Behind the shape-shifting novel, The Turning

Cover of The Turning by Helen Ellis

Helen Ellis is the author of Eating The Cheshire Cat: A Novel, a Southern Gothic about three teenage girls and the Alabama Society that twisted them. The novel was picked for B&N Discover Great New Writers, ABA Booksense 76, and the Los Angeles Times and Southern Critics Circle Best Book of the Year. The book is currently being optioned for film by director Amy Redford. Ellis' latest novel is The Turning Book 1: What Curiosity Kills.

About the book: Mary Richards is a normal 16-year-old girl living in Manhattan. Well, almost normal. I mean, she goes to private school and lives on the Upper East Side with her adoptive family. And she’s also slowly transforming into a cat. So, maybe she’s not so normal… Not only is she maturing into a woman, but she also has to try and hide her physical metamorphosis. Thankfully, Mary discovers that she isn’t alone. A whole race of cat people prowls the streets of Manhattan at night, including Mary’s long-time crush, Nick.

Aside from her heightened feline senses, hanging out with Nick is the best thing about discovering her inner kitty. However, Mary is shocked to realize that not only is she a member of this special race, but she could decide the outcome of a city-wide turf war that has been raging for generations. Will Mary embrace her powerful feline side and become a pack leader? Or will she decide to go back to being a normal teenage girl. Can she land on her feet or will curiosity be her downfall?

I had the wonderful opportunity to interview Ellis about her latest novel and what readers can expect from the series...

Tell us about your path to publication.
My mother went into the delivery room reading a paperback mystery. Seriously. Oh, you don’t want me to start at the very beginning? Well, my path to The Turning was a very short one. My editor, Dan Ehrenhaft, put the Yellow Brick Road at my feet. He asked me what I was working on. I showed him ninety pages. He bought it. That might sound easy, and it was.

What I failed to mention was that Dan asked me what I was working on once before, ten years ago soon after my first novel, Eating the Cheshire Cat, was published. I didn’t have anything suitable for YA. And then in the decade that followed, I didn’t have anything that any publisher thought anyone out there would want to read. After a third novel was put in a drawer, I considered giving up writing, but then I had a dream…

What was the inspiration behind writing the shape-shifting novel, The Turning?
I had a dream that I looked into my medicine cabinet mirror and my face was not my own. It was inhuman. And very, very fuzzy.

The Turning is the first of a series. What else can readers expect from this series?
The series will follow Mary “Kitty” Richards as she struggles with the physical and emotional transformations of “the turning,” and the New York City turf war that goes along with it. Which side does she chose: Domestic or Stray? Which boy does she trust: Nick or Yoon? What fate: Queen or quitter? And then there are the general obstacles of being a sixteen year-old girl. The turning is considered by some to be the ultimate “awkward phase.”

How long did it take for The Turning to go from idea to publication and what challenges did you encounter along the way?
The Turning took just over a year to go from idea to publication. I honestly fell ass-backwards into the deal. I wrote as fast as I could. Stephen King says in his memoir, On Writing: “Outrun the self doubt.” I’m still panting.

I can hardly believe that the story has moved from my unconsciousness to the page, but, for me, what’s even more difficult to believe is that I’m blogging about it. This is my very first blog interview. Up until this week, I’d never Face-booked, tweeted, or made a video diary. I’m a bit of a Luddite: no cell phone, no ATM card. Never had them, never will. But, I’ll admit, I am having fun sharing my old-fashioned ways (circa 1986) in cyber space. Check out Diary of a Luddite on my website www.helenelliswrites.com where I’ll teach you how to use a rotary phone, typewriter, radio…the list will go on and on!

Additional Information:
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire (May 1, 2010)
ISBN-10: 1402238614
ISBN-13: 978-1402238611