CHERIE PRIEST

'Cherie Priest' (born 30 July 1975) is an American novelist who best known for her debut novel ''Four and Twenty Blackbirds'', which was published in 2003.
In addition to her novels Priest publishes two online blogs: one personal, one professional, and is at the head of the growing presence of authors online, being in contact with many others via their blogs. It is partially due to this online "networking" that her first novel was such a cult success, having been pushed by many authors to their readers.

Contents

Biography

Style

Writing

Eden Moore Trilogy

Four & Twenty Blackbirds

Wings To The Kingdom

Not Flesh Nor Feathers

Awards

Trivia

Bibliography

Novels

Short Stories & Other Work

References

External links

Biography

Priest is a Florida native, born in 1975. In 2002 she graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with an M.A. in Rhetoric/Professional writing, and a B.A. from Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, TN.
She lives, with her husband, in Seattle, Washington.

Style

Priest's published writing style thus far falls into the Southern Gothic genre as well as the Horror genre. She has also written several short stories, most of which can be categorized as Horror or Science fiction.
The 2005 edition of her book ''Four and Twenty Blackbirds,'' represents an example of the emerging genre of blog fiction, because a substantial part of the work was serialized and promoted on her blog at LiveJournal. It was through this serialization that she obtained a large amount of interest in her work from both fans and industry professionals. It is common for Priest to post teasers of work in progress, or whole chapters of finished work, on her blog to promote her work.

Writing

In 2003 her first novel Four & Twenty Blackbirds was published by Marietta Publishing. This first edition featured a short story entitled ''Horror at Snodgrass Hill'', which the author says was added after layout changes to the first edition required more text.
After signing a three book deal with Tor Books, in October of 2005 the novel was re-released in a revised and expanded edition by Tor; and a second novel, the sequel Wings to the Kingdom, is scheduled to arrive in October of 2006. A third novel ''Not Flesh Nor Feathers'' will complete the trilogy in '07.
She has sold two other novels to Tor that are separate to her initial three book contract: an urban fantasy called ''Fathom'' and a "trashy vampire novel", ''Awake Into Darkness''.
A "mosaic novel" for Subterranean Press is soon to be released. ''Dreadful Skin'' will be Priest's first hardcover, in a limited edition (1500 copies) hardcover, signed by the author. It will feature eight full-page black-and-white illustrations by Mark Geyer (The Green Mile).
Priest has mentioned that she has also started work on young adult project called ''The Ado Ward''^[1], but details on this project are minimal and nothing more has been heard from Priest herself.

Eden Moore Trilogy

The three books she initially sold to Tor Books, including ''Four & Twenty Blackbirds'' compose what she and her fans call ''The Eden Moore Trilogy'', although there is not a clearly defined trilogy story arc, after the lead character of the novels.
Eden is a psychic who possesses various abilities, chief amongst them the ability to see, and communicate with, ghosts. The first novel deals with her understanding and realizing her gifts by solving a mystery related to her ancestry, and the quest to find out more information about her mother her father.
The novels all, so far, feature cover artwork by John Jude Palencar, with the 2003 edition of ''Four and Twenty Blackbirds'' featuring a photographic cover by Aric Annear.

Four & Twenty Blackbirds

Main articles: Four and Twenty Blackbirds (novel)

The first novel introduces us to Eden, first as a child, later as a 20-something adult. We are shown her abilities when, as a child, she sees the ghosts of three sisters. These three spirits appear to try to protect and guide her through-out her journey in the novel, a journey that she takes to find out her unknown ancestry and discover her deceased mothers story.
Her quest takes her to the swamps of Florida via Monks, crotchety old women, witchcraft, and voodoo.

Wings To The Kingdom

Main articles: Wings To The Kingdom

Not Flesh Nor Feathers

Not much is known about the plot of this novel, not even if it will finish Edens story or allow it to continue into a longer series. It is expected to be published in the second half of 2007.

Awards

In March 2006, the novel was shortlisted for the fiction category of the 2006 Lulu Blooker Prize^[2]: a literary prize, sponsored by Lulu.com, for books based on blogs, or blooks. The novel won^[3], and became the first ever winner in that category.

Trivia

★ Is a reviewer for the Bram Stoker award-winning website Chiaroscuro

★ ''Four & Twenty'' was the title of her original (now deleted) LiveJournal.

★ ''"Pine Breeze"'', the abandoned and ruined institution featured in ''Four & Twenty Blackbirds'' actually did exist in the state described in the book in the early 90's. It was torn down completely by the late 90's.

★ After she noted the visual similarity between Warren Ellis and the Hellboy version of Rasputin, Warren Ellis pronounced ''"you shall now call me SexRasputin!"''^[4] She, and others, do so.

★ A regular attendee and panelist at DragonCon.

★ Enjoys exploring abandoned buildings, and is an advocate of doing so safely and within the bounds of law.

Bibliography

Novels

★ ''Four and Twenty Blackbirds'', 2003 Marietta Publishing. ISBN 1-892669-22-6

★ ''Four and Twenty Blackbirds'', re-released in a revised, expanded edition 2005 Tor. ISBN 0-7653-1308-1

★ ''Wings to the Kingdom'', released October 2006, Tor Books. ISBN 0-7653-1309-X

★ ''Dreadful Skin'', released March 2007, Subterranean Press. ISBN 1-59606-080-8

★ ''Not Flesh Nor Feathers'', expected second half of 2007, Tor.

★ ''Fathom'', sold to Tor Books. Expected 2008.

★ ''Awake Into Darkness'', sold to Tor Books. Expected 2009

Short Stories & Other Work

★ ''Little Wards'', a short story. Published in Edge of Propinquity. June 2006

★ ''The Immigrant'', a short story, part of ''Mythic #2'', October 2006 Mythic Delirium Books. ISBN 0-8095-5756-8

★ ''Bad Sushi'', a short story, sold to Apex Digest. Expected 2006.

★ ''Wishbones'', a short story, part of ''Aegri Somnia''. December 2006 Apex Digest. ISBN 0-9788676-2-9 (paperback), ISBN 0-9788676-3-7 (hardback)

References

1. http://www.apexdigest.com/Online/interview060802.shtml
2. http://lulublookerprize.typepad.com/lulu_blooker_blog/2006/03/the_shortlist.html
3. http://lulublookerprize.typepad.com/lulu_blooker_blog/2006/04/and_the_winners.html
4. http://wicked-wish.livejournal.com/255249.html?thread=5655825#t5655825

External links

★ Cherie Priest's Official Site

★ Cherie Priest's LiveJournal

★ Editorial Reviews on Amazon.com

★ Reviews at Barnes & Noble