Author Interview: Cat Patrick

A little about Cat and her writing career so far:

Sure! I've always loved writing, ever since I was very young. I wrote my first story at eight--Dolly the Purple Spotted Dolphin. My mom had it laminated and I was so proud! In college, I majored in journalism, then I ended up going into public relations, but the part of my job I loved best was the writing. I always wrote creatively on the side, be it poetry, short stories or the beginnings of novels. It wasn't until after I had my twins in 2008 that I got the right idea. The concept for FORGOTTEN just struck me one morning when I forgot what I'd been doing in the middle of the activity. I started writing that day, and three months later, sent the book to my top-pick agent. He responded very positively, and we worked together for six months to fine-tune the book. Then it went to auction and sold to Little, Brown in the US, followed by Egmont in the UK. All told, it'll be in 21 territories and Paramount bought the film rights, as well.


For all my readers that haven't read FORGOTTEN can you tell us a little about it?

FORGOTTEN is the story of London Lane, a teen girl who remembers the future instead of the past. The book is about London's plight to navigate life, love and high school with her strange condition, and to solve the mystery of her past so she can move forward with her future.

I love FORGOTTEN. It is one of my favourite books I have read this year. The twists and turns of the book I didn't see coming and oh the romance (I heart Luke) was awesome. FORGOTTEN has got amazing praise from many people. How does it feel when you here how someone loved your book. I can only guess its a great feeling.

It truly never gets old--I get chills every single time someone says they loved my book. Being an author is such a strange thing. It's a very solitary "job"--you sit alone at your computer and make up stories, then you shove them out the door and hope that people like them. Hearing from fans that they connected with something I wrote is the best encouragement I can get. It makes me want to keep writing.

There are lots of different covers for FORGOTTEN as alot of countries have different covers. I really like the UK cover. Is there a particular cover you like?

The UK cover really is amazing--did you know that the model is also the photographer?--but I love each of them for different reasons. France and Australia are so dreamlike and remind me of London's future memories. US is bold and really jumps off the shelves. UK has the windy landscape and eerie setting that speaks to the darker parts of the book. Russia is so distinctive, and have you seen the one from Sweden? Very creepy, in a good way. Those who haven't seen them can check out the covers on my site at http://www.catpatrick.com/media/.

Paramount bought the rights of the book at the beginning of this year. If you could have an input is there any actors/actresses you could see playing London and Luke?

Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) is attached to play London, and I think she's the perfect choice. As for Luke, I'll leave that tough job for the casting director. But based on looks alone, I'd be partial to someone who resembles a young Chris Hemsworth.

I am so excited for you next book Revived. May 8th seems forever away. Can you tell my readers a little about Revived?

Aw, thank you. Yes, I can share the "official" description of the book:

As a little girl, Daisy Appleby was killed in a school bus crash. Moments after the accident, she was brought back to life. A secret government agency has developed a drug called Revive that can bring people back from the dead, and Daisy Appleby, a test subject, has been Revived five times in fifteen years. Daisy takes extraordinary risks, knowing that she can beat death, but each new death also means a new name, a new city, and a new life. When she meets Matt McKean, Daisy begins to question the moral implications of Revive, and as she discovers the agency's true goals, she realizes she's at the center of something much larger -- and more sinister -- than she ever imagined.

Finally why should we read FORGOTTEN?

There are so many great books out there, but I do think that FORGOTTEN's unique, and I've heard that it's a single-sitting read...so it's good for a quick hit of entertainment! More than that, even though it's about a girl with a very strange (and fictional) condition, I really hope that people find London Lane to be an approachable character that readers of all ages can relate to. I still root for her and Luke--and I still get chills at the surprises along the way--when I re-read it. I only hope that people enjoy reading FORGOTTEN as much as I enjoyed writing it.

http://www.catpatrick.com/ 

twitter @seecatwrite

Check out my review of FORGOTTEN here!