Tag Archives: author event

Guest Post: Cat Winters on A Vampire Novel That Isn’t a Vampire Novel

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Hello friends!! I am insanely excited to share a guest post with you by one of my favorite authors, Cat Winters!! I am sure that you all remember how much I loved In the Shadow of Blackbirds. You will also be lucky enough to read my rave review of The Cure for Dreaming tomorrow! For now, take a glimpse at Cat’s musings on how The Cure for Dreaming came about, and what it was like for her to write a vampire novel that wasn’t really a vampire novel.

 

A Vampire Novel That Isn’t a Vampire Novel

by Cat Winters

CureforDreaming_cover

Back in 2007, I signed with my current literary agent because of a manuscript I wrote called The Vampire’s Wife, a suburban satire/love story for adult readers. Twilight was a brand-new book at the time, but I hadn’t yet heard of it. My kids were both under ten and a long way off from reading YA, and my attention was directed toward reading and writing adult fiction.

As most readers know, an epic vampire craze quickly took off around that same time, especially once the Twilight movie debuted in 2008. My vampire novel was making the rounds to publishers during all of the hubbub, but it was a book that fell somewhere in the middle of literary fiction and chick lit, so no one knew quite what to do with it. Despite the thirst for vampire entertainment, the novel, sadly, never found a publisher.

By the time I started writing my first YA novel (and ultimately my first published novel), In the Shadow of Blackbirds, the vampire fiction market was already becoming oversaturated. Readers tired of their fanged heroes and heroines, and I put the idea of ever writing another vampire novel aside. My focus became my shiny new WWI-era ghost story.

However, the Twilight craze, with all of its Team Edward/Team Jacob merchandise, the fan fiction, and even the astounding number of Twi-Rock bands, still intrigued me. I tucked an idea into the back of my head: Wouldn’t it be interesting to one day write a novel about Victorian teens who fall in love with Bram Stoker’s newly published novel, Dracula? How would young women at the turn of the twentieth century have reacted to that classic, sensuous tale of a seductive “gentleman” vampire? What would the boys think when reading about a man who overcomes women by biting into their bare necks and sucking the life straight out of them? Continue reading →

Fortnight of Fright: Guest Post by Eldritch Black

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FoF2014

 

Hello, friends! I am incredibly excited because today I have Eldritch Black, the author of The Book of Kindly Deaths (reviewed – HERE & spoiler alert: I loved it) on the blog today. He is sharing a pretty fantastic post written by Horasmythe Spindleclef, the food critic for the Grimwytch Gazette, on some of the many places to frequent around Grimwytch – and which places you should avoid, as well. ALSO he has been so kind to sponsor a giveaway, so read on and after you’re finished, enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for a chance to win a copy of The Book of Kindly Deaths, AND a gorgeous necklace featuring the lovely book. Happy reading!

Unearthly Delights

Greetings, my name is Horasmythe Spindlecleft, also known as the gourmet of gourmets. If you’ve ever dined in my modest little Inn “The Fat Cobblefoot”, situated on the side of the Foggypeake mountains, you’ll be well aware of my extensive knowledge of food. And the finer things in life.

You’ve no doubt heard of my infamous twice-fried bat wings and hair of Hackthin tart, creations of exquisite beauty, though I say so myself. Not to mention my highly regarded Doormouse eye on toadstool and very-berry-sherry sauce.

It’s with great pride that I can announce I’ve been appointed chief scribbler of food reviews for the Grimwytch Gazette.

Below are the very first of many pearls of wisdom concerning places where weary travelers may sip and gorge upon unearthly delights. Outside of The Fat Cobblefoot.

As well as places to avoid like Fungal-throat plague.

The Malady Inn

A Fairly good stock of Old Catwhist, shame about the clientele.

The Malady Inn is a worn old building on the side of the Eastern Blackwood Road. Inside is a cosy, dingy room and its fairly affable landlord, Mr. Barrow. His bar is well stocked for the most part, although not to the scale of The Fat Cobblefoot. I chose a dish of sainted duck, goat-foot soup and a pint of Old Bramble’s Tipsy. It was an adequate meal until a table of Babbleslithers sat beside me and ruined the meagre ambience. Upon finishing their food, one of the more portly among them threw up his entire course through his left eye.

An unpleasant, vulgar end to a mediocre, but serviceable evening. Continue reading →

Fortnight of Fright: Beyond Books – Halloween Playlists

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FoF2014

Today we are kicking off our Fortnight of Fright madness! October is the beginning of my favorite time of year, I just love when the leaves start to change and HELLO scarf weather!! Well, today I want to get you guys in the mood to celebrate the wind blowing through the trees, pumpkin spice EVERYTHING, and monsters lurking under your bed. What is the best way to do this? Well, how about some music…

Have you guys ever heard of 8tracks? I am pretty much obsessed with it. Essentially it works like Spotify and the like, but you can use different tags to search for fan made albums. I have found albums for The Name of the Wind, and other fantastic books! Seriously can’t tell you how much I love this website, I go in there and type whatever mood I am in, “chill,” “happy,” “studying,” and so on..and then IT FINDS THE BEST PLAYLISTS EVER!

SO, my favorite Halloween-like (aka I listen to them all year long) playlists are..

Make Out in the Graveyard – This one is a bit more fun, not creepy!

All Hallows Eve – Featuring such songs as The Time Warp from Rocky Horror Picture Show & songs from Buffy the Vampire Slayer! P.S. How badly do I want this Audrey skeleton tattoo…

Rockin’ in the Graveyard – Rockabilly and Halloween..sign me up!

Continue reading →

Event Recap: Or, How I Met Neil Gaiman and Didn’t Touch His Hair

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So I saw Neil Gaiman this year. Twice. That’s right twice; weeks apart from one another and mostly in promotion for his new book The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I know, it isn’t too crazy when you take into account that I often exclaim “Oh my Gaiman!” in lieu of other Godly beings. It isn’t crazy, no, but it was slightly overwhelming for the senses. In the sense that, though I saw him over a month ago I am just now able to come down and let you all in on my FEELINGS about the whole thing…I will do my best to recap the two events and drop some blurbs here and there from Mr. Gaiman throughout :]

 “I wrote this book accidentally. It started because I missed my wife, and I wanted her to see the world through my eyes when I was seven….I don’t do feelings…because I’m English…and I’m male.”

First, there was the event at Book Expo America when I got to listen to him speak about why fiction is dangerous. Without being a bore, let me quickly walk you through it…in a nutshell: my morning was insane. We missed our train and then had PROBLEMS ON THE TRACKS mere weeks after the whole train crash debacle, and I literally RAN into Javits hoping beyond hope that I hadn’t missed my chance to hear Neil speak. My dear friends Heidi and Asheley saved a seat for me and I was so giddy from anticipation that when Neil came out, I cried real tears. The absolute awe I felt was entirely too much to handle. You see, this is the voice that got me through some incredibly rough times. The voice that allowed me to gain enough courage to drive through rush hour for the first time without becoming so frozen with fear that I had to pull over until my panic attack subsided. Reality hit and I became so overwhelmed with gratitude and utter happiness that I couldn’t contain myself.

 “Kids don’t need to be told what it’s like to be kids, they’re already there! It’s the adults who forget…”

Some quick things to note about Mr. Gaiman, he is a genius with words, and he is hilarious. Make you laugh out loud, hilarious. For example, when asked if he would ever consider another career, perhaps as a “hot librarian,” he answered that, “Hot librarians are apart from anything else, a very different gender than me…but yeah, the two professions that I fantasized about, that I could actually imagine wanting when I was a kid growing up were an English teacher and a librarian. They were the people that I loved and respected and the things that I was good at…well, I didn’t know that I would be good at being an English teacher or a librarian..BUT…when I was seven, all of my books…alphabetical order. The amount of worry I gave to Roger Lancelyn Green, over whether that man belonged in the L’s or the G’s…WHAT. What are you Roger Lancelyn Green?! Why are you writing these books and tales of the norsemen? Why can’t you just be Roger Green, or Roger Lancelyn, then I would know where to put you. Well, I put him in the L’s, and later discovered I was wrong!”

And then…well…this happened…

 

photo 

and my life was basically made…

“We don’t think of ourselves as names. I don’t walk around saying, oh look at what I am doing in my Neil Gaiman way!” 

Then just three weeks later I drove three hours to Saratoga Springs to listen to Neil speak again, and this time I got to meet him. To be honest it is nearly impossible for me to explain what it feels like to meet someone so incredible and important. If you haven’t experienced it, I really can’t put the feeling into words. Basically, I listened to the wonderful man speak about his new book, and he read bits of it to us in which the beau, who drove 3 hours  just to watch me react to my favorite author speak, became an instant Neil Gaiman fan. True story – he has gone through my entire Gaiman library at this point and is starting on the audiobooks. Then, and this is the best part, I got to actually meet Neil and tell him how amazing I think he is, TO HIS FACE. As you see in the picture above, there is an ongoing joke between my friend Amy and I that I need want to touch Neil’s hair, and I had every intention of reminding Neil of that tweet and informing him that I am not the kind of gal who just goes around touching people’s hair, but it didn’t all go according to plan..

Looking up and smiling, politely ignoring my flails.

Looking up and smiling, politely ignoring my flails.

Alyssa waiting in line: *bounces up and down* *makes girly noises*

Alyssa still waiting in line, 3 hours later: “OMG I can see him, he is right there * points * I promise I won’t cry!”

Nice woman assisting Neil with the signing: “You wouldn’t be the first one who has.”

Alyssa approaching an exhausted Neil Gaiman: *in awe* “Hello.”

Neil Gaiman: “Hello, thank you so much for waiting!” *smiles in his Neil Gaiman way*

Alyssa: *stares at Neil Gaiman*

* Neil Gaiman is handed The Sandman: Dream Country to be personalized *

Neil Gaiman: *caresses the page with Puck’s face* “Oh.”

Alyssa: IT’S BECAUSE I LOVE THE CHARACTER OF PUCK. HE IS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER IN LITERATURE!! (The beau says I did not yell at Neil Gaiman but in my memory I surely was not using an indoor voice.)

Neil Gaiman: *looks up and smiles* “Thank you so much for saying that, I enjoy him as well!”

Alyssa: *GASP* “Thank you, thank you so much for being you. OMG. Thank you!” *floats out of signing room*

Isn't it beautiful?

Isn’t it beautiful?

So yeah, overwhelming. He looked so tired and was still so charming and gracious, I could barely handle it. Then I drove the three hours home, while listening to the Evelyn, Evelyn CD we were given at the event, and became an immediate Amanda Palmer fan, so there’s that.

“How many secrets can you keep in your hair, and is that where the metaphors come from?”
“All of them.”

To sum up, go hear Neil Gaiman speak at your earliest opportunity, it is an absolutely fantastic experience that I can hardly put into words. Oh and read ALL THE GAIMAN BOOKS. No, seriously.

Related Posts:

Neil Gaiman, I Love You

Review: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Book Expo America 2013 Recap

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YAY my second year that I was lucky enough to head to Book Expo America! Can you believe that this year was even better than last year? It was less focused on getting ALL THE BOOKS and more focused on meeting all of the amazing people. I am going to try and be as coherent as possible but excuse me if I tell you of the FEELS and sound a little AHHHFLAILSBEAAHHH!

Wednesday 5/29

B&A

My “trip” started a little early than most (and a little later than those of you who attended BBC) since Brittany (from The Book Addict’s Guide) flew in to Boston and I drove to pick her up to start our festivities! It’s always a tad unnerving meeting new people, and though B and I talk every day, there were still some moments where I was all “OMG what if we hate each other…” as I was driving to the airport. THANKFULLY, that was not the case and meeting B IRL just better reiterated that you can find your best friends later in life, and that things do happen for a reason, and ya know, feels. SO anyway we decided to save some cash and stay in CT and take the train in to NYC every day for BEA. Yeah, that meant we had to get up a few hours earlier than some, and yea we weren’t able to see as much of the city and attend ALL THE EVENTS, but that will be another trip. We got sangria at dinner, and then bought a bottle of wine for the hotel room all while networking with the dude who worked at the liquor store. Skill.

Sangria

Sangria out of mason jars, yeah buddy!

Thursday 5/30

EARLY start to the morning, but totally worth it. We spent some time looking in awe at ALL THE BOOKS and then headed over to see Kendare Blake and pick up Antigoddess, which I can’t wait to read. Shortly after we headed over to wait in line to meet Victoria Rossi who is, by the way, one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen, and we were like SCOREWERULE because we were told that we were first in line!!! Yeah… that was a lie. Turns out things weren’t as organized as they had hoped over in the BEA autographing area so while we were told that we were number one, so were (lots of) other peeps over on the other side of the hall! So anyway, we got in the special roped off line and totes thought we had MADE IT, and then they ran out of time and cut us off right after Britt! EEP! I was super sad, mostly because I wanted to tell Ms. Rossi that Aaron said hi and that he may or may not be sending us to stalk her, but really, I get it, and felt lucky to even have the opportunity, plus I was able to make a new friend (Hi, Shelver M!) and that is always awesome. A particular highlight was meeting Adam Gidwitz, I told him how I am currently reading A Tale Dark and Grimm out loud to Stan and how I wanted to get a copy for my love, so he signed it with a very sweet and personal message…

A Tale Dark and Grimm

*I* love Adam Gidwitz

The best part about this day was meeting some fellow bloggers, a very distinct highlight of my day was when Jamie (from The Perpetual Page Turner) literally hopped and ran across the hall to flail at us (seriously love her), and of course meeting Anna (from Anna Reads), Alexa (fromAlexa Loves Books), Asher (from Paranormal Indulgence), Mandee (from Vegan YA Nerds/The Bookish Manicurist), and of course my IRL dear friend, Heidi (from Bunbury in the Stacks).

B and I headed home after a long and successful day, I was actually surprised at how huge (and awesome) my haul was!

BEA day 1 haul

Yeah! Signed books up top!

Friday 5/31

Friday was a tad more chill than Thursday and I spent a significant amount of time standing in line waiting to see some of my favorite authors. Specifically, Elizabeth Wein, and Victoria Schwab, also super awesome shoutouts to my girl Amy (from Tripping Over Books) who fangirled with me a bit, and Betty (from Book Rock Betty) who I was able to very quickly exclaim with (and share sads that we didn’t get to spend more time together)! WOO!

Vicious

SO excited for this one, and check out those cards!

I’ll be honest, I felt really crummy on Friday, and wasn’t in the best of moods, which was sad because I was enjoying myself immensely but was still bogged down with the grumpiness, and not feeling my best. Highlights included seeing Grumpy Cat, WHO I LOVE, she is so tiny, and being able to spend some time with Heidi! B and I headed home early on Friday, which means that we skipped out on the Book Blogger’s Picnic, which SUCKED, but we both felt so crummy so it all worked out that we got some extra sleep!

Day 2

Day 2 haul! Signed ones up top!

Saturday 6/1

Saturday was the most chill and also most EXCITING. Exciting because I GOT TO LISTEN TO NEIL GAIMAN SPEAK FOR ONE WHOLE HOUR. It was amazing. I plan on doing a recap of the event early next week so stay tuned but in a nutshell: SWOONS. It was the most chill because it was really more focused on friend time and less on GET ALL THE BOOKS, so we only stayed at Javits for a bit and then headed INTO THE CITY! Britt, Heidi, Mandee, Asher, and I headed to The Strand which is amazing and a bit overwhelming. I picked up a lesser known (by me, at least) Gaiman book, and We Hear the Dead by Dianne Salerni, which I am so excited about. We were also lucky enough to meet up with Estelle from Rather Be Reading!!

The Strand

All of us minus Estelle, because she was awesome enough to take the picture!

After The Strand we headed over to eat some “New York Pizza” which was really more like regular pizza that I can find anywhere on the East Coast but equally delicious, and then we hung out for a bit because it was HOT and we wanted some time to chat together. We decided to head over to Books of Wonder because it has THE WIZARD OF OZ THINGS and as you know, I am obsessed.

I am excited to be around OZ THINGS!

I am excited to be around all of the OZ THINGS!

I obviously had to buy the signed copy of Chu’s Day, and signed copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, because of reasons. Soon after we said our goodbyes and headed back to Magnolia Bakery Connecticut to rest up after a very eventful three days.

Day 3

Day 3 BEA haul! WOO!

Sunday 6/2

Sunday was a sad day, I had to say goodbye to Britt with the knowledge that we have no clue when we will see each other again, and the fact that it honestly might be a year before we are reunited, but let’s not dwell on it, because I am so thankful to have been able to spend as much time with her as I did.

Hideous picture of me, but we are rockin' our "KEEP CALM AND READ ON" shirts!

A less than flattering picture of me, but we are rockin’ our “KEEP CALM AND READ ON” shirts!

Once I got home I was able to relax and it has taken me a few days to even comprehend the amazing-ness that was this conference. I feel so lucky to have been a part of it, the best part wasn’t the books I brought home or the swag I received, but sheer excited-ness that I felt (and felt from others) over meeting each other and expressing our love for all things literary. Also Neil Gaiman. Always, Neil Gaiman.

Final Haul

My final haul picture ❤

The Big Reveal! Bringing YA To You!

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Have you ever wished that a big YA book tour would make a stop in your hometown? Well, here’s your chance for that wish to come true! YA2U is a program that features five award-winning and best-selling authors who are holding a contest to see what city they should visit in an exclusive tour stop!

The authors are collecting votes from January 1 to February 15, and any city in the continental US or any Canadian city that has an international airport can win an exclusive visit from all five authors, including an author panel and book signing! Entering is super easy–and if you help spread the word about the contest, you can also enter win a signed copy of all of their books (TEN signed books in total!)–and the book contest is open internationally!

The authors in the program are:

And they want to have an event in your home town! To participate, just got to the YA2U website and let them know what city you want them to come to. And while you’re there, help spread the word about the contest and you can be entered to win all of their books–TEN signed books in total! 

Here’s why the YA2U Team should come to MY hometown!

Why should the YA2U crew come to Avon, Connecticut? Let me count the ways…
  • Connecticut is home to the infamous Leatherman, and that’s just plain awesome.
  • Connecticut is also home to the oldest public library in the United States.
  • Noah Webster was born in West Hartford, Connecticut in 1758.
  • In Hartford, the state’s Capitol, it is illegal to cross the street while walking on your hands.
  • Mark Twain died in Redding, Connecticut and his home in Hartford Connecticut has been restored and turned into a pretty awesome museum.

These are all reasons why the YA2U crew should come to Connecticut in general so really, my final reason is in support of the town of Avon, Connecticut:

  • We have a newly expanded, renovated, and absolutely gorgeous library in Avon, and we are lucky enough to have a pretty phenomenal room dedicated specifically to our teen readers!
Why not join in the fun today and share with others about this program and your hometown. The more votes your town gets, the closer you are to having your very own personal tour stop! Vote for YOUR town here!
Even more exciting is that if you help spread the word, you can also participate in the book giveaway. Tell them that you learned about YA2U from me and we both get extra entries in the contest! 

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