#BIR2012: REVIVED by Cat Patrick - Interview & Giveaway

Welcome to day four of Best I've Read! 

Be sure to check the Best I've Read blog to check out today's top authors: SHADOW AND BONE by Leigh Bardugo & THE IMMORTAL RULES and THE LOST PRINCE by Julie Kagawa. 

I'm featuring the lovely Cat Patrick here today for her amazing book, REVIVED. There is just something about the way Cat weaves her stories that leave me breathless and always wanting more. I've never been disappointed by one of her books. She is definitely someone I look up to as an aspiring author and I'd pretty much read anything she writes. Here's a little about REVIVED: 

REVIVED by Cat Patrick

Released: May 8, 2012

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Find Cat Online: Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook 

From Goodreads: It started with a bus crash.

Daisy Appleby was a little girl when it happened, and she barely remembers the accident or being brought back to life. At that moment, though, she became one of the first subjects in a covert government program that tests a drug called Revive.

Now fifteen, Daisy has died and been Revived five times. Each death means a new name, a new city, a new identity. The only constant in Daisy's life is constant change.

Then Daisy meets Matt and Audrey McKean, charismatic siblings who quickly become her first real friends. But if she's ever to have a normal life, Daisy must escape from an experiment that's much larger--and more sinister--than she ever imagined.

From its striking first chapter to its emotionally charged ending, Cat Patrick's Revived is a riveting story about what happens when life and death collide.

***Interview with Cat Patrick***

CT: If you ever needed to be revived, what do you predict the cause of your death would have been?

CP: You might be surprised to know that I’ve never been asked that question, and to be honest, I’m a little freaked out by it. I’ve just typed several options, only to delete them, fearful of life—or death—imitating interview.  Yes, I am superstitious borderline bonkers.

CT: In REVIVED, Daisy has been more than a little reckless with her life because she knows Revive can bring her back. Her attitude toward protecting life changes throughout the book, especially after she meets Matt. Was it challenging for you to show the readers how much Daisy had learned?

CP: Writing meaningful character arcs is always a challenge but once I had the right plot, Daisy’s fell into place. Originally, I struggled—Revived started out as almost a road trip book—but once I got Daisy settled in Omaha, it was easier for her to learn and grow and for me to explain her evolution to readers. When she was traveling around, she rarely had enough interaction with any of the other characters for them to influence such significant growth.

CT: I loved Mason's character and the way he was always so reliably there for Daisy. Did you always intend for him to be both the fill-in father but also someone who truly cared about Daisy?

CP: Thank you, and great question. In early drafts, Mason was a bit less fatherly and was downright gruff in some places. Those interactions seemed wrong, and I softened him up. And I think it paid off; readers seem to enjoy him. With my other book, Forgotten, the love interest, Luke, is the most mentioned supporting character. With Revived, it's all about Mason.

CT:  As a writer, I understand that the first draft of a book often looks completely different than the final draft. What is one major difference from the first draft to the final that you can share with us?

CP: In early drafts, Mason’s partner was a man, and there was just something off about that. Something missing. I changed his partner to a woman, Cassie, and immediately that something became apparent.  I don’t want to say what it was for fear of spoiling the book for readers, but it was a pretty significant plot point.

CT: Which came to you first, Daisy or the plot? Was there a moment when they both meshed together and you just knew you had a story worth writing?

CP: The drug came first, honestly. I read about a potential drug that could jolt stroke patients back to normal around the time we lost a family friend to cancer. I wondered what it would be like if there were a drug that could bring people back from the dead. And if you were a teenager with access to such a drug, who would you be? The plot developed from there.

***Giveaway***

Thanks to Little, Brown I am giving away 5 copies of REVIVED. Open to U.S. mailing addresses only. Subject to all Best I've Read giveaway rules. Enter using the Rafflecopter below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway