Caterpillar Blog Tour Promotional Package and Giveaway!

Caterpillar’s Playlist

It’s no secret in my house that I can’t write with music on; in fact, I really need it to be completely quiet (which is no mean feat with small children.)   However, I do listen to a lot of music while I’m brainstorming, most of which seems to occur in the car.  

When I wrote the first draft of Caterpillar, I was spending a lot of time driving my oldest to camp and my twins to doctor’s appointments and visits with friends and on errands and other things you do with two toddlers.  As it happened, I was listening to a lot of Bjork in that era (I still am—am I dating myself?  Probably.)   There were certain songs that resonated with each of my three main characters, and I still associate the songs with the characters when I happen to hear one of them.  

I Play Dead (Cara) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHiHZ35TPfM

This speaks so much of Cara early on in Caterpillar, who has most of her feelings to overcome her childhood.

Army of Me (Liv) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHiHZ35TPfM

Ah, Liv.  Well, as Cara’s older sister, Liv and Cara share a lot of childhood trauma... except that Liv never had the blessing of an older sister to mitigate some of what was going on with their parents.  Instead of going emotionally blank, as Cara has, Liv’s angry.  Really angry.

Pagan Poetry (Will)   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgFajP3vLro

Will is such a melancholy character when we first meet him, he’s used to a kind of extreme intimacy that he hasn’t been able to experience in... a while... which leads him to Half Moon Bay at the beginning of Caterpillar.  And is there a better song for someone who can literally feel DNA? 

And for Will and Cara together: All is Full of Love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjAoBKagWQA 

I don’t think this one needs explanation ;).  But if you’re reading Chapter Twelve, this is the song I had in mind when I wrote it.

I also listened to the radio in between my Bjork jags, and there were a few radio hits that worked for me:

Paramore: The Only Exception (Cara) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J7J_IWUhls

I admit, it’s an obvious choice.  But this song works for Cara’s relationship with Liv as well as her relationship with Will. 

And Adam Lambert’s Whataya Want from Me (Will)

What can I say?  Will’s an angsty guy.  And this is not only a song sung by angsty Adam Lambert, but it was written by the uber-angsty Pink.  Et voila.

About the author: Kate Oliver is a writer of Young Adult and Middle Grade novels of every variety. Having worked as everything from a professional statistical programmer to a professional student to a professional parent, she now splits her time between writing and wrangling her children just outside of Washington, D.C.

Her first novel, Caterpillar, a sci-fi romance, will be released by MAB Books on April 10, 2012.

Author website | Facebook | Goodreads

Midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop

I'm hosting a midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop from June 20th to June 26th. I'll be giving away a $10 Amazon.com gift certificate. Earn one point each for the following:

1. Follow this blog
2. Comment on this blog
3. Blog about this post
4. Facebook about this post
5. Tweet about this post

Thanks and good luck to all of you! To visit other blogs on this blog hop and enter more contests to win books or gift certificates click on the link below:

bloghop

The Versatile Blogger Award & 1st page contest with an agent!

My friend and fellow writer Lauren Ritz nominated me for the Versatile Blogger award. Thanks Lauren! Here's how it works:


Thank and link back to the person who sent the award.
Write 7 random facts about yourself.
Nominate 7 other bloggers for the award.
My seven random facts are:


1. I ran a marathon without training (much) with some friends when I was in college. I couldn't run for two weeks afterwards, but I placed 5th in my division. 
2. I was homecoming first princess my senior year in high school, but I didn't go to the homecoming dance.
3. I can tie a cherry stem with my tongue. 
4. I love sugar but I'm not supposed to eat it.
5. I fought forest fires one summer while I was in college and loved it!
6. I karate flipped the boy I liked in 3rd grade during a game of kissing tag when he caught me. All the boys chased me into the field but couldn't catch me, so they gave up. I shouldn't have played so hard to get. 
7. I never knew it would be so hard to come up with 7 random facts. 


The 7 bloggers I'm nominating for the award are: 
1. Pat Esden
2. Jack Flacco
3. Connie Keller
4. Daisy Carter
5. Kristin Lenze
6. T.Z. Wallace
7. Ashley Nixon

*Follow this link to find out more about the 1st page with an agent contest!

Angel Eyes Blog Tour

Post Date: June 1st

Angel Eyes: Excerpt One

The knot in my throat is constant. An aching thing. Shallow breaths whisper around it, sting my chapped lips, and leave white smoke monsters in the air. 

It takes them nine seconds to disappear. Nine seconds for the phantoms I’ve created to dissolve into nothingness. 

How long till the one haunting my dreams does the same? 

The absence of an answer makes my hands shake, so I slide the lambskin gloves out of my book bag and put them on. 

If only it were that easy. 

Like glacial masses shoving along, ice travels my veins, chilling my skin and numbing my insides. Three weeks of this biting cold outstrips the severity of my nightmares, but I haven’t suffered enough and I know it. 

“Miss, isn’t this your stop?” The man’s voice skates atop the frozen air. 

I want to answer him, but the words don’t come. A single tear thaws, escapes the confines of my lashes, and races triumphantly down my cheek. It soaks into my knit scarf—an invisible trail marking its life. 

“Miss?” he tries again. “We’re here. We’ve reached Stratus.” 

My legs are stiff, refusing to stand. I just need a minute. I should say something at least—answer him—but the knot in my throat refuses to budge. I raise a gloved hand to wrestle it away. 

“I’m sorry, dear, but the conductor is impatient today. If you don’t exit the train, you’ll have to ride back to Portland with us.” 

I turn toward the aisle and look at the poor man. He’s sixty at least, with a tuft of gray hair and an oversized bow tie. The kind you only see in the movies. He, too, is wearing gloves, and it’s a small comfort to know I’m not the only one chilled. His face wrinkles into a million lines, and the corners of his mouth lift. 

“Of course, if you’d like to return with the train, you’re more than welcome. I could use the company.” He gestures to row after row of empty seats. 

“No,” I murmur, standing quickly. I cannot return with this train. Not now. Not to the place where it happened. “You’re right. This is my stop.” I gather my bags and sink deep into my parka before stepping onto the platform. 

Why is everything so cold? 

Shannon Dittemore has an overactive imagination and a passion for truth. Her lifelong journey to combine the two is responsible for a stint at Portland Bible College, performances with local theater companies, and a focus on youth and young adult ministry. The daughter of one preacher and the wife of another, she spends her days imagining things unseen and chasing her two children around their home in Northern California. Angel Eyes is her first novel.

Website | Twitter | Pinterest | Facebook

320 pages

Expected publication: May 29th 2012 by Thomas Nelson Fiction 

Goodreads

Once you’ve seen, you can’t unsee. Everything changes when you’ve looked at the world through . . . 
ANGEL EYES 

Brielle’s a ballerina who went to the city to chase her dreams and found tragedy instead. She’s come home to shabby little Stratus, Oregon, to live with her grief and her guilt . . . and the incredible, numbing cold she can’t seem to shake. 

Jake’s the new guy at school. The boy next door with burning hands and an unbelievable gift that targets him for corruption. 

Something more than fate has brought them together. An evil bigger than both of them lurks in the shadows nearby, hiding in plain sight. Two angels stand guard, unsure what’s going to happen. And a beauty brighter than Jake or Brielle has ever seen is calling them to join the battle in a realm where all human choices start. 

A realm that only angels and demons—and Brielle—can perceive.