[Blog Tour: Secrets, Schemes And Sewing Machines by Katy Cannon / Review and Interview]

"Secrets, Schemes & Sewing Machines"
Author: Katy Cannon
Series: Companion to Love, Lies & Lemon Pies
Pages:
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Date Published: February 2015
Publisher: Stripes Publishing
Format Read: Finished copy provided by publisher for honest review

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Summary:

Grace: This was supposed to be Grace’s starring year, until she opened the door to a family secret that changed everything. Now she’s stuck making costumes in Sewing Club and watching someone else play the lead role – unless she can find a way to win it back.

Connor: Far from home and exiled to a new school, all Connor wants is to keep a low profile and get through the year. But agreeing to help his step-dad out with the school play means he’s soon caught up in Grace’s schemes.

Grace had a plan for this year – and it didn’t involve learning to sew. But being out of the spotlight isn’t the disaster she imagined, even if Connor is convinced she’s still a diva extraordinaire. Can Grace prove she’s really changed and save the play from the sidelines, even though her family is coming apart at the seams?

-Goodreads

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My Thoughts:

An Open Letter To Secrets, Schemes & Sewing Machines,

You've made me realize that I love British Contemporaries more than most Contemporaries out there. I laughed my guts out, and I got all the feels, and I even got a dose of drama. Seriously, I loved that you were full of drama off and on the stage. As a has been, theater kid, I found you very relatable and I adored the fact that theater had such a huge role in your story. Thanks for being amazing!

-The White Unicorn

I'll let you know right now that I haven't yet read Love, Lies & Lemon Pies yet, but I loved that Secrets, Schemes & Sewing Machines was a companion novel that you can read on its own. I didn't feel lost, or out of place jumping into the dynamics that Cannon has created between this darling group of friends. I found this fact refreshing. 

Speaking of darling, that's just what this book is. Cannon has managed to write a book that's full everything adorable. But she also doesn't forget to add some real life drama into the mix. Grace and Connor are both dealing with some rather huge changes in their families and I like how it's all been dealt with within the novel. The fact that family plays the role that it does in the book is great. It's not the forerunner, but it's there and it's awesome!

At it's heart this book is a love story, and not just any kind of love story, but one of my favorite kinds. Connor and Grace can't stand each other in the beginning and it's great to see their relationship change over the course of the book. They go from enemies, to friends, to something more and I couldn't have been more pleased with the transition of it all.

Along with sewing, drama and theater bare their delightful heads. As a kid who grew up in theater I'm always excited to read books that deal with the subject. Cannon knows her stuff and it shows! I also enjoyed all the sewing projects that are part of the novel.

If you're looking for a cute, romantic, contemporary novel, then this is it! Throw in some great friendships and some awesome families and you've got a great little read that will make you smile!

Rating:

4 Unicorns = Close to perfect!

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An Interview with Katy Cannon!

I had the honor to virtually sit down with Katy Cannon and ask her a few questions about her novel. If you care to have a gander, you find our conversation below!

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One of my favorite parts about "Secrets, Schemes &Sewing Machines" was the fact that Grace and Connor don't instantly fall for each other. What was it like, writing an extreme dislike headed towards love, love story?

Katy Cannon: "Oh, it was so much fun! I love romances that require the characters to rethink all their initial impressions of a person, and get to know them all over again. It was tricky in parts though, not least because we’re always in Grace’s head during the story, so we can’t see what Connor is thinking and feeling except through what Grace sees. And she’s not always the most impartial judge!"

The book is also takes place around a theatrical production of Much Ado About Nothing, so I have to ask, have you seen the Joss Whedon film version? Or did any other film versions of Shakespeare's plays play a role in the direction that you took things?

Katy Cannon: "Much Ado About Nothing is my long time absolute favourite Shakespeare, and I’ve seen so many different versions of it! As a huge Joss Whedon fan, I was thrilled when I saw he was making a film version so yes, I have the dvd. And the script book with pictures. And I might need to go and watch it again now…

I think the idea of using Much Ado and the idea of the hate-to-love romance between Grace and Connor evolved very naturally. I knew from writing Love, Lies and Lemon Pies that Grace wasn’t going to be an easy person to find a love interest for. She needed a very specific sort of guy – one who challenged her and questioned her – and she wasn’t going to like that at all.

Once I realized the sort of romance this was going to be, there was only ever one play I could pick for them to put on!"

What came into play first when you were writing this story, the sewing or the theatre?

Katy Cannon: "The sewing. Having already written a baking book, I wanted to do something a little different, but with the same feel. I learned to sew as a child, but hadn’t touched a sewing machine in years, so I was excited to learn all over again with Grace.

The only problem was, I needed a logical reason for Grace to take up sewing. Since I already knew (again, from Love, Lies & Lemon Pies) that she was very active in the drama club, but that I didn’t want to write a book about her being the star of the show, having her take over the costume department solved both my problems!"

What part did you enjoy writing about more, the drama that took place on stage or off?

Katy Cannon: "Oh, off stage, definitely. It’s always more interesting! One of the things that fascinates me about the theatre, and that I’ve seen again and again in every play I’ve been involved in, from school to local theatres to the West End, is that what you see on the stage is only a tiny part of what actually goes on. Quite aside from the rehearsals, the costumes, the tech crew, the publicity, the admin and all of that, just putting a group of people together day after day in a confined space, under great pressure to perform, ALWAYS gives you great story material. It’s a real melting pot of characters!"

[Interview and Giveaway: The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters]

It's no surprise that I adored The Cure for Dreaming to pieces, and that there is no other book that I would rather promote on Halloween this year. Lucky for us, Cat Winter's agreed to do an interview and her answers will make you want to pick this book up ASAP.

Throw in the fact that I gave the book a 5 unicorn review (which you can read HERE) and you know it's a good one. In fact, I haven't seen a review lower than 4 stars anywhere, so far.

If you like vampires and classic horror novels and women's rights and dreamy hypnotists, then this is the book for you, because it has all of that. It also has awesome quotes and vintage pictures that add a special touch when needed.

So, let's get on with the interview, shall we?!

Question 1: What made you choose Dracula as the classic monster story you incorporated into The Cure for Dreaming?
 

Cat's Answer: During the major TWILIGHT craze, an idea popped into my head: Wouldn't it be fun to one day write a story about teens reacting to the publication of DRACULA when it was a brand-new novel? I tucked that idea into the files of my mind. When I started writing THE CURE FOR DREAMING, I originally set the book in the early 1880s and used older vampire novels as the source of Olivia's hypnosis visions. However, I've always been drawn more to the latter part of the Victorian era, so I realized I would enjoy writing the book more if I set the book in 1900. DRACULA was first published in the U.S. in 1899, so my protagonist, Olivia, turned into a major fan of Stoker's novel--a novel that follows her into her hypnotized state.

Question 2:  Adding magic and hypnotism into the plot made things really interesting. Did you ever think that you'd use a different profession for Henri, or was he always a hypnotist?

Cat's Answer: The book originally started with the idea of writing about a Victorian hypnotist, so that was always his profession. Three years ago I felt inspired to write something theatrical and Victorian, with a touch of Gothic horror. Erin Morgensern's THE NIGHT CIRCUS, a novel about fictional Victorian magicians, was a major new release at a time, so I didn't necessarily want to write about a magician. My mind instead veered to the idea of a stage hypnotist, and eighteen-year-old hypnotist extraordinaire Henri Reverie was born. 

Question 3: What made you want to write a novel about woman's rights in Portland?

Cat's Answer: I've been interested in the women's suffrage movement ever since I saw the HBO movie IRON JAWED ANGELS, which chronicles the struggles of real-life U.S. historical figures such as Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, who were active suffragists during the years leading up to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. These women underwent arrests, hunger strikes, and force-feedings, all so women of the future--women like myself--would be given the right to vote. Their fight for equality deeply moved me.

I set the book in Portland, both because I live here and because the fight for suffrage in the state was such a frustrating one.  A measure giving women the right to vote appeared on ballots in 1884, 1900, 1906, 1908, and 1910, but it didn't pass until 1911. That's a long and bumpy road to equality. I chose 1900 for the setting of THE CURE FOR DREAMING specifically because it was one of the years that saw the failure of the referendum.

Question 4:  Olivia sees the world as it is and yet magical realism is a huge tool in the plot, can you explain why you choose to add that into the mix?

Cat's Answer: I wanted the hypnosis to have a little twist to it. It would be extremely depressing to read about a man who wants to remove the rebellion out of his daughter's head . . . and to have the hypnosis actually work the way he wants. Henri tells Olivia she will see the world the way it truly is and that the roles of men and women will be clearer than they have ever been before. The results dip into magic realism: Olivia often sees glimpses of people's true natures, and sometimes even settings change before her eyes. My editor suggested that Olivia doesn't always see people and places for the way they truly are, and I agreed. It's more unsettling to suddenly become knocked off balance with a supernatural vision. I won't reveal why Henri gives Olivia this "gift" of seeing the true nature of things and whether it's more harmful or helpful, but I will say I thoroughly enjoyed venturing into the realm of a realistic fantasy. You'll see more of that technique in some of my future works.

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Giveaway:

One lucky person will be able to win an ACR copy of The Cure for Dreaming, so enter below!

 (the giveaway runs until November 5th and is limited to US residents only, because of monetary reasons)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

[Blog Tour: Not In The Script by Amy Finnegan, Review + Amy's Top 10 TV Couples + Giveaway]

"Not in the Script"
Author: Amy Finnegan
Series: If Only...#3
Pages: 392
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Date Published: October 7th, 2014
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens 
Format Read: ARC provided by publisher for honest review

Buy It Here:

...Amazon...B&N...The Book Depository...

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Summary:

The best kinds of love stories don’t follow a script.

Millions of people witnessed Emma Taylor’s first kiss—a kiss that needed twelve takes and four camera angles to get right. After spending nearly all of her teen years performing on cue, Emma wonders if any part of her life is real anymore . . . particularly her relationships.

Jake Elliott’s face is on magazine ads around the world, but his lucrative modeling deals were a poor substitute for what he had to leave behind. Now acting is offering Jake everything he wants: close proximity to home; an opportunity to finally start school; and plenty of time with the smart and irresistible Emma Taylor . . . if she would just give him a chance.

When Jake takes Emma behind the scenes of his real life, she begins to see how genuine he is, but on-set relationships always end badly. Don’t they? Toss in Hollywood’s most notorious heartthrob and a resident diva who may or may not be as evil as she seems, and the production of Coyote Hills heats up in unexpected—and romantic—ways.

-Goodreads

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My Thoughts:

An Open Letter To Not In The Script,

Hey there book. You were a breath of fresh air on lots of fronts for me and you can count me as one of your fans. I liked how you humanized celebrities. So many books focus on the glamor and excitement of fame, and while you dabbled in that, at your heart you showed us what it's really like to be in the public eye, while still being hilarious. I like hilarious and I like real and you are both of those things, so, like I said before, I'm a fan.

-The White Unicorn

I'll just come right out and say it, I'm a big fan of Finnegan's debut. As we all know, I'm very picky with my YA Contemporary Romance novels, but this happens to be one of my favorite romances of the year. Not in the Script is everything a book like it should be. It's sweet, it's snarky and it's got issues that you can see coming from miles away. It's good mindless fun, but Finnegan also manages to do something that a lot of books that deal with fame and TV miss out on. She humanizes the business in a way that I think is very important. It gives the novel an extra edge that takes all the typical romance tropes and makes it mean a little something more than usual.

I love books that follow things that I know about and even though I can't say that I know about how a TV show is put together, I can tell you that I know a thing or two about acting and the way that the people you act with become a kind of family. A messy, messed up family, but a family none the less. Finnegan gets this and ends up throwing a group of people together that don't seem like they'd be friends in real life, but over the course of the book, things change. She really understood this and I could feel the sincerity in the characters interactions, no matter what they were. I guess you could say that's why I liked the book as a whole: it's sincere.

Emma and Jake are adorable together and I loved watching their relationship develop in such a stress inducing setting. All the lies from the media and the lies from the cast members and everything sometimes felt like they were a bit much, but it didn't affect my enjoyment level. It's interesting to see what Emma ends up doing for everyone around her. Good things happen wherever she goes, but it was also awesome to see her start to figure out that she needed to worry about herself as well and make her own life as good as the ones the people around her were living.

Over all I adored all the characters. Brett was a tool bag, but he was tool bag that was likable. Maybe not someone you should trust, maybe not someone you should make your best friend, but he was likable. Kimmi was the diva, but yet she still had her good points. Jake is extremely layered and has so many things going for him. I even liked the parental characters and I loved that Finnegan decided to make them such a big part of the story. I'm always a fan of books that don't forget that someone had to give birth to the characters inside of them.

All in all Not in the Script is the perfect rom/com and I highly suggest it to anyone who wants a romance that they can cheer for!

Rating:

    4 Unicorns = Close to perfect!

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Amy's Top Ten TV Couples!

 

Clark and Lana, Smallville: I used to be so addicted to this show that I wrote two novel-length fanfiction stories about it. They were over 100,000 words each and had readers from all over the world checking in daily for new chapters . . . all rabid fans of Clark and Lana’s epic romance that, according to Superman cannon, was destined to fail. Were we all just suckers, or what? But year after year on that show, those who shipped “Clana” had high hopes for a break from tradition, even after Lois joined the show (for me, it was especially after Lois came along). Tom Welling and Kristin Kreuk had mad chemistry, though, from the innocent longing of the first few seasons, to the more grown-up episodes to come. Young Clark Kent was often more super-awkward around Lana than super-powered, and that’s why this relationship drew me in from the beginning. I still miss them together. So forget Superman cannon, Clark belongs with his first love (And if she doesn’t get him, then I do).




Chuck and Sarah, Chuck: Why do all the best shows get cancelled, huh? Four-and-a-half seasons wasn’t nearly enough (I still can’t decide if I’m ticked off that NBC only ordered thirteen episodes for the last season, or if I should be grateful that they gave us about fifty more episodes than they wanted to!). Anyway, I loved Chuck and Sarah together. He was a mere Nerd Herd techie when he was pulled into the crazy and dangerous world of international spies, and Sarah became his kick-butt handler. The evolution of their relationship was so entertaining and sincere that it was impossible not to fall in love right along with them! And the rest of the cast was just as adorable (Captain Awesome needs his own spinoff!!).






Jim and Pam, The Office: I’ve never been so thrilled to be a voyeur. Because of the mockumentary style of the production, I felt like I had a front row seat for watching two real people fall in love. Deep love. I met my own husband while working in a corporate office environment, so I totally related to the cute and almost always awkward ways in which two people can find excuses to go the desk of the other . . . and flirt (discuss business, I mean!) Like, all day long. Another cool thing about Jim and Pam is that even after they finally figured stuff out, it didn’t dampen their chemistry one bit. It just became more fun, watching them build a life together.




Rory and Logan, Gilmore Girls: In my opinion, Logan was the only love interest for either Gilmore girl who could match their wit. He could dish out the snark just as quickly as they could, and serve it with a side of swoon. Logan and Rory’s conversations were often the epitome of how to write entertaining banter between characters, and I’d frequently rewind scenes so I could hear every word all over again. My only complaint? Um . . . I’m in desperate need of a seven-years-later epilogue. The CW better get to work on that, or I’ll have to write an epilogue myself.






Buffy and Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: This is what you call a serious conflict of interest. Buffy’s job was to slay vampires, so her attraction to fanged heartthrob, Angel, was a bit of a dilemma—especially after a certain point in the series when it seemed inevitable that Buffy would literally have to stake her claim. You know that scene after Angel lost his “soul,” and Buffy had him tied up and had to make the most important decision of her life? Yeah, I cried like a blubbering baby. But the amazing thing about this show was that Buffy was such an amazing character that I really liked her with just about any love interest they paired her with. Even Spike! (Note: if you binge-watch Buffy, which you really should, resist the urge to judge the rest of the series by the first season. In the beginning, the special effects are nearly unbearable.)




Ross and Rachel, Friends: Is there a more famous couple in all of sitcom history? I think not. Their relationship was definitely epic in all of the best ways. They were star-crossed lovers for ten years, and the best thing about their storyline is that whenever they broke up, it all felt believable. And whenever they got back together, it was also believable. That’s an incredibly difficult feat to pull off in a sitcom that was, at its core, chock-full of slapstick antics. I miss this show!




Matthew and Mary, Downton Abbey: Nooooooooo!!!!!! Whyyyyyyyyyy?!?!?!?! How could you do this to me?!?!?!?!?! That’s all I’m going to say.


Chuck and Blair, Gossip Girl: I’m picking these two because they provided nonstop entertainment whenever they were in scenes together. They loved hard and they hated hard, and there was never really anything in between. They belonged together more than any other couple on the show, because no one else deserved to be with either of them. If you watched Gossip Girl, you’ll know that this is a compliment to everyone else. ;)


Mary and Francis, Reign: When these two are given good scenes, they’re the hottest couple on current television. But . . . Reign happens to be on the CW, so all too often, completely stupid and unbelievable obstacles interrupt their adorable flirting. Just stop it. Let them be happy. One more thing about the show itself: As crazy as it gets sometimes, the drama is nothing compared to what the actual Mary, Queen of Scots went through. You can’t make that stuff up! But if you don’t know how her story went in real life, and you watch Reign, do not look up her history. Just watch the show unfold. It will be interesting to see how closely they follow actual events. They’re dealing with one of the most interesting royals in history, so there certainly isn’t any reason for embellishment!




Robin and Marian, The BBC’s Robin Hood: Next to Clark and Lana, these two are my next favorite TV couple! I used to sit on the edge of my seat, hoping for a scene between them. This is another series to binge-watch that I’m guessing very few of you have seen. And the last scene of this series . . . guys, I was BLOWN AWAY! It was some of the most powerful few minutes I’ve ever watched on TV. Jonas Armstrong is one of the most charming, comedic, underrated actors of our day, and he’s absolutely irresistible as Robin Hood! And his sweetheart Marian is certainly no damsel in distress. This couple’s relationship was the perfect mix of sugar and spice, and I’m betting I could get just about any romantic to watch the series after they see this fan-made (and free of any major spoilers!) video featuring Robin and Marian: Accidentally in Love. Enjoy!

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 About The Author:

 Amy Finnegan writes her own stories because she enjoys falling in love over and over again, and thinks everyone deserves a happy ending. She likes to travel the world—usually to locations where her favorite books take place—and owes her unquenchable thirst for reading to Jane Austen and J.K. Rowling. Her debut novel, NOT IN THE SCRIPT, came about after hearing several years of behind-the-scenes stories from her industry veteran brother. She’s also been lucky enough to visit dozens of film sets and sit in on major productions such as Parks and Recreation and Parenthood. You can follow Amy on Twitter: @ajfinnegan, Instagram: StrangerThanFictionWriter, Facebook: Amy Finnegan, Author. Or Visit her at AmyFinnegan.com.

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Giveaway:

 

 Win your own swag pack here!

[Happy Halloween!]

Well, it's come to that time when we have to say goodbye to The Dark Side.  I seriously can't help but think of Star Wars every single time I say that.  But how could you not?  These last two weeks have been a total creep fest and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who joined in all of the fun!  But lets face it, today is Halloween and that pretty epic in and of itself!  So...

Happy Halloween Everybody!

If you're looking for any last minute Halloween things, from what creepy book to pick up tonight, or what movie you should pop in or stream, Jess and I have covered it over the last two weeks.  Here is a run down of what you might have missed...

On Jess's Blog, Read My Breath Away: 

Review: Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Blog Tour: Pretty Dark Nothing by Heather L. Reid (with giveaway) 

Waiting On Wednesday: Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine

Interview: Madeleine Roux, author of Asylum

Guest Post: My guest post about my favorite Horror Movies (there is one for everyone out there)

Guest Post: Claire Legrand, on writing dark stories and Middle Grade

Waiting On Wednesday: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

(Don't forget to check out her wrap up post too)

On This Blog:

Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Review: The Dark Between by Sonia Gensler

Blog Tour: Unhinged by A.G. Howard (Guest Post and Giveaway)

Review: Doll Bones by Holly Black

Guest Post: Jess shares her Scariest Childhood Movies with us!

Interview: Sarah Fine, on her new book Of Metal and Wishes

Review: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke

Guest Post: Chloe Jacobs, author of Greta and the Goblin King (with giveaway)

Well, there you have it!  It's been a blast!  Hope you all have a very safe and ridiculously fun Halloween tonight, whatever you end up doing!

[Interview: Sarah Fine On Her New Book Of Metal And Wishes]

Guys I'm super excited!  Today I have an interview for you all.  You all know that I'm a HUGE fan of Sarah Fine and her Guards of the Shadowlands series.  And if you don't you can find my review of Sanctum and Fractured by clicking on the titles.  Seriously, if you haven't read them, you're missing out on some of the best books.  When I caught wind of the fact that Sarah was coming out with a book that was loosely based on The Phantom of the Opera, I was in heaven, as more info came out I got more and more excited about the things I was learning.  Of course I still had questions, so I went straight to the source and got us all some answers.  But first, let's take a look at the book, shall we?

"Of Metal and Wishes"

Author: Sarah Fine

Release Date: August 5th, 2014

Preorder The Book Here:

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Summary:

There are whispers of a ghost in the slaughterhouse where sixteen-year-old Wen assists her father in his medical clinic—a ghost who grants wishes to those who need them most. When one of the Noor, men hired as cheap factory labor, humiliates Wen, she makes an impulsive wish of her own, and the Ghost grants it. Brutally.

Guilt-ridden, Wen befriends the Noor, including their outspoken leader, a young man named Melik. At the same time, she is lured by the mystery of the Ghost and learns he has been watching her … for a very long time.

As deadly accidents fuel tensions within the factory, Wen must confront her growing feelings for Melik, who is enraged at the sadistic factory bosses and the prejudice faced by his people at the hand of Wen’s, and her need to appease the Ghost, who is determined to protect her against any threat—real or imagined. She must decide whom she can trust, because as her heart is torn, the factory is exploding around her … and she might go down with it.

-Goodreads

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So, now that you've read all that good stuff, I'm gonna hand this one over to Sarah herself, so she can tell you even more!

From The Horses Mouth:

An Interview with Sarah Fine

The White Unicorn: So, what made you decide that you wanted to retell the story of Phantom of the Opera?  Was it brought on by the musical or the book?

 

Sarah Fine: I actually didn't decide to retell the story. I started with the setting, and then began to populate it with characters and a story. There are clearly some obvious parallels and similarities, but it diverges from Phantom in a huge number of ways. I hope people won't expect a retelling as much as a story that bears echoes of Phantom but stands on its own as a unique tale.

 

The White Unicorn: A meat packing plant?  Setting the book in one was a brilliant idea.  How fun was it to research those?

 

Sarah Fine: Like I said, I started with the setting instead of starting with the story and choosing the setting (the same thing happened with Sanctum--setting came first). In Of Metal and Wishes, the factory is a character in and of itself. I got inspired to write Of Metal and Wishes after watching the documentary Food Inc., in which there's some hidden camera footage of workers in a poultry plant. So many of them were undocumented immigrants, working in these awful conditions with little protection of their rights. THAT was what inspired this story--I started to wonder about what it must be like to work in those conditions. It reminded me of The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, a book that's haunted me since I read it over twenty years ago. There's something powerfully grisly and cruel about the setting, and something powerfully resilient about those who work and survive there. 

And no, it wasn't at all fun to research meat butchering and packaging, but it certainly provided some creative fuel for the story!

 

The White Unicorn: If I'm correct, it sounds like Of Metal and Wishes is set in the past, but can you clarify that for us?

 

Sarah Fine: That's a great question! Of Metal and Wishes is set in a fictional society. I made up the culture and the people groups (the Noor and the Itanyai), down to their gestures, clothing, and customs. As a result, there's no exact parallel to a point in history. If I had to offer a general time period, though, I'd say turn of the 20th century, but there's definitely some anachronistic technology in there!

The White Unicorn: Did you enjoy weaving a ghost tale as much as you enjoyed recreating the afterlife in your other books?

 

Sarah Fine: Of course! This is a very different book than my Guards of the Shadowlands books, but in both, the setting is (I hope) vivid and ominous, and the characters within it have to face some pretty dire circumstances. The factory is massive, mysterious, and deadly, and the Ghost is a worthy denizen of such a place. As Wen's father, the company doctor, says to her at one point: "The Ghost has made this place his personal playground ... I just want to make sure he doesn't decide you're one of his toys."

 

The White Unicorn: If I were to ask you if you could tell us anything about the ghost in Of Metal and Wishes, could you tell us anything?

 

Sarah Fine: Sure--the title of the book describes him perfectly. 

 

The White Unicorn: And lastly is Of Metal and Wishes a standalone, or will we be able to look forward to more?  

 

Sarah Fine: That is yet to be determined! I'd say there's room for a second book, but this one stands on its own.

 

~fin~

Once again, a HUGE thank you goes out to Sarah Fine for stopping by the blog today!  If you wanna catch up with her yourself, be sure to check out the links below!

Sarah's Links:

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Website

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Twitter

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Facebook

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Goodreads

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[It's My Birthday, So We're Partying With My Favorite Book Of The Year]

Guys, did you hear that?  

 

Yes, it could have been early fireworks, lit by people who just can't wait till July 4th, but I'm sure that they were for me.  Cause... wait for it...

 

Today is my birthday! (but I already told you that in the title of this post...)

 

 I'm a quarter of a century old today, so that's kinda weird.  I remember when I thought 25 was old, but here I am, and it doesn't seem so old now.  (Okay, it still kinda does)  But it doesn't matter, because I LOVE birthdays!  So much!  They are some of the coolest things out there, in my opinion! 

 

But enough about me already.  Since none of you will be able to attend my party tonight I figured that I'd throw one on here, one that we can all get excited about and I even invited a special guest!  Cause we all know that parties are cooler when you have a special guest, right?  I can't tell you how much I've come to love book blogging.  This little blog started in February and it just keeps bringing the coolest books and people into my life!  So thanks for rocking so much!  Oh yeah, back to the special guest!

Introducing: Cat Winters (author of In the Shadow of Blackbirds and my favorite read of 2013... so far)

(CM) First thank you Cat for stopping by on my birthday!  It's great to have you here!  So let's start this off.  In the Shadow of Blackbirds is set during World War I, what made you pick that War as part of your setting?

(Cat) First of all, happy birthday! Thank you so much for inviting me to be here to help you celebrate.

I picked World War I because I was extremely fascinated by the history of Spiritualism in the United States. The U.S. Civil War and WWI were two moments in time when séances and spirit photography flourished due to widespread grief. I'm more interested in early-twentieth-century history than the 1860s, so I opted to portray the resurgence of Spiritualism in 1918.

(CM) I didn't really know much about The Spanish Flu, but it plays a large role in your book, what made you want to add that element of doom into the mix?

(Cat) When I dug into 1918 history, the flu emerged as a major factor in people's lives...and it added another explanation for the séance and spirit photography craze of the era. When the average life expectancy suddenly drops to the age of 39 in a year, it makes sense that people would have been desperate for comfort. The more I wrote, the more the flu became almost a character in the novel, breathing down my protagonist's neck. When I read personal accounts of 1918, I noticed people were frustrated that this killer flu sprang up right when they were already worrying about the war, so I wanted to portray the disease as a bully that came out of nowhere and made an already bad situation so much worse.

(CM) Spiritualism also has a huge role in In the Shadow of Blackbirds.  What was your favorite part about researching spirit photographers and the like?

(Cat) Researching Spiritualism was both entertaining and heartbreaking. During the WWI era, fraudulent spirit mediums and photographers who claimed to capture the images of departed loved ones were basically illusionists who were out to capitalize on grief. When we look back at the photographs of "spirits" from back then, it's hard to understand how people could have been fooled by these obviously faked photos of paper-cutout ghosts and people hiding beneath sheets. It's easy to chuckle at their gullibility, but it's also extremely sad to think that mourners were genuinely fooled into believing they were viewing photographs of their deceased relatives. My favorite part of the research was learning the tricks the photographers employed long before the age of Photoshop, but at the back of my head, my heart was always hurting for their victims.

(CM) What came first?  The want to tell a ghost story or the want to write a historical novel?

(Cat) That's a hard question to answer. I've been a fan of both ghost tales and historical fiction since childhood. I fell in love with ghost stories around the age of eight, and when I was about nine, I read my first favorite historical novel: Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess. I'm drawn to reading books that blend history and ghosts, so I suppose it was natural for me to want to write such a novel.

(CM) Mary Shelley Black!  How'd you come up with adding literature and German culture into the story with a simple name?

(Cat) Mary Shelley Black showed up in my head with her name intact. I don't know why, but that's what she insisted on being called, and it's not always easy to argue with her. Before I even sat down to write the novel, I had been studying the violence and prejudice against German-Americans during WWI, and I learned about the frenzied drive to remove German culture and the German language from the United States. I realized a girl who had been named after the author of Frankenstein--a book with a Swiss German title--would have to be careful about her own name if she discussed its origin out loud. I also felt it would be interesting to give her a family of Swiss German origin. As described in the novel, Swiss immigrants like Mary Shelley's family truly did run dairy farms in the western hills of Portland, Oregon, and anyone with a heritage remotely German would have needed to go the extra mile to prove they were "100% American."

I included a few other nods to Frankenstein throughout In the Shadow of Blackbirds. The book is by no means a retelling of the classic horror novel, but Mary Shelley Black's life is definitely intertwined with Shelley's tale of reanimated life and science.

(CM) In all of your research I'm sure you came across a favorite ghost story from WWI, can you tell us about it?

(Cat) Actually, I didn't come across any ghost tales during my WWI research, although the accounts of haunted human beings who experienced the war were far more chilling than any ghost story. I did a quick check of WWI ghost legends after reading your question, and there are indeed several tales of haunted battle sites and WWI cemeteries in France. I've heard firsthand accounts of people feeling a sense of eeriness at Gettysburg here in the U.S., so I suppose the same would be true at other battlefields across the world, especially ones involving a massive loss of lives.

(CM) Out of all of the characters in your book, which one was your favorite to write?

(Cat) Mary Shelley Black, without a doubt. This book would have been extremely difficult and depressing to write if I didn't pick the right narrator, but seeing this dark, horrific world though Mary Shelley's scientific, optimistic, brutally honest eyes transformed the entire story into something almost magical. I have a soft spot for Stephen, of course, and hope he forgives me for what I put him through in this book. I also thoroughly enjoyed writing Jones and Carlos, two side characters who didn't show up in the novel until a later draft. But if I had to pick just one person, I'd say Mary Shelley is definitely my girl. 

(CM) Can you tell us a little bit about your new book?  (You have no idea how excited I am for it!)

(Cat) Thank you for your excitement! That's encouraging to hear as I experience second-book jitters. :) The novel is called The Cure for Dreaming, and it's about a seventeen-year-old girl in 1900 America. Her father is terrified that she's going to turn into a suffragist and a "modern woman," so he hires a talented young hypnotist to remove rebellious, unfeminine thoughts from her head. Naturally, the cure doesn't go quite as planned. The novel will be available from Amulet Books in Fall 2014...and like In the Shadow of Blackbirds, it will contain historical photographs and illustrations.

(CM) Thank you so much for stopping by and helping us celebrate today Cat!

And now, a GIVEAWAY!!!

Seriously, if you haven't read In the Shadow of Blackbirds, you need to go and get your hands on a copy.  Or you can try your luck at winning one here!  That's right, I'm giving away a beautiful hardback copy of In the Shadow of Blackbirds to one of you lucky guys!  I wish I could give you all a copy, but that takes lots of the money...

The giveaway is international, just make sure that The Book Depository ships to you, before you enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Till next year,

Christianna

*throws confetti*