I am practically beaming with happiness right now okay?! Let me introduce you to my second soon-to-be-published novel!
If you remember from when I announced A Thousand Perfect Notes back in October, I said it was a 2-book deal. And here is news of my sECOND SON. My second novel is called The Boy Who Steals Houses and it’s coming out in April 2019, with Hachette Children’s / Orchard UK! Which is actually less than a year away already.
I’m growin’ up so fast omg hold me.
Now it is still so so early so I’m not going to say a lot (!!) but I’ll do a fun little Q&A for this post and basically continue beaming until I outshine the sun. I know it looks like, “WOW Cait is coming out with all these books so fast!!??!” but trust me there’s been 7 years of work behind this and quite a few sacrifices to the trees and a criminal amount of chocolate.
But I’m so so happy and my heart is so full. There were so many times I nearly quit and screamed myself into another dimension…but here I am. Author of two books. That you will soon be able to read. And I just…my current state is: !!!!!
THE BOY WHO STEALS HOUSES
Can two broken boys find their perfect home?
Sam is only fifteen but he and his autistic older brother, Avery, have been abandoned by every relative he’s ever known. Now Sam’s trying to build a new life for them. He survives by breaking into empty houses when their owners are away, until one day he’s caught out when a family returns home. To his amazement this large, chaotic family takes him under their wing – each teenager assuming Sam is a friend of another sibling. Sam finds himself inextricably caught up in their life, and falling for the beautiful Moxie.
But Sam has a secret, and his past is about to catch up with him.
Goodreads Book Depository Waterstones Amazon UK Pinterest Board!
To be clear, on one has asked me anything yet. But I am prepared. Hence here is a presumptuous Q&A where I will answer questions no one asked.
Q: What’s the title?
A: The Boy Who Steals Houses!
Q: Why is this vaguely familiar to me, a keen observer of your blog.
A: Because, you clever finch, you might remember me talking about this project back in 2016 when I wrote it for NaNoWriMo! It was a book I finished in 3 DAYS and I was pretty excited about that. I never knew if it’d end up being an actual published novel but look!! look!! I’m so happy I can’t even explain !!!
Q: So is this a sequel to A Thousand Perfect Notes??
A: It is not. It is a standalone, but it’s in the same world as ATPN and it’s set 1 year later. In fact Beck and August from ATPN go to the same school as Sam and Avery from TBWSH.
This is page 18 in A Thousand Perfect Notes…
I am ridiculously pleased with myself and my Easter Eggs, ok. RIDICULOUSLY PLEASED. The scheming here from me is wild.
Q: Can we call agree TBWSH is a horrible acronym and looks like mouthwash.
A: Yep. I’m gonna go ahead and agree.
Q: Also tell me about the title.
A: Can you believe I, the infamous horrific titler, actually TITLED THIS ONE MYSELF. I’m so proud. (FYI A Thousand Perfect Notes was named by my agent! I originally called it Tremolo because I cannot title.)
Q: How do you steal a whole house.
A: You know what? You’ll have to wait and see.
Q: Will there be ARCs?
A: I assume so but it is waaay too early. I have literally only just sent back an early round of edits. This isn’t quite even book-shaped yet.
Q: So do you have a favourite between your two sons now?
A: Nooooo. I mean, I love them both to death and each has a special place in my heart. But TBWSH has definitely stolen (har har) my heart and it’s one I can’t ever stop thinking about. Sam and Avery are the softest cinnamon sons, who also make such bad decisions I have no idea how they’re still alive. This book is dark. It’s very raw and honest. It’s extremely special to me.
Q: Are there dragons this time????
A: um, still no
Q: Is there cake?
A: YES. Actually, funny story: when I wrote this, I was living alone (my sister doesn’t count as a person because she was there but useless in the kitchen) for a month and basically living off sandwiches and brownie because apparently cooking is hard and I am small and tired. In the end there was brownie in like every third chapter of TBWSH. It’s not quite that bad now, but the whole book is an ode to brownie.
Q: Will I cry tho. Is it happier or sadder than ATPN????
A: Dude, you know it is sad. You already know. And it is just as dark as ATPN…
Q: What’s with all the yellow?
A: Yellow is a really important colour in the book! Also I’m not sure if the protagonist, Sam, is a Hufflepuff or Gryffindor…I will get back to you on that. And also, this is a genderbent Goldilocks retelling!
Q: So you are writing about autism.
A: Yes! There is an autistic character in here from an autistic author. And look, I just want to smile in a very deviously satisfied way to all the people who’ve told me that autistic authors DON’T get published. They do! Hello! I know I am very lucky, but I’ve also worked monstrously hard and I’m not undermining that by saying it’s all luck and timing. And while this book has an autistic secondary character in it (Avery), it isn’t actually about autism. Because autistic kids get to have plots and narratives too. This also isn’t the “usual” autism narrative you see. Avery isn’t a math genius, he has a lot of stims/tics, and he gives me a chance to talk about the autistic kids who aren’t low or high functioning and how the world either demands too much or too little from them.
Q: What does this mean for the blog then?
A: You get to put up with me mentioning two books all the freaking time. Please don’t go.
Q: When will we see the cover?
A: I haven’t even seen the cover! Probably not for quite a while!
Q: Anything else you want to spill? Look I can see you shimmying around. Just spill it.
A: OKAY!! So if you’ve preordered a copy of A Thousand Perfect Notes, there is actually a sneak peek (half of the first chapter!!) of The Boy Who Steals Houses in the back!! YOU GET TO MEET MY SONS, SAM AND AVERY, VERY SOON. In 19 days to be exact. And then you get to wait 320 days for the rest. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Q: What else goes down in this book?!
A: There are two homeless brothers + also a very very big messy chaotic family + a lot of banter + the cutest awkward romance ever + more bad decisions than is healthy for anyone tbh + a glitter catastrophe like you’ve never seen + one of the biggest character-casts I’ve written + it GETS DARK.
Q: Tell me something cool.
A: um on Waterstones it’s being compared to “Perfect for fans of Jandy Nelson and Jennifer Niven.” And I just !! That’s pretty neat! Don’t mind me as I explode into the sun!