Guest Post by Cat Winters, Author of In the Shadow of Blackbirds + Giveaway

To say that I'm honored to share with you a guest post by Cat Winters, author of the most amazing, unforgettable debut, In the Shadow of Blackbirds, would not only be an understatement, and also completely unnecessary. I reviewed the book last week and I think I've made my enthusiasm loud and clear. William C. Morris and Printz were mentioned... more than once. 

One of the best thing about In the Shadow of Blackbirds is the amount of research that went into it. Naturally, I wanted to know more about it. So without further ado...

Release date: April 2nd 2013

Publisher: Abrams
Hardcover, 400 pages

Buy: The Book Depository

In 1918, the world seems on the verge of apocalypse. Americans roam the streets in gauze masks to ward off the deadly Spanish influenza, and the government ships young men to the front lines of a brutal war, creating an atmosphere of fear and confusion. Sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches as desperate mourners flock to séances and spirit photographers for comfort, but she herself has never believed in ghosts. During her bleakest moment, however, she’s forced to rethink her entire way of looking at life and death, for her first love—a boy who died in battle—returns in spirit form. But what does he want from her?

Featuring haunting archival early-twentieth-century photographs, this is a tense, romantic story set in a past that is eerily like our own time.

10 Ways I Researched the Past for In the Shadow of Blackbirds

Writing historical fiction is a delicate endeavor. If you’re not one-hundred-percent accurate with your details, historical experts will scoff at your research. If you go overboard with historical information, some readers will get bored and remember why they don’t normally pick up historical fiction.

As a reader, I most enjoy historical novels when an author plunges me headfirst into a vivid historical world that’s alive with sensory images and characters who ring true for their era. I love feeling like I’m reading the memoirs of a person who’s reliving an unforgettable moment in time.

Here are ten ways I explored 1918 America in hopes that my protagonist, Mary Shelley Black (named after the author Mary Shelley), would come across as a believable resident of her dark and difficult era.

1. Non-Fiction Books: I bought and checked out books that covered everything from the struggles of German-Americans during World War I to near-death experiences. I now have several bookshelves dedicated to In the Shadow of Blackbirds research materials.  

2. WWI Letters: My novel’s male love interest, Stephen Embers, writes letters from his training camp and from the battlefields of France. To make those sections sound as realistic as possible, I studied the language of actual letters American soldiers wrote to their loved ones back home.

3. Personal accounts of the 1918 Spanish influenza: The real-life illness portrayed in the novel was a mysterious and catastrophic flu that killed more people than the war itself. The personal accounts of those who endured the pandemic sound as though they’re written by survivors of the apocalypse. I strove to portray their gripping sense of despair.

4. Photographs: I found an abundance of photos from the war, the flu, historic San Diego and Portland (the cities featured in the book), as well as the spirit photography that resulted when people desperately searched for lost loved ones on the “other side.” Because photography plays a crucial role in the novel, I included ten haunting archival photos in the book.

5. Music: You can learn a lot about an era from the music that was produced during it, and most 1918 songs dealt with war, war, war!

6. Movies: I watched silent comedies, WWI footage, war propaganda films, clips of men suffering from shell shock, and newsreels showing end-of-war celebrations.

7. Documentaries: There’s an excellent American Experience video called Influenza 1918 (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/influenza/) that gave me several ideas for my portrayal of the Spanish flu, including the strange and sad phenomenon of flu survivors’ hair turning white and falling out.

8. Walking in my characters’ footsteps: Mary Shelley Black moves from Portland, Oregon, to San Diego during the novel, and I’m a former San Diegan who moved to Oregon. I visited Portland sites that would have been part of Mary Shelley’s life, and I traveled back to California to photograph locations such as San Diego’s historic Balboa Park, which plays a role in two chapters.

9. Method writing: I once wrote a scene while wearing a flu mask, to get a feel for what my main character was experiencing when she was wearing her mask for long periods of time.

10. Literature: The World War I poetry of the Lost Generation is a chilling but vital read if you’re writing a book about the people who grew up during this time period. Katherine Anne Porter’s Pale Horse, Pale Rider, a semi-autobiographic novella about the Spanish flu, was also an inspiration to me. That’s where I first learned about ambulances being hard to come by during the pandemic.

To learn more about the historical world of In the Shadow of Blackbirds—and to watch 1918 movies and find links to websites that offer further information—please head to www.blackbirdsnovel.com.

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 debut novel, In the Shadow of Blackbirds—a YA ghost tale set during the World War I era—is now available from Amulet Books/ABRAMS. She currently lives outside of Portland, Oregon. Visit her online on her website,  Twitter and Facebook. 

If I could, I'd gladly order a copy for everyone, that's how much I love this book. Instead, I'll send one of you a copy from The Book Depository. The giveaway is, of course, international.

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