welcome blog: Forgotten Blog Tour: Delightful Debutantes with Cat Patrick!

Thanks to Cat for stopping by today as part of the Forgotten blog tour. If you don't already know, Forgotten is one of my favourite books of 2011, and if you want to know why I love it so much, you can read my review: here.

Read on to find out more about the inspiration behind Forgotten, Cat's path to publication, and that all important movie cast question...

Forgotten revolves around a girl who can remember her future, but not her past. It’s such a clever idea, and leaves the reader with a lot of food for thought. Where did you get the inspiration to write the story?

I got the idea in November 2008 when my twin daughters were five months old. They were still waking up in the night, and sleep deprived as I was, I had new baby mush brain. I was in my kitchen, doing something and I forgot what I was doing in the middle of the activity. For a moment there, I really felt like I had amnesia…then I wondered what it would be like to have amnesia as a mother…to not remember your children. I considered where it might be even harder to forget, like high school. Then, instead of remembering what I’d been doing, I got the idea for London’s forward memory. I began writing Forgotten that very day.

I read about your path to publication, and it sounds like a wild ride! From pitching an agent and getting a response in seven minutes(!!), to international deals, and now a possible movie too! Tell me a little about your path to publication and how your life has changed since you sold Forgotten.

I’ve wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember, and I’ve always written as a hobby, doing other jobs to pay the bills. But something about having twins empowered me to truly believe I could be published. The right idea popped into my brain at the right time, and I started writing.

It took me about three months to finish the first draft of Forgotten…or rather, to *almost* finish it. Nearly at the end, I was feeling very excited about the book and I took a break to research my “wish list” of literary agents. I needed someone who liked YA but also liked weird YA. I cobbled together a list of 5-7 agents and set it aside. But the list stared me down, daring me to act. I figured shooting a pitch to the top guy on my list wouldn’t hurt: surely I’d finish the book well before he responded. Except that, as you say, he responded in seven minutes. I’ve come to realize after years of working with him now that my agent is notoriously fast—surely all of his authors can say the same—so for him, it wasn’t unusual. But for the industry, I think it’s unique. Agent Dan and I worked together for about six months to fine tune Forgotten, then in August 2009, it sold at auction with six publishers bidding. I happily ended up with Little, Brown in the U.S.; they bought my first and second novels. Egmont in the UK signed on next, and other publishers around the world helped make my dream a reality.

Since then, it’s been a series of edits and cover decisions and marketing and writing book two and interviews and successes and mini failures (like my first bad review, ouch!). But to be honest, my life hasn’t changed all that much. My number one priority is my girls so I spend the majority of each day playing dress-up and building with LEGO bricks and going to parks because they are growing so fast and I don’t want to miss a second of it. But Hubby and I have also had to develop a system for work writing time—because it’s not just a hobby anymore—so I tend to roll out of bed and work until he leaves in the mornings, and spend at least part of Saturdays locked up in my office.

Chace Crawford as Luke? Yum!

So, I just mentioned Forgotten, the movie, which Paramount has acquired the rights to, and to which Hailee Steinfeld is attached to play London. I loved the relationship between London and Luke in Forgotten, and I’d love to know who you’d like to play the role of Luke in the movie?

That’s such a tough one! I don’t envy the person in charge of casting the movie. Luke is both extremely hot and incredibly cool…I picture someone with the vibe of William Moseley or Chance Crawford playing him. He’s also a little “guy next door” like Logan Lerman and Chris Massoglia.

And while we’re talking about Luke (who so many girls are going to love!), can you name some of your all time favourite boys in books?

Well, I loved Gale in The Hunger Games until Collins made me fall hard for Peeta. And how can I not say Edward Cullen? I mean, holy sexy! I also think Sam in Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver series is crush-worthy as a sweet, smart, shoe-gazing musician.

Can you tell me the last book you read that was just so good it kept you up all night?

Matched by Ally Condie kept me up late; I loved it. I can’t wait for the next one in the series to come out!

Finally, can you tell me what you are working on next? All I know is that your next book is out in June 2012, but I don’t know anything else. I’ve spoken to a lot of people who all fell in love with Forgotten, and we’d love to know what you have in store for us in your next book!

I wish I could share more details but unfortunately, I can’t yet (but check www.catpatrick.com, Facebook and Twitter for updates). All I can say at this point is that it’s not a sequel to Forgotten, but that like Forgotten, it’s about an otherwise normal girl with an unusual life. My favorite thing to write about is “strange in Normalville,” and my second novel falls into that category.