Out with the Old

The close of one year and the opening of the next always leaves me in a restless state of mind. I remember a year ago, on the eve of 2010 and the excitement with which I approached the year of my greatest dream coming true - the publication of my novel, Nightshade.

Any expectations I had were far exceeded by the experience that was 2010. I am so grateful to Penguin and InkWell for the amazing work they did to make my dreams a reality. And I will never have enough thanks to all the readers (that's you!!) who took Calla and her pack into their hearts.

2011 brings more excitement and I'd just like to wish you a Happy New Year and thank you again for being with me on the adventures that each new day brings!!

Pub Date Across the Pond!

Hooray!!! Nightshade is officially out in the UK today!

Thanks so much to the amazing team at Atom Books - I'm ecstatic that Nightshade is making friends in England, Scotland and beyond even as I write this message.

If you haven't yet checked out the UK Nightshade web site, you should as it is soooo very pretty.

Since it's very, very wintry from Minnesota to New York to London I thought this might be an appropriate song to celebrate the day. I hope you'll brave the elements to go pick up your own copy of Nightshade and give it a nice, cozy new home!

Signing and Some Winners!

It's the post-Christmas lull. The space of days between Christmas and New Year's always strikes me as a bit odd. It's a time of winding down and reflecting on the year - but also of anticipation, looking toward what's to come in 2011.

If you're looking for something to do and happen to be in Northern Wisconsin, you can stop by Stage North in Washburn (on beautiful Lake Superior) for my reading and signing tonight at 7.

I also have some winners to announce from last week's contests. Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by!

The winners of Catherine Fisher's giveaway are:

Lexie

and

Ammy

The winners of Lisa Desrochers' giveaway of a signed copy of Personal Demons is:

Libby

Congrats to the winners! You'll be getting an email from me in the next few days asking for your mailing deets.

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all the magic, joy, and wonder of the season!!

Q&A and a Contest!

It's Christmas Eve Day and Catherine Fisher was kind enough to answer my questions. Here's the interview and if you leave a comment you might find that Santa brings you Catherine's book (albeit slightly after the holiday)!

There are so many fascinating elements at work in this series, but let’s start with the obvious one: how did you come up with a living prison?

I have had the idea of a sentient building for some time now. It's not a new idea, but buildings often feel as if they have a personality, and might speak in different ways. In my RELICMASTER set I have a section where the heroine, Carys gets trapped in a building which talks to her. It's an abandoned, drowned palace, and I enjoyed making its voice both sarcastic and neurotic. That was just one scene, but it probably laid the foundations (!) for Incarceron.

I loved the way your world was both historical and futuristic – what inspired that blend of an artificially engineered past and a dystopian future?

As you know, it's hard to think back into the processes of writing and see where things came from. It had to be a future world because of the Prison's capabilities, and then the idea of the frozen past of the Era just seemed a good contrast As I elaborated on it I realised it threw upall sorts of interesting images. Both Finn and Claudia think the other's world is a paradise, and find out it's hell. So there was this past/present, hell/heaven idea running through which I enjoyed.

Do you think we too often idealize the past (as has occurred in an extreme way in Incarceron)?

I think we do idealize the past in some ways. Certainly there is a sort of nostalgia for the old days and a whole industry here in Britain based around heritage. On the other hand it's easy to think the past was totally alien to us, but in many ways people don't change. I often visit prehistoric sites like Stonehenge and Avebury, and think about how the people who built them had the same basic concerns that we do. And we're living in their buildings all the time.

If you were placed in Incarceron, what part of the prison would you hope to land in?

I would definitely not want to be in Incarceron! If I was, maybe Blaise's tower would be the safest and most interesting place. Though there are whole swathes of the Prison that even I don't know about.

The second book in your series, Sapphique, is titled after one of the novel’s characters. That’s such a unique name, where did it come from and does it have a special meaning that you could share?

I invented the name Sapphique out of various bits of words- as you say, unique might be one of them, also sapphire, opaque, words I like. It's a feminine sounding name but then I made the character male. I wanted a one word title that would intrigue the reader.

What has been your favorite part of writing this story?

I enjoyed the Chaingang scene and the bits with Jared and the Queen. I also like Rix and his crazy patchbooks. Keiro is always fun to write. And Claudia's changing relationship with her father. But like all books, the enjoyment usually comes after the work!

Thanks for the great questions Andrea, and I really enjoyed Nightshade.

Best wishes Catherine.

Thank you, Catherine!! And remember, readers, leave a comment below for a chance to win!!

UK Blog Tour

Christmas is almost here - I can hardly believe it! We've just passed the Winter Solstice, which means each day brings us a little more sunlight - considering that this time of year in Minnesota it gets dark at 4 p.m. I find that thought more than a little bit comforting.

Exciting things afoot on the other side of the Atlantic. Atom Books has kicked off the countdown to Nightshade with a fabulous blog tour! You can read excerpts from the book and soon some awesome UK (and AU/NZ) blogs will feature interviews and guests post. There's also a contest to 'cast' Calla - and I can't wait to see who readers think would best portray her on screen.

You can also check out the Atom's fabulous Nightshade web site www.nightshadeseries.co.uk and download some gorgeous wallpaper.

Though the official release date of Nightshade in the UK isn't until December 28, I'm getting reports that copies have been sighted at WH Smiths and Waterstones. So if you're looking for a last minute Christmas gift? (hint, hint)

Merry Christmas and I hope Santa brings whatever you've been wishing for!!!

Guest Post: Catherine Fisher!

Today I'm delighted to welcome Catherine Fisher, author of Incarceron and Sapphique!

Twists and turns.

I don't know if this goes for everyone, but as a reader I enjoy being made to work. I like books where things are going on that I can't quite grasp, and I have to stop and muse a bit sometimes. I like it when the writer plays tricks on me. One brilliant example is a book I really admire, Christopher Priest's novel The Prestige. About a third into it I gradually began to sense that I was being hoaxed, or manipulated by the author. Read it, and you'll see what I mean. If you manage to work out what's happening, you, as reader, feel good about yourself and about the book too. And if you don't even notice, and the author completely floors you with some revelation later on, there's a strange pleasure in that too, I think.

With Incarceron and Sapphique I wanted to set up parameters and then blow them up. I wanted to place a few small explosive charges that would stun the reader as they travel through the book. If you've read them, you might guess which things I mean. Sometimes even I can't see these coming, which is good, as it means I can't give them away by leaving clues. What Attia announces about Claudia is one of those. I was as surprised as I hope the reader is.

It's probably quite perverse to enjoy leading the reader down one path and then whisking the very ground from under his/her feet, but it's fun.

The danger is that there's a fine line between being pleasantly puzzled or surprised and being totally lost and therefore bewildered. I know I tread that line sometimes, maybe at the end of Sapphique. I just hope readers still with me by then will be prepared for anything. I really

think that books should be an adventure, and challenge the reader and make them engage. That things which seem true may not be. That the boy tied across the transit lines may actually be part of the ambush. That the writer, who seems so nice, and to be telling a straightforward story, may be spinning you a whole sticky web of lies. Just like Finn.