't noticeable when you first took a picture? Do you tend to get mysterious orbs or weird traces of light when you snap photos in certain locations?

I'm attaching my own spooky photos, which I took in Maine during a vacation in the late nineties. Professional photographers have explained what probably occurred to my film (yes, this was back when I still used film), but I prefer thinking of the images as a running ghost (the photo above) and a phantom couple (the photo below).


If you have a ghost photo of your own you'd like to share, feel free to add a link in the comments section of this post.