What's Ahead for 2016

This past year was another extremely good one for me in terms of my books. I was fortunate to sell another adult novel to HarperCollins and two more YA novels to Amulet Books. I celebrated the release of The Uninvited and Slasher Girls & Monster Boys and worked like mad on my upcoming YA novel, The Steep and Thorny Way.

As a result of all that hard work and luck in 2015, here's what you can expect from me in 2016.

The 2016 Releases

The Steep and Thorny Way
Coming March 8, 2016
Amulet Books / Abrams
Hardcover, ISBN 9781419719158

This is my Hamlet-inspired 1920s novel about a biracial girl named Hanalee Denney, who's struggling to solve the mysteries of her father's death. I'm extremely proud of the book, which has already received three starred reviews.   

★ “A fast-paced read with multiple twists, the novel delivers a history lesson wrapped inside a murder mystery and ghost story . . . A riveting story of survival, determination, love, and friendship.” —Kirkus, starred review

(I'll post the rest of the reviews after they appear in their respective publications.)

MORE INFO / PRE-ORDER

Yesternight
Coming Fall 2016
William Morrow/HarperCollins

From Publishers Marketplace:

Author of IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS and THE CURE FOR DREAMING Cat Winters's YESTERNIGHT, in 1925, a trailblazing female psychologist unlocks the mystery behind a child's claims of reincarnation while also confronting questions in her own childhood, again to Lucia Macro at William Morrow, by Barbara Poelle at the Irene Goodman Agency (World).

The Events

I have numerous events in the works for 2016, including several book festivals across the Untied States. I'll probably be able to start announcing more events in January and February 2016. For now, here are the appearances I can discuss.

Saturday, January 23, 2016, 9:30 am to Noon
The Great Critique
The Dining Room, TaborSpace
5441 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR
I'll be one of several authors critiquing manuscripts. Registration required. Presented by the Oregon chapter of SCBWI. 

Thursday, March 10, 2016, 7:00 pm
Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing
3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton, OR
Launch party for THE STEEP AND THORNY WAY.

Saturday, April 2, 2016, 9:00 am-4:30 pm
Literary Orange
Irvine Marriott
18000 Von Karman Ave., Irvine, CA
Details to follow.

Sunday, April 3, 2016, 1:00 pm
Barnes & Noble - Redlands
Citrus Plaza Shopping Center, Redlands, CA
Reading and signing for THE STEEP AND THORNY WAY.

Saturday, May 7, 2016
Oregon Writing Festival
Portland State University, Portland, OR
Details to follow.

Keep an eye on my Events page for updates.

The Novels-in-Progress

Odd & True
Coming Spring 2017
Amulet Books / Abrams

A dark Edwardian adventure involving two sisters, deadly beasts, and the war between reality and imagination.
 
(Official synopsis to come.)




I'll also start writing a yet-to-be-decided, yet-to-be-titled YA novel in the second half of 2016.

I will be extremely busy in the coming year, but I'm so utterly grateful that I get to make a living doing what I've loved to do ever since I was a child.

Happy Holidays!

Happy New Year!

Thank you, all of you wonderful readers, for taking a chance on my strange, dark tales of love, loss, survival, and the supernatural!

Starred Review from Kirkus!

I just learned that Kirkus gave The Steep and Thorny Way a prestigious starred review! Here's what they had to say about the novel:

★  “A fast-paced read with multiple twists, the novel delivers a history lesson wrapped inside a murder mystery and ghost story. Winters deftly captures the many injustices faced by marginalized people in the years following World War I as well as a glimmer of hope for the better America to come. A riveting story of survival, determination, love, and friendship.”

—Kirkus, starred review

Kirkus stars are “awarded to books of exceptional merit,” according to their website, Kirkus.com. Kirkus is also known for being extremely tough on books, so I'm thrilled beyond words that they bestowed this honor upon The Steep and Thorny Way. This review gives me great hope for the novel, which Amulet Books will release March 8, 2016 (three months from today!).

PREORDER: 

Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Powell's • IndieBound •
 BAM •  Amazon UK • Book Depository • Indigo

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!

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