The time it was about Odd & True

Posted September 3, 2017 by Stacee in Blog Tours, Giveaways, Interviews | 10 Comments

I’ve been a fan of Cat Winters for a while now.  When I saw the cover for her new book Odd & True, I was instantly in love and couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.  And when I got the email about the blog tour, I couldn’t sign up fast enough.

Before we get to Cat’s interview, let’s check out the book!

Title: Odd & True
Author: Cat Winters
Pub. Date: September 12, 2017
Publisher:  Amulet Books
Pages: 368
Find it: Abrams | Indiebound | B&N | Amazon | Goodreads

Trudchen grew up hearing Odette’s stories of their monster-slaying mother and a magician’s curse. But now that Tru’s older, she’s starting to wonder if her older sister’s tales were just comforting lies, especially because there’s nothing fantastic about her own life—permanently disabled and in constant pain from childhood polio.

In 1909, after a two-year absence, Od reappears with a suitcase supposedly full of weapons and a promise to rescue Tru from the monsters on their way to attack her. But it’s Od who seems haunted by something. And when the sisters’ search for their mother leads them to a face-off with the Leeds Devil, a nightmarish beast that’s wreaking havoc in the Mid-Atlantic states, Tru discovers the peculiar possibility that she and her sister—despite their dark pasts and ordinary appearances—might, indeed, have magic after all.

Sounds good, right?

1. Please give the elevator pitch for Odd & True.

A dark, Edwardian tale of two sisters, family secrets, legends, folk tales, heartbreak, grrl power, and monsters.

2. What sparked the idea?

I read about the sighting of a legendary creature called the Jersey Devil that terrified people across New Jersey and Philadelphia during one week in January 1909. I immediately wanted to write a novel about the mass hysteria that gripped the region because of this supposed creature, but it took me a while to finally figure out how to go about starting such a book. What finally helped was visiting my sister down in Southern California for her birthday in September 2014. We drank tea in a haunted Victorian house, hunted for spirits on a ghost tour in San Diego, and I discussed some of my book ideas with her. Two months later, I sat down on my couch, and the Jersey Devil history mashed together with that visit with my sister and turned into the plot of Odd & True.

3. Why do you love Tru and Od and why should we root for them?

The characters are very much based on the close bond I’ve always shared with my sister. Just like older sister Odette, when I was a kid I told my little sis fantastical tales and talked her into pretending we were embarking on grand adventures. I love Od and Tru because they represent the magic of the childhood I shared with my sister. I hope readers will root for them because they’re two young women who have the odds stacked against them (Tru is a polio survivor who struggles to walk and Od is deeply haunted by her past), and yet they find the courage to stand up for themselves . . . and attempt to save the world in the process.

4. What was the weirdest thing you googled while researching?

The history of death by hatpins. Evidently, ladies’ hatpins turned into a dangerous little means of protection in the early 1900s, and at least one man died from a puncture wound to the heart. Hatpin regulations followed shortly thereafter.

5. Without spoilers, what was your favorite scene to write?

I loved writing the scene of the day of Tru’s birth, which takes place in the third chapter. It’s a combination of gritty reality and a fairytale set in the Old West, told from the point of view of a young child. The chapter flowed easily and really helped me figure out who these characters were and what type of world they came from.

Speed {ish} round:

1. Are you a pantser or a plotter?

I’m a little of both.

2.  What was your last 5 star read?

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, by Mackenzi Lee

3. Is there something specific that you like to eat or drink while writing?

I love drinking hot chocolates at my favorite local coffeehouses while writing.

4. If you could have a tea party with any 3 characters, excluding your own, who would you choose?

Julie from Elizabeth Wein’s Code Name Verity, Auma from the excellent middle-grade novel I’m currently reading, Auma’s Long Run, by Eucabeth Odhiambo, and Death from Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief.  I think the conversation would be heated, passionate, and moving.

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Cat Winters’s critically acclaimed debut novel, In the Shadow of Blackbirds, was named a 2014 Morris Award Finalist, a 2014 Best Fiction for Young Adults pick, a 2013 Bram Stoker Award Nominee, and a School Library Journal Best Book of 2013. Her upcoming novels include The Cure for Dreaming (Amulet Books/Oct. 2014) and The Uninvited (William Morrow/2015), and she’s a contributor to the 2015 YA horror anthology Slasher Girls & Monster Boys. She lives in Portland, Oregon.  Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Tumblr | Pinterest

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Huge thanks to Rockstar Book Tours for the invite and to Cat for taking the time. Make sure you’re checking out the rest of the blog tour for all sorts of goodies and keep scrolling for a giveaway!!

**Good Luck!!**

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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10 responses to “The time it was about Odd & True

  1. Danielle

    I’ve been so interested in this book since I first heard about it! Glad I don’t have that much longer to wait :D

  2. Summer

    I love that this is based in part on the author’s relationship with her sister, and then there are the other elements of the story that seem like it’ll be a perfect Halloween read, I’m looking forward to giving this one a try.

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