Scarlett Dedd Winner

The winner of Scarlett Dedd is

Ayra

A big thanks to everyone who took part:)

Book Trailer of the Month: September

Scarlett Dedd by Cathy Brett.

I love Cathy Brett's illustrations so I really love the way they have been incorporated into the trailer for her book. I just love it!



You can check out my review (and giveaway) here and a guest post from Cathy Brett here. I'm leaving the giveaway open for one more day just in case this trailer tempts anyone else into entering...

Guest Post: Cathy Brett

I'm really thrilled to present a guest post from Cathy Brett, the author of Ember Fury and Scarlett Dedd...

Hello. I’m Cathy Brett, author. Mmm. Author? No, it still doesn’t sound right. Exciting? Yes. Thrilling? Obviously. But, it still feels very new and rather absurd to be calling myself an author. An actual, published, professional author. Surely not. But, ‘Hello, I’m Cathy Brett, illustrator?’ That’s better. Well, not better exactly, but more familiar, because I’ve been an illustrator, an artist (or wanted to be one) for as long as I can remember - since I was able to chew the corners of my picture books and hold a crayon. Art is what I do and who I am. Of course, I’ve always loved books and was one of those kids who preferred reading to almost any other occupation - sometimes a book a day in the school holidays! But books with pictures were always my faves. In fact, I was devastated when I first opened a ‘grown-up’ book and saw that there weren’t any. How could this be? They were the best bits! Why would you take away the best bits? Poor adults, I thought, to be so deprived. I wanted to write to the publishers and tell them that ‘Catch 22’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Catcher in the Rye’ were pretty amazing but would be so much cooler if they had some gorgeous drawings in them of Elizabeth and Darcy and Yossarian and Holden.

So, although I entered young-adulthood still loving books, I started to love art more. And design. And movies. And the gorgeous glossy photographs in magazines. My fledgling career as an illustrator took me into the exciting worlds of fashion and advertising and retail. I travelled the world, attended glamorous parties and fashion shows, mixed with creatives and designers and image-makers. It never occurred to me that book publishing was where I’d eventually end up and where I’d finally find my niche as an ‘author’.

Actually, I’d almost forgotten that there were books with pictures, until my fashionable, creative friends started to get preggers and squeeze out rugrats. I began to visit the alien territory of the children’s department of bookshops and flick through page after page of what I now realised were the most brilliant illustration masterpieces. Why hadn’t I noticed them before, I wondered? A whole load of new artists entered my top ten fave list, like Oliver Jeffers, Dave McKean and Chris Riddell. These guys were miles better than those fancy-pants fashion illustrators. And I wanted to be one of them.

That’s when I realised that children’s book illustration meant drawing kids. I know you’re saying to yourself, ‘duh! course it means that, you twit!’ but, I wasn’t really into kids (found them a bit irritating, actually), so drawing them was much more difficult than I thought. But, I learned how, created a few cool characters and even had a go at writing some picture books myself - which were rubbish! Because, what I really wanted to write was the sort of thing I loved to read - teen fiction. You see, I get teenagers. I remember being one... vividly! It was the most intense, horrible, exhilarating, emotional and amazing time of my life. The problem was, although teen fiction was totally awesome, it didn’t have pictures. I wasn’t going to let that stop me!

Fourteen-year-old angry emo, ‘Ember Fury’, popped into one of my dreams and started setting fire to things, so, naturally, when I woke up I drew her. Then Ember’s adventures began to play like a movie in my head and her angsty, roller-coaster-ride-story became a novel, an illustrated novel... but with a difference. Because, not only did I want to create teen fiction with pictures, I also wanted to have fun with the type and the layout, just like in my favourite picture books. Every image and every choice of font had to enhance the story and intensify the emotional experience. I knew my books would have to compete with all the other sources of visual entertainment available to my readers.

I KNOW everyone says books are great because you make up your own pictures, but they used to say that about radio until the telly came along, didn’t they? And in today’s image-filled world where young adults are the most visually sophisticated young adults of all time (having access to awesome TV, movies, animation, computer games, blogs, apps and photo sites like Flicker) it’s simply bonkers not to give them illustrated fiction. And let’s not stop there. With the launch of ebooks and the iPad what’s to stop us having colour, sound, links, animation, videos, games and interactive narratives? I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait!

So, now that my second (illustrated teen) book, ‘Scarlett Dedd’, is being published and I’m working on my third and fourth, I suppose I’d better get used to being Cathy Brett, author. But add the word ‘illustrator’ as well, because that’s what I am and have always been.
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Thanks Cathy! You can check out Cathy Brett's website here. My review of Scarlett Dedd is here - which includes a chance to win a copy of the book:)

Review and Giveaway: Scarlett Dedd by Cathy Brett.

For review: Headline. Published 2 September 2010
From Goodreads: You're dead Scarlett...Previously a poor taste jibe from school frenemies, now a statement of fact. Scarlett is absolutely mortified (in more ways than one) to discover that she's accidentally killed herself while trying to get out of a school trip. Even worse, she's taken her entire family with her. Life as a ghost is pretty dull - if only some of her friends were dead too...

When Scarlett accidentally kills herself and her whole family in a botched attempt to make herself ill in order to avoid a week long school trip, she finds being dead is a bit lonely! Missing her friends so badly she starts to think it would be a great idea if she could arrange it so they can join her...

I liked how the story was written in third person. This worked well as it meant we get to hear from all the characters - I really liked the banter between her friends as well as Scarlett's interactions with her family. We also get the added bonus of Scarlett's blog - I loved these excerpts and her voice. The story itself was good fun and I loved all the ghostly shenanigans - all superbly brought to life by Brett's wonderful illustrations.

I really love the combination of text and illustrations and think it works extraordinarily well to create a book that is unique and appealing. There is definitely a quirkiness in the overall package, as well as in Cathy Brett's writing that makes this really fun to read. I must say I did get a few strange looks while I was reading pages 164 and 165 and had to turn the book around in circles to read it but I really enjoyed that aspect of it - it made the book feel interactive and a slightly different reading experience.

I'm hoping this might become a series as I would love to catch up with Scarlett again. In the meantime, I think I will have to get myself a copy of Ember Fury to enjoy!

Thanks to Headline I have an extra copy of Scarlett Dedd to giveaway. If you would like to win a copy please fill in the form below. Contest details are below:)

Contest is open to EVERYONE.
You don't need to be a follower of my blog to enter.
Deadline is 31 August 2010.
Prize will be sent out by me.

Good Luck:)

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED AND THE WINNER WILL BE NOTIFIED SHORTLY.