Guest Post: Spider Brains by Susan Wingate

Ten Things You May Not Know About Susan Wingate & YA Fiction ‘Spider Brains’

By Susan Wingate

Thank you for hosting me at Books Books the Magical Fruit!

Okay, ten interesting things about SPIDER BRAINS: A Love Story or myself. And, I think I'll be mixing it up a bit with both--my book and myself because, honestly, they will be forever linked.

1. I think I'm an extremist but not in the usual sense of the word. In 1997, I moved from the very hot and very overpopulated city of Phoenix, Arizona where I lived in a small house on a small city plot. I moved to the Pacific Northwest to a place with a population of around 8,500 year round that jumps up to about 12,000 during the summer months. Our house sits on 5 lush, inland acres of country situated on a small island off the coast of Washington State.

2. Because I moved to the country, I began collecting animals. I have 2 dogs, 12 cats and 14 birds. Plus, we treat the wildlife that live on the property as if they were pets--raccoons, deer, fox, crows, mallards, wood ducks, eagles... you name it! We encourage them to live among us.

3. I named our first "collection" of wild cats--the first litter--after food. Razberry Jammy, PNut Budda, Apricot Jelly and Marmalade.

4. I fashioned the cat, Delilah in SPIDER BRAINS after Miss PNut Budda. Delilah is Susie Speider's pussy. (We must say "pussy" because, really, it's only short for pussy cat, now, isn't it?)

PNut Budda acts, reacts and moves in such a wonderful cat-tish way that she ends up in many of my books. She also stars as Georgette Carlisle's cat in The Bobby's Diner Series.

5. Susie Speider in SPIDER BRAINS, is a huge fan of Morticia from the Addam's Family.

6. Susie is actually super intelligent but she has ADD, attention-deficit disorder which makes her seem scatter-brained.

7. Susie's late father hunted and Susie hated that aspect of her father.

8. Willa Speider, Susies mom, works at the headquarters for Costco in Poughkeepsie, NY which is close to where Susie and Willa live, in Ronkonkoma.

9. Susie has a great head for science and nature. Because of this fact, her next two years of science projects will be
a) incubating and hatching an egg for her junior year, and
b) building an ant farm for her senior year.

10. Susie Speider lives inside one of Susan Wingate's favorite boots--the black ones with spotted fur.

About the Author:
Most recently, Susan Wingate’s novels, SPIDER BRAINS and DROWNING each reached Amazon Bestseller status in 2012. DROWNING won the 2011 Forward National Literature Award for Drama. She would love for you to read her books. You can find them all under the tab on this site labeled “Books”. SUSAN has written eleven novels, two short story collections, a few plays, one screenplay and tons of poems. Her latest 2011 novel DROWNING (contemporary women’s fiction), won 1st place in the 2011 Forward National Literature Award and also won a finalist award for the category of Women’s Fiction/Chick Lit in the 2011 International Book Awards. A vibrant public speaker, Susan offers inspiring, motivational talks about the craft of writing, publishing and marketing, and how to survive this extremely volatile (e-)Publishing industry. She presents these lectures for private groups and at writing conferences, libraries and bookstores around the country.
To get your copy of SPIDER BRAINS by Susan Wingate: http://www.amazon.com/Spider-Brains-Love-Story-ebook/dp/B007KDAS0C/ref=la_B003CMMERK_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1339336080&sr=1-6
To view all books by Susan Wingate: http://www.amazon.com/Susan-Wingate/e/B003CMMERK/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
To learn more about Susan, go to her website: http://www.susanwingate.com
Visit Susan Wingate on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/susanwingate
Like Susan Wingate on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susanwingate.author
Follow Susan Wingate on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/susanwingate/susan-wingate-s-books/

About the Book:
If one were to bake the story SPIDER BRAINS into a cake, they should sprinkle in Charlotte’s Web, toss in one Jellicle Cat, then stir in a little Spiderman—but as a girl and not in that goofy latex outfit! A tale of hope, transformation, transition and inspiration.
After her father’s death last year and, now, in the throes of a gnarly teacher’s whim as she thinks ahead to college (or really just dreams of getting into college), a small black arachnid bites fifteen-year-old Susie Speider on the finger. The bite sends her nights into fantastical dreams about taking revenge on a teacher who, ultimately, holds her college aspirations in the palm of her cold calloused hand. But, after Susie figures out the dreams are real, she ups the ante by visiting the teacher regularly… as the spider! And, oh, by the way! Who is that boy spider munching on flies, hiding over there in the corner? A story of loss and forgiveness, tolerance and kindness, Susie Speider deals with the death of her father while Matt Ryder–the new neighbor boy–has just lost his mother. Ultimately, SPIDER BRAINS poses some important questions about how to treat Attention-Deficit-Disorder.