I'm thrilled today to have Cat Winters on the blog chatting about her new book,
The Cure for Dreaming. You probably know that I absolutely loved her debut,
In the Shadow of Blackbirds, so to say I'm excited to help her spread the word about this new book is an understatement.
First, here's a bit about the book:
The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters.
Published: October 14, 2014.
Published by: Amulet Books.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Olivia Mead is a headstrong, independent girl—a suffragist—in an age that prefers its girls to be docile. It’s 1900 in Oregon, and Olivia’s father, concerned that she’s headed for trouble, convinces a stage mesmerist to try to hypnotize the rebellion out of her. But the hypnotist, an intriguing young man named Henri Reverie, gives her a terrible gift instead: she’s able to see people’s true natures, manifesting as visions of darkness and goodness, while also unable to speak her true thoughts out loud. These supernatural challenges only make Olivia more determined to speak her mind, and so she’s drawn into a dangerous relationship with the hypnotist and his mysterious motives, all while secretly fighting for the rights of women. Winters breathes new life into history once again with an atmospheric, vividly real story, including archival photos and art from the period throughout.
And now welcome Cat!
Jess: Can you Twitter Pitch The Cure
for Dreaming (140 characters or less)?
Cat: In 1900 America, a man hires a
young hypnotist to cure his daughter, a budding suffragist, of her
rebellious thoughts and dreams.
J: What would you say are main
character Olivia's best and worst traits? Would Olivia agree with
your answer?
C: Olivia’s best traits are her
compassion and her ability to grow stronger under difficult
circumstances. Her worst trait is misjudging people and making
assumptions based on appearances alone, which changes as she comes to
view people’s true natures under hypnosis. By the end of the novel,
she would likely agree that she was always too quick to evaluate
people before getting to know them.
J: Interesting. I think that's something we've all been guilty of at some point or another, so that's definitely a relatable trait for her to have.
Which character from TCfD other than
Olivia are you most excited for readers to meet?
C: Henri Reverie, my young stage
hypnotist. I won’t say too much about him so you can discover his
secrets throughout the novel, but he appears in the first chapter as
a dashing young performer with a French-Canadian accent who leaps out
of a cloud of smoke on a stage. Olivia initially thinks he looks like
the devil.
J: Oooh, I'm intrigued! And a French-Canadian accent, eh? Interesting choice! ;)
What was your favourite part of the
book to write?
C: Even though I loved creating all of
my atmospheric and emotional scenes, my favorite ones to write
involved Olivia riding her bicycle through town. In
turn-of-the-century America, as well as other parts of the Western
World, women gained independence after the invention of the “safety
bicycle,” with its two equal-sized wheels (as opposed to earlier
bicycles with a giant wheel in front and a small one in back).
Suddenly, females were able to ride around town without chaperones,
getting exercise, feeling good about themselves. Olivia loves tooling
around the streets of her hometown of Portland, Oregon, and I loved
riding around with her. After focusing on such dark moments in both
IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS and THE CURE FOR DREAMING, it felt so
refreshing to allow one of my characters to soar through the air and
simply enjoy herself. My absolute favorite scene in the novel is one
in which she’s pedaling through town with a young man hanging on
behind her. I feel it encapsulates the sheer joy of being young.
J: What was the strangest or most
interesting thing you researched for TCfD?
C: I loved reading about the horrors of
Victorian dentistry—the gags used to pry open patients' mouths,
public laughing gas demonstrations, the use of leeches to relieve
inflamed gums, etc. Olivia’s father is a dentist, and she worries
he wants to extract her dreams from her head the same way he enjoys
pulling teeth out of people’s mouths (see the excerpt below).
J: Ohhh my goodness. Horrors is right. Dentistry was so primitive back then in comparison to what we have now. And people today are scared of the dentists!
How did the publication journey for
TCfD differ from that of your debut, In the Shadow of Blackbirds?
C: THE CURE FOR DREAMING ended up being
a more difficult novel to write, and Amulet Books actually took
longer acquiring it than they did with IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS.
The entire second half of the book kept changing. It started off
dark, dark, dark, then it switched to something too light, and after
my editor and I got through with it, we found a middle ground. I’m
extremely proud of the results.
J: Did you change anything about your
writing process for this novel after having written your debut?
C: This novel ended up being shorter
than my debut, simply because I learned the skill of weeding out
unnecessary parts. The original manuscript of IN THE SHADOW OF
BLACKBIRDS was a huge, overflowing mess that gradually got pared
down. All of my books now seem to be shorter. I’ve learned how to
stay focused on the main story at hand.
J: That's probably a good skill to have. Time-saving for you, at the very least.
Can you share a favourite quote from
TCfD?
C: “You actually hired this person”—I
pointed toward the still-seated hypnotist—“to extract my thoughts
in your operatory, as if my brain were a decayed thing, like Mr.
Dibbs’s disgusting bicuspid? Do you know how cruel and horrifying
this is?”
J: In keeping with our theme here, are
there any sophomore novels you've loved recently or are looking
forward to?
C: I’m really looking forward to
reading Carrie Mesrobian’s PERFECTLY GOOD WHITE BOY. Her debut
novel, SEX & VIOLENCE, blew me away. I feel it’s a book all
writers should read when contemplating how to capture the elusive
quality of “voice.”
J: You're not the first to mention that one here. Sounds like one that I should be picking up right away!
Can you share a little bit about
your next project(s)?
C: I’m thrilled to say that I have
two novels and one anthology under contract, with publication dates
in 2015 and 2016. Here’s a little bit about each of them.
THE UNINVITED (William
Morrow/HarperCollins, Summer 2015): My adult novel debut marks my
return to 1918 America, when the Spanish influenza and WWI disheveled
lives. A young woman makes a break from her family’s home for the
first time in her life after her father and brother murder a
German-American in their small Illinois town. It’s also a ghost
story.
SLASHER GIRLS & MONSTER BOYS
(Dial/Penguin, Fall 2015): I have an as-of-yet undisclosed short
story appearing in this YA horror anthology that also includes new
fiction from April Genevieve Tucholke, A.G. Howard, Megan Shepherd,
Leigh Bardugo, Marie Lu, Carrie Ryan, Nova Ren Suma, Stefan Bachman,
Jay Kristoff, Kendare Blake, and several others.
THE STEEP AND THORNY WAY (Amulet
Books/Abrams, Spring 2016): My third YA novel is a HAMLET-inspired
tale set in the backwoods of Oregon in 1923. A biracial girl deals
with Prohibition, the KKK, and the murder of her father in a region
of America that has turned “less than kind.” Another ghost story.
I’ll include updates and reveal
covers at my website, http://www.catwinters.com.
Thank you so much for hosting me,
Jessica!
J: So much to look forward too! How exciting! Thank you, Cat!
About the author:
Cat Winters was born and raised in Southern California, near
Disneyland, which may explain her love of haunted mansions, bygone
eras, and fantasylands. She received degrees in drama and English
from the University of California, Irvine, and formerly worked in
publishing.
Her critically acclaimed debut novel,
In the
Shadow of Blackbirds, was named a 2014 Morris Award Finalist, a
School Library Journal Best Book of 2013, a 2014 Best Fiction for
Young Adults pick, and a 2013 Bram Stoker Award Nominee. Her upcoming
books include
The Cure for Dreaming (Amulet Books/October
2014),
The Uninvited (William Morrow/Summer 2015), and
The
Steep and Thorny Way (Amulet Books/Spring 2016).
Cat lives
in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and two kids.
Buy
The Cure for Dreaming:
Amazon //
Barnes & Noble //
Chapters Indigo //
IndieBound //
The Book Depository
Or order a signed copy from Cat's local indie,
Powell's!
Cat has very kindly offered up a copy of the
new paperback of In the Shadow of Blackbirds (with the Morris Award finalist seal on it!) to one very lucky winner from the
US or Canada! Trust me when I say you definitely want this book. All you have to do to enter is
leave a comment on this feature and make sure to include some way for me to contact you (email address or Twitter handle, preferably).
Enter by Wednesday, October 29th for your chance to win this fabulous book, and get out and buy
The Cure for Dreaming!
Some Rules (aka the not so fun but important part):
~ This giveaway is open to residents of
US and Canada only (void where prohibited).
~ No P.O. boxes.
~ Must be 13 or older to enter.
~ Winner will be chosen randomly and contacted. The winner has
48 hours to respond, otherwise they forfeit their prize and I will choose another winner, who must abide by the same rules.
~ Cat and I are not responsible for lost or damaged packages.
~
No cheating! In this case, I have the right to disqualify entries as I see fit.
~ By entering the giveaway, you are agreeing to these rules.
Good luck!
