Posts Tagged ‘Apocalypsies’
I always like to start of the recap with some of Lin Oliver‘s Conference stats. I’ll be honest, it’s soooo much funnier when she lays them out, but I do still think they are interesting even when she’s not delivering.
The 41st Annual SCBWI Summer Conference had…
1,234 Attendees
46 States (Yes, the Dakotas and a few more were missing again!)
15 Countries
411 Published and the remainder Pre-published
171 Males (Yes–we stole their bathroom again.)
941 Females
122 Undeclared (They had more bathroom options than anyone LOL!)
This year’s opening ceremonies included an Olympic theme and we even had a torch match to help kick things off. And kicking things off meant we got to hear about TIMELESS books from the great Arthur Levine.
The question was asked…Should we look at a book with timelessness in mind? Do you have an answer? Opinion?
For this Keynote, we looked at the books that spanned Arthur’s career–the ones he felt were timeless.
*GOODNIGHT GORILLA
*MIRETTE ON THE HIGHWIRE
*THE ROUGH-FACED GIRL
*THE GOLDEN COMPASS
*WHEN SHE WAS GOOD
*HARRY POTTER
*HOW ARE YOU PEELING?
*MILLICENT MIN
*THE ARRIVAL
*THE SNOW DAY
Throughout the whole conference, this theme was revisited in many other keynotes and sessions, all with differing opinions on what makes something timeless, but almost everyone seemed to agree that it couldn’t and shouldn’t be predicted.
*PREPARE FOR SHAMELESS PLUG*
On that note, I will not be so bold as to say that my friend Mike Jung‘s up and coming Arthur Levine book will be timeless–but I’m pretty sure that GEEKS, GIRLS AND SECRET IDENTITIES is going to be made of awesome!!!!!
*BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING*
The second keynote of the morning was NEVER ABANDON IMAGINATION by the very funny Tony Diterlizzi.
Tony started out with an amazing quote…
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”
― Albert Einstein
Ummm how did I live my life not knowing that one?
But here are some of Tony’s best lines too…
*Imagination has to be instilled at a very young age. In my opinion–when they pop out!
*Each year, as I get better at my craft, I’m another year further away from the kid in me.
*All that Dorothy, Wendy and Alice ever wanted was to go home. There is a longing to be in a place that makes us feel safe and loved.
*I’m a Jedi. (On Star Wars love…all the best ones are *wink*)
It’s Apocalypsie Time!!!!!
One of my buds from the debut group of authors called the APOCALYPSIES is the lovely Lissa Price, author of STARTERS. And she had a wonderful breakout session called HOW TO APPLY SCREENWRITING TECHNIQUES TO MAKE ANY BOOK BETTER.
Lissa helped explain high concept movies and books.
*High concept is to be thought of as an internal phrase, not something we should be using in queries or throwing around with editors. It’s how we need to visualize our own work to make it very competitive.
*High concept creates an “ah-ha” moment in one or two sentences–often with a touch of emotion and/or irony.
Lissa then became hands on with the crowd, helping them to tweak pitches and first lines to their best advantage. She was also very clear that not all books are high concept and literary works can be equally as successful, but how they capture the attention of agents, editors and readers is very different.
And there may have been some Apocalypsie goofing around that Lissa had to deal with also LOL!
Next up was Sara Shepard talking about SCANDALS, LIES AND MURDERS: HOW TO MAINTAIN MOMENTUM IN A SERIES.
Sara is the author of the PRETTY LITTLE LIARS and LYING GAMES series. Here are some of her best bits…
*Know who your murder is before you set out.
*Always incorporate a red herring into the series.
*Leave a bit to chance. The narrator has to be a little bit unreliable, especially is suspicion is cast upon them.
*You have to be willing to change.
The next Keynote of the day was Patricia MacLachlan–REVISING MY LIFE.
I really didn’t take many notes, I sort of just soaked her up and enjoyed every minute of her speech. Aside from writing HILARIOUS!!!!! and putting hearts all over the page, I captured this one to keep…
Childhood is powerful–children experience life along side us. We are all children. The child knows all…
My next break out session was with Ruta Sepetys. I’m going to warn you. You are going to be hearing a lot about Ruta from me. I am going to refrain from gushing like a fool right off the bat, but consider yourself warned. You may want to come to the blog prepared for full-on-hero worship because it is inevitable.
Ruta–don’t hate me. I have many flattering pics of you and I fully plan to use them, but this one just captured how funny and accessible you were and it made me smile. This breakout session, MEDIA PREP: AUTHOR TIPS FOR RADIO, TV AND PRINT COVERAGE was part of the PRO Track–classes designed for the student who has different needs now that they are published.
I now have an endless amount of information to contemplate. Here are some of the broad strokes…
*Develop message points
*Distill them down to sound bytes
*Bridges allow you to communicate your message with a less than perfect question
*Pivots allow you to take something negative and turn it positive
*Never wing it…EVER!
The last Keynote of the day was HOW A DUMBASS LIKE ME GOT 100 BOOKS PUBLISHED by Dan Gutman. As you might imagine, this speech was funny, irreverent and very smart. Dan started off by giving us a list of advice starting with…
#13 Ignore all advice
#12 Join SCBWI (which negates number 13)
#11 Be persistent
#10 Try everything
#9 Don’t get stuck in a rut
#8 Become famous (like Madonna and then you can write anything and someone will print it LOL!)
#7 Find something really popular and then write something better
#6 Never write on an empty stomach (use paper)
#5 Break the rules
#4 Promote the hell out of yourself
#3 Take the Bull by the horns
#2 Use your strengths
#1 There is NO SECRET…when you do what you love, you love what you do.
Time for the Pizza Party and Book Sale honoring SCBWI Published Attendees. *yum and squee* Next year I’ll have pizza AND a book!!!!
Jodi Moore holding down the fort while Verla Kay had to step away. Seriously, doesn’t every one want to be Verla, mom of the Blue Boards?
Woo hoo!!! Got to meet fellow Apocalypsie Robin Mellom (Author of DITCHED) with her new MG novel THE CLASSROOM. Already loved DITCHED so had to get a copy of this one for me and the boys!!!!
I didn’t list the event times like I sometimes do, but in case you’re wondering…Jodi and I, registration and the Starbucks line were in full swing by 7:30 am and the Book Sale finished at 7:30pm. Somewhere after that hunted down dinner before I stayed up too late talking. For clarity, there was a quick break for lunch and I got to share a meal with my lovely RA for SCBWI Eastern Upstate New York—Nancy Castaldo. (Fun pics coming in future installments LOL!)
Don’t forget that I have an on going contest to win a pre-order of TOUCHING THE SURFACE right HERE! The contest will be open the whole time I’m recapping the conference. Stop over to win!!!
Are you tired yet? Any presenters that I’ve convinced you that you must see? Oh, my friend, you ain’t seen nothing yet! Be back on Friday with more.
Tags: Apocalypsies, Arthur Levine, Blue Boards, Contest, Dan Gutman, Ditched, Geeks, Girls and Secret Identities, Jodi Moore, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, LA12SCBWI, Lin Oliver, Lissa Price, Mike Jung, Nancy Castaldo, Patricia MacLachlan, Robin Mellom, Ruta Sepetys, Sara Shepard, SCBWI, SCBWI Eastern Upstate New York, Starters, The Classroom, Tony Diterlizzi, Touching the Surface, Verla Kay
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****THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED****
It’s contest time! I’ve got an ARC of PUSHING THE LIMITS by fellow Apocalypsie Katie McGarry to give away. And it’s a GREAT ONE!!!!!
PUSHING THE LIMITS by Katie McGarry
Available July 31, 2012–TOMORROW!
“I won’t tell anyone, Echo. I promise.” Noah tucked a curl behind my ear. It had been so long since someone touched me like he did. Why did it have to be Noah Hutchins? His dark brown eyes shifted to my covered arms. “You didn’t do that-did you? It was done to you?” No one ever asked that question. They stared. They whispered. They laughed. But they never asked.
So wrong for each other…and yet so right.
No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with “freaky” scars on her arms. Even Echo can’t remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo’s world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she’ll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.
You can order PUSHING THE LIMITS here…
*Barnes & Noble
*Amazon
*IndieBound
Kimberly’s Review of PUSHING THE LIMITS:
I am crushing on Noah Hutchins in a big way. Nothing gets me like a bad boys who’s really a good guy at heart. The best of both worlds. But I loved Echo too. (And her name and what it meant to the story) She tugged at my heart strings and I was constantly rooting for her, so sympathetic to her pain. What a fabulous, well spun story. It never shied away from very dark topics, yet left me smiling more times than I can count with it’s smartly placed humor. I couldn’t put this book down and I can’t wait to get my hands on DARE YOU TO because the supporting characters in PUSHING THE LIMITS were wonderful and I absolutely want to learn more about them.
KATIE MCGARRY was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, and reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan.
You can find out more about Katie McGarry and PUSHING THE LIMITS here…
*Website/Blog
*Twitter
*Facebook
*Goodreads
*The Apocalypsies
*YA Fusion
In order to win the ARC of PUSHING THE LIMITS you need to tell me what limits do you push? Is there an a aspect of your life where you’re unusually brave? Willing to step outside of your comfort zone? What are you willing to be daring for? This contest is open internationally and don’t forget to include your contact information in the comment–you can’t win if I can’t reach you.
Tags: Apocalypsies, Book Review, Contest, Katie McGarry, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Pushing the Limits, YA Books
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So…funny story. Several years I ago I sat next to K.M. Walton at the NY SCBWI Writer’s Intensive. It was my second table of the day and we were right next to each other–unpublished, eager, sponges–looking for a way to get noticed or take our writing to the next level. We each read our page and a half of text and got our critiques. After the event was over, we stayed at the table to talk for a couple of minutes, admiring each other’s writing.
Fast forward to 2011 when I sold TOUCHING THE SURFACE to Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Who do I discover is also a brand new, soon to be debut author with me? You guessed it (but in all honesty I made it easy) it was K. M. Walton. Both of our manuscripts from the Intensives were going to be published to the same imprint LOL!
That wonderful manuscript that I got a sneak peek at that day sooooo long ago has turned into the YA novel CRACKED.
CRACKED by K.M. Walton
Victor hates his life. He’s relentlessly bullied at school and his parents ridicule him for not being perfect. He’s tired of being weak, so he takes a bottle of his mother’s sleeping pills — only to wake up in the hospital.
Bull is angry, and takes all of his rage out on Victor. He’s the opposite of weak. And he’s tired of his grandfather’s drunken beatings, so he tries to defend himself with a loaded gun.
When Victor and Bull end up as roommates in the same psych ward, things go from bad to worse. Until they discover they just might have something in common: a reason to live.
You can purchase a copy of CRACKED here…
*Barnes & Noble
*Amazon
*IndieBound
Kimberly Sabatini’s Review of CRACKED…
It’s a simple as that.
Bullying is a pervasive issue in our society today and more people need to be reading a book like this. Why? What makes this one special? I have a few reasons why I think this is a stand out. But first, I’ll be honest with you… K. M. Walton is a friend, an Apocalypsie and a fellow author at Simon Pulse. I sort of wish this wasn’t true because there will be many people that assume that my respect and love for CRACKED is influenced by those connections. I’d like to take a moment to convince you why this isn’t true.
In the past I’ve been a special education teacher that specialized in children with emotional and behavioral issues. My father was a counselor in a maximum security prison. The first year I taught I can remember coming home and asking my dad…”Where is the line?” He looked at me funny, wanting to know what line I was talking about. Then I explained that the children I worked with were obviously victims. Their issues were clearly connected to the things that had happened to them in their lives. But what I wanted to know was if they couldn’t be helped, what day would they stop being victims and what day would they start to be bullies, offenders, abusers, prisoners? Suddenly everything was a blur to me. When might these children go from being someone I loved and wanted to help to being someone who might turn around to someone else and do the same things that were done to them? This thought and these children have weighed heavy on my heart all my life.
K.M. Walton doesn’t give me the ultimate answer to this bigger than life problem, but she throws ropes to her readers–giving them something to hold on to. More important, she raises question and she does it will great skill. I don’t think any one book or one person can give us the answers to such a large hole in humanity, but this is the kind of book that asks us to dig deeper as readers. It is a book that crakes creates sparks–the hope of illumination. It renews the fire within me to make the world a better, safer place–to stand up and have a voice. It helps me to put the people around me into perspective, so I can better navigate those who hurt. Because bullying doesn’t happen to just children. It reminds me that the world is not black and white–but grey–full of shades of truth that blur the lines between right and wrong, good and bad and ultimately life or death.
I highly recommend CRACKED by K.M. Walton and if you’re moved by the writing of John Green, Laurie Halse Anderson and K.L. Going, then I think you have a new hero to add to your bookshelves. If you read CRACKED I would love to hear what you thought. <3
K.M. Walton is the oldest of four girls and her three younger sisters are her best friends. Gag, right? But she’s serious. She openly challenges you to challenge her sisters’ awesomeness because there’s no way you’d win.
Moving on.
She has a mom, who is her other best friend. More gagging. Again, she says there isn’t a better (or cooler, or smarter, or more beautiful – inside and out) mom on this entire planet. K. M. apologizes to anyone reading this that thinks their mother is the best mother on the planet – she says it’s not possible for two women to hold the title, and her mom wins. So there.
She had a dad, a really smart and gentle dad who loved her the best way he knew how, but he passed away from cancer when he was only 51. Ouch. K. M. wants anyone out there reading her bio to know one thing: Love the people you love while you have them here – even when it’s hard to love them – because when they’re gone all you have left are memories. And you can’t hug a memory.
She’s also got this totally hot and totally cool husband that is, in every sense of the idea, her better half. She met him when she was 19; he was her next door neighbor in the dorm. Her stomach got all squishy when she first laid eyes on him and she announced to all of her girlfriends, in a rather dramatic fashion, “No one else can like Todd from down the hall because I like him, and I’m making him my boyfriend this semester.” Her friends all abided by her request. And she did make him her boyfriend; they’ve been together ever since. For the record, just so everyone knows, she’s still in love with him and it’s been 24 years since the day they met. Awesome, eh?
She has two sons who, you guessed it, are the best two kids in the world. Yep, another challenge. They are thoughtful and kind, genuine and funny, brilliant and creative, and she swears she couldn’t be more proud of how they are turning out.
K. M. had a dream when she was a little girl. Actually she had a gazillion dreams and she spent a large amount of her childhood dreaming. Her one dream was to be a teacher. Her three sisters – the same awesome chicks from the first paragraph – played her “students” in the basement while she played teacher. And they still like her even after that. Teaching became a reality for K. M. and she taught for twelve glorious and spectacular years – some of it in Osteen, Florida and most of it in Springfield, Pennsylvania (Hi, Osteen Elementary and ETR Middle School!!).
Writing, it turns out, is K. M. Walton’s favorite thing to do in the whole world. Even the hard parts – and there are a lot of hard parts. She is very, very thankful that she is where she is on her journey as a writer. And she can’t wait to see where the road leads her…
And if you love CRACKED, like anticipate you will. Watch for EMPTY expected out on January 1, 2013…
Dell is relentlessly teased about her weight, and she’s devastated when a tender moment with her long-time crush turns violent. Distraught and isolated after the attack, Dell’s depression—and life—spins out of control.
Finding that food no longer eases her pain, Dell turns to her mother’s prescription pain pills. But what starts as a quick fix rapidly escalates. How far will Dell go to make the loneliness, the self-loathing, the heartbreak, the shame, and the name-calling stop?
You can find out more about K.M. Walton and CRACKED and EMPTY here…
Today my fellow authors at teamTEENauthor are also talking about bullying. Here is a list of their blogs if you’d like to stop by and check them out…
Have you read CRACKED? Any other great books on bullying that you loved and think are important? Have you been bullied? How did you handle it? Are you being bullied and need help?
Tags: Apocalypsies, Bullying, Cracked, E.C. Myers, Elizabeth Amisu, Empty, Janci Patterson, Jessica Corra, Julie Cross, K.M. Walton, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Pip Harry, Simon and Schuster, Simon Pulse, Suzanne Lazear, teamTEENauthor
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****THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED******
I’m not going to tease you. I have a copy of Level 2 (The Memory Chronicles #1) by Lenore Appelhans up for grabs!!!! I know you want it. And if you didn’t know if you want it, I’m here to convince you that you absolutely do…
Since her untimely death the day before her eighteenth birthday, Felicia Ward has been trapped in Level 2, a stark white afterlife located between our world and the next. Along with her fellow prisoners, Felicia passes the endless hours downloading memories and mourning what she’s lost—family, friends, and the boy she loved, Neil.
Then a girl in a neighboring chamber disappears, and nobody but Felicia seems to recall she existed in the first place. Something is obviously very wrong. When Julian—a dangerously charming guy Felicia knew in life—comes to offer Felicia a way out, she learns the truth: a rebellion is brewing to overthrow the Morati, the guardians of Level 2.
Felicia is reluctant to trust Julian, but then he promises what she wants the most—to be with Neil again—if only she’ll join the rebels. Suspended between Heaven and Earth, Felicia finds herself in the center of an age-old struggle between good and evil. As memories from her life come back to haunt her, and as the Morati hunt her down, Felicia will discover it’s not just her own redemption at stake… but the salvation of all mankind
You can pre-order Level 2 here…
*Barnes & Noble
*Amazon
*IndieBound
*Additional Booksellers
Kimberly’s Review of Level 2…
Lenore Appelhans is a fellow Apocalysie, a Simon & Schuster sibling and also a kindred soul when it comes to exploring the afterlife. We’ve been dying to read each other’s books and HA! I snagged a coveted ARC of Level 2 at BEA!!!!
What immediately captured my attention was Appelhans strong writing. She’s a pro. Period. The story creatively jumps between lots of different perspectives in the past and the present and I never once was lost. Her storytelling and transitions were seamless. I was also fascinated by how Appelhans explored many of the same concepts that I was fascinated with in Touching the Surface, but she did this in such a different and unique way. I’ve never seen the afterlife explored in a dystopian manner before and it was really fascinating. I particularly liked the stark white of the world and the use of the bee hive throughout the story.
I don’t want to give out any spoilers, but I love a book that doesn’t let me settle into a firm opinion too early. I adore rounding the corner and finding that what I though I knew, might not be true. Level 2 gave me the perfect amount of “shake-up” in anticipation for the next book BUT considering that Level 2 won’t hit the bookshelves until early 2013 I’m stomping my foot like a toddler. I can’t believe how long I’m going to have to wait to see what happens next. *groan*
And BTW…the cover is perfect and in case you’re wondering…TEAM JULIAN!!!!
Lenore Appelhans
My debut YA novel Level 2 will be published by Simon & Schuster BFYR on Jan 15, 2013.
My debut picture book CHICK-O-SAURUS REX (w/ Daniel Jennewein) will follow from S&S in 2013. I’ve been blogging about books (Presenting Lenore) since April 2008.
Thanks to my father’s job in the US military, I became addicted to travel early. To date, I’ve visited nearly 60 countries and have stepped on every contintent except Antartica. My travels inspire my writing – in fact, the original spark of the idea for LEVEL 2 grew out of an argument with my grandmother about whether it was better to spend my money on Precious Moments figurines (her view) or plane tickets (my view).
I currently live in Frankfurt, Germany and the last foreign country I visited was Kuwait (March 2012).
Fun facts:
- I’ve lived in 7 US states (North Dakota, Colorado, Utah, California, Ohio, Kansas, Oklahoma) and 5 foreign countries (Greece, Ecuador, Spain, Japan, Germany)
- I have 3 fancy Sacred Birman cats. You can see pictures of them in cute and crazy poses on my blog.
- I wrote my first book, Timothy the Bug, in the car on a family vacation when I was in the 5th grade. In 8th grade, I made it to the state semi-finals in Ohio’s Power of the Pen competition (I placed 5th at the regional level).
- I’ve swam with sea lions in the Galapagos Islands, walked with lions in Zimbabwe, fed anteaters in Tikal, Guatemala, braved fire ants in Australia, chased a puffin across a black sand beach in Iceland and narrowly avoided stepping on a snake in Burma.
You can find out more about Lenore Appelhans and Level 2 here…
*Website
*Presenting Lenore (Blog)
*Goodreads
*Twitter
*The Apocalypsies
*The League of Extraordinary Writers
So, that’s it. JUST TEASING! You want to know what you have to do to win the ARC of Level 2, right? It’s easy-peasy. Just let me know if you believe in the afterlife or not. If you don’t–that’s cool and I’d love to hear why. But if you do..how do you picture it? What’s your vision of what comes next? Any “I saw the light” accounts out there? Bring it on. And don’t forget to leave your contact information. You can’t win if I can’t reach you.
Tags: Apocalypsies, Contest, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Lenore Appelhans, Level 2, Presenting Lenore
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It’s your lucky day! I’m having a creepy giveaway. I’ve got two books here that will make your hands sweat while you’re reading them. First up is DISPIRITED by Luisa M. Perkins…
Cathy sees things that are invisible to everyone else. Her new stepbrother’s bizarre behavior. A ghostly little boy. An abandoned house in the woods. But she doesn’t see how they’re all connected. And what she doesn’t see might just kill her.
READ AN EXCERPT HERE.
Luisa M. Perkins is the author of Dispirited, published by Zarahemla Books in March 2012, and co-author of the novel The Book of Jer3miah, forthcoming from Shadow Mountain in August 2012.
Past publications include the cookbook Comfortably Yum and the LDS YA novel Shannon’s Mirror. She has had numerous short stories and essays published in print and online. She has been a member of the Whitney Awards Committee for the past two years. She and her husband Patrick live with their six children in New York’s Hudson Highlands.
Kimberly Sabatini’s Review of DISPIRITED…
DISPIRITED is one little creeper of a book and I mean that in the very best of ways. What I loved about it was that Perkins made reality, myth and the paranormal seamlessly blend in a way that captured my attention and made me wonder if there was really a lot more going on under my day to day reality. If you’ve ever had a chill run down your spine for no reason–DISPIRITED will make you wonder if perhaps you weren’t just being perceptive.
Bonus love for this book because Perkins wrote this while living in my area and her writing was peppered with local references making the story even more believable and interesting for me. If you like IMAGINARY GIRLS by Nova Ren Suma or a darker story that makes you think AND shiver…DISPIRITED is a perfect choice for you.
The second book you have a chance to win is WHAT SHE LEFT BEHIND by Tracy Bilen.
“Don’t even think of leaving…I will find you,” he whispered. “Guaranteed.”
Sara and her mom have a plan to finally escape Sara’s abusive father. But when her mom doesn’t show up as expected, Sara’s terrified. Her father says that she’s on a business trip, but Sara knows he’s lying. Her mom is missing—and her dad had something to do with it. Each day that passes, Sara’s more on edge. Her friends know that something’s wrong, but she won’t endanger anyone else with her secret. And with her dad growing increasingly violent, Sara must figure out what happened to her mom before it’s too late…for them both.
Tracy Bilen is a high school French and Spanish teacher in Michigan where she lives with her husband and two children. Before moving to Michigan, Tracy taught at a ski school for high school students in Vermont (Spanish, not skiing!). In college she spent her junior year abroad at the Sorbonne in Paris where she lived in a dorm run by nuns (and where she had to run down four flights of stairs to take a phone call). She enjoys cross-country skiing and walks in the woods. Her debut young adult novel, What She Left Behind, will be released by Simon Pulse on May 1, 2012.Tracy Bilen is a high school French and Spanish teacher in Michigan where she lives with her husband and two children. Before moving to Michigan, Tracy taught at a ski school for high school students in Vermont (Spanish, not skiing!). In college she spent her junior year abroad at the Sorbonne in Paris where she lived in a dorm run by nuns (and where she had to run down four flights of stairs to take a phone call). She enjoys cross-country skiing and walks in the woods. Her debut young adult novel, What She Left Behind, will be released by Simon Pulse on May 1, 2012.
Kimberly Sabatini’s Review of WHAT SHE LEFT BEHIND
If you like Elizabeth Scott, I think you’ll absolutely adore Tracy Bilen. WHAT SHE LEFT BEHIND is one of those stories that is morbidly beautiful. It is the harsh reality of a less than ideal life, threaded with moments of love and hope. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from what was unfolding on the pages. I immediately connected with Sara and I adored the healthy relationships in her life. I read this story with a rapid pulse and sweaty palms–praying that the last page would be just as good as the build-up. I wasn’t disappointed.
Oh, and bonus–both books will be shipped to you directly from the authors so you’ll get to have them signed!! What do you have to do to enter this giveaway? Tell me what piece of reality you find scarier than fiction. Or you can tell me the creepiest thing that’s ever happened to you. Or you can just gush about how much you want both of these books. BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION IN THE COMMENT SO THAT YOU CAN WIN!
Tags: Apocalypsies, Contest, Dispirited, giveaway, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Luisa M. Perkins, Tracy Bilen, What She Left Behind, YA Author, YA Novel, YA Writer
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My recap of BEA 2012 in pictures!!!!
Yeah…off to a pretty good start. *grin*
My awesome roommate, book blogger at THE YA CONNECTION and aspiring author…Lisa Lueddecke. Ummm so we just happened to go right by the Hershey’s store. And they had free samples.
The Class of 2k12 Books at the Bank Street Bookstore where we talked about breaking into the business of children’s and young adult fiction.
We got our swag on!
Bank Street Bookstore provided yummy snacks and beverages.
The whole gang from L-R
Kimberly Sabatini (Touching the Surface available October 30th), Sarvenaz Tash (The Mapmaker and the Ghost), A.C. Gaughen (Scarlet), Sarah Tregay (Love & Leftovers) and Lynda Mullaly Hunt (One for the Murphys)
Someone asked me why I had such a little book…of course my answer was that I write for little people LOL!
We had so much fun with this bunch!!!
Of course a little ice cream from the “Seinfeld Dinner” never is a bad ending to a great day. Lisa and Kim.
Look what was waiting in our room from the W Hotel!!! I felt so special…((((hugs)))) to A.C. Gaughen.
Tuesday morning…the view from our room.
Lisa needs an official Times Square picture!!!!
Meeting Suzanne Lazear (Innocent Darkness) for a quick breakfast.
The registration area of BEA.
The Editors for the YA Editors Buzz Panel. Everything sounded fantastic. You can read all about it at Publisher’s Weekly-BEA 2012: Diversity Rules at YA Editor’s Buzz Panel. But I want to give a special shout out to my fellow Apocalypsies: Gennifer Albin, author of Crewel and Kat Zhang, author of What’s Left of Me!!!!
I got to spend the WHOLE day with one of my favorite people EVAH!!!! My fantabulous agent Michelle Wolfson. *Heart Squish* And a shout out to Jennifer Laughran for taking a kick-ass picture of us. *grin*
Can you spot all the fabulous Sourcebook authors I found? SEND by Patty Blout, My YAOTL buddy Geoff Herback with STUPID FAST and NOTHING SPECIAL, and some of the Apocalypsies like…Miranda Kenneally with CATCHING JORDAN and STEALING PARKER, Zoraida Cordova with THE VICIOUS DEEP and Leanna Renee Hieber with DARKER STILL and THE TWISTED TRAGEDY OF MISS NATALIE STEWART. Plus a ton of other great reads!!!
Time to meet more of the Apocalypsies!!!!! We had an amazing Meet & Greet. Everyone was given a dance card to get signed by all the Apocalypsie authors in attendance. Here’s what they looked like. Each card was numbered and prize packages of books, ARCs and swag were auctioned off through out the afternoon.
So excited–I got to meet Erica Haglund of The Book Cellar and Julie Cross’ Perfect Ten.
I also got a chance to meet Natalia from Dazzling Reads. Love her!
It’s a small world! Barbra Kane (High School Librarian and Media Specialist in Jamestown, NY) and I graduated from the same college. Go Geneseo!!!
And don’t forget my buddy Grace from Words Like Silver. We saw each other everywhere…she may be tired of me LOL!
And here all the Apocalypsies who participated!!!!
After a hanging out with all the wonderful folks at Simon Pulse, I headed over to the NYC Teen Author Carnival.where I found lots of Simon Pulse authors and Apocalypsies and sometimes they were both, like K.M Walton (CRACKED) and Corrine Jackson (IF I LIE.)
Hilary Graham (REUNITED)
Lucas Klauss (EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO SURVIVE THE APOCALYPSE)
Fiona Paul (VENOM) and Lauren Morrill (MEANT TO BE)
Rebecca Serle (WHEN YOU WERE MINE)
Gennifer Albin (REWEL), Tiffany Schmidt (SEND ME A SIGN) and Katie McGarry (PUSHING THE LIMITS) There was a ton of other great authors here but I have yet to learn how to clone myself…the dystopian writers are working on that for me though.
Of course we were REALLY hungry after all that book talk so K.M. Walton, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Me and Corrine Jackson got some yummy stuff.
Are you getting tired yet? You should have seen me by the time I crawled into bed that night, but no rest for the weary because I was off on Wednesday morning to the YA Author’s Breakfast!!!!
Chris Colfer from Glee was the MC for the event. He was wonderfully funny and very touching as he talked about his own goal, from the age of 10 to have his book published.
In my opinion he seemed very genuine.
Chris Colfer, John Green (the Justin Bieber of the YA world *snort*), Lois Lowry and Kadir Nelson–Each one of these three legends was amazing. Lois Lowry received a standing ovation that was well deserved. You can watch the a live stream replay of the breakfast here…Live Stream Book Expo America
Yeah…I got this close. *sigh*
Back on the main floor I got Tom Angleberger’s autograph for my boys…they were thrilled!
Heading over to my favorite place…Simon & Schuster!!!!
And look who I found on the way…Tim Gunn. He is Fabulous!
Simon & Schuster was crazy busy!!!! I think I can see someone grabbing one of my bookmarks LOL!
I am an awesome mom! Was in line for almost 2 hours to get my oldest son a signed copy of INSURGENT by Veronica Roth! (Lisa, Kim and Jennifer)
And when you make friends on line…you might just get dubbed the Fabulous Five by the line monitors LOL! Don’t forget to check out Terri’s blog Read & Riot. And a Happy Birthday to Terri’s mom, Irene–she’ll be celebrating on Saturday with my brand new 7 year old. Cha, Cha, Cha Irene!!!
The front of the line for the DARK DAYS TOUR had been sitting w-a-y u-p t-h-e-r-e since 10 am so I won’t complain LOL!
Apocalypsie Elizabeth Norris signing UNRAVELING, Veronica Roth signing INSURGENT, Bethany Griffin signing MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH and Aprilynne Pike signing DESTINED.
Flew by Rachel Ray
And a very TALL Harlem Globetrotter LOL!
I also wanted to hit some of the Apocalypsies at their author signings. I missed a ton, but was luck to get a book from…
Sorry it’s blurry–Dan Krokos signing Lisa’s copy of FALSE MEMORY.
And TIME BETWEEN US author and sweetheart, Tamara Ireland Stone
My last Class of 2k12 event was Mix, Mingle and Win! So I mixed and mingled with two of my new favorite people Kim an Judy…making me the winner.
The Class of 2k12 Sarah Tregay, A.C. Gaughen, Megan Bostic, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Sarvenaz Tash and me.
One of my favorite BEA pics! A.C. Gaughen and her new FIGHT LIKE A GIRL T-shirts for a GLOW fundraiser. Great cause–I am so getting one! If you’re interested in buying one and supporting GLOW–leave your contact info in the comments and I’ll make sure that A. C. gets it.
And what you’ve all been waiting for…the books!
Not including all the MG books I got for the boys…here was my amazing YA haul. Keep tabs on my blog because a lot of these will be up for grabs after I read them!!!! Contests galore, but I can assure you that you will not be getting my 11yo’s signed copy of INSURGENT or my signed ARC of Lois Lowry’s book SON. <3 But that means my question must be…which book would you be desperate for me to have as a prize in a contest???? *FYI DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT is only a sample–not the full ARC, but it comes with the full paperback of DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE. Also–if you’ve blogged about your BEA experience–add your link so I can check it out. I had a fabulous time and I hope you did too. And if you couldn’t be there, I hope this helped you feel like you were. Thanks for stopping by.
Tags: Apocalypsies, Bank Street Book Store, BEA, Book Expo America, Dazzling Reads, GLOW, Javits Center, John Green, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Lois Lowry, Michelle Wolfson, NYC, NYC Teen Author Carnival, Publisher's Weekly, Read & Riot, Simon & Schuster, Simon Pulse, The Book Cellar, The Class of 2k12, The W Times Square, Wolfson Literary, Words Like Silver
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Yesterday kicked off SUPER SWAG SUNDAY!! Fellow Apocalypsie, Laurisa White Reyes, debut author of THE ROCK OF IVANORE: Book One of the Celestine Chronicles is hosting SUPER SWAG SUNDAY on her blog–A Thousand Wrongs. And guess what? I’m one of thirty-one authors participating…
SUPER SWAG SUNDAY PARTICIPANTS:
The Rock of Ivanore – Laurisa White Reyes
Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman
Send Me A Sign by Tiffany Schmidt
Claws by Mike & Rachel Grinti
Blind Spot by Laura Ellen
Emily’s Dress & Other Missing Things by Kathryn Burak
Starters by Lissa Price
Fingerprints of You by Kristen-Page Madonia
Touching the Surface by Kimberly Sabatini
Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Seeing Cinderella by Jenny Lundquist
Velveteen by Daniel Marks
Cracked by K.M.Walton
The Prisoner of the Shadows (Heroes of the Highest Order) by R.K. Hinrichsen
The Downside of Charlie by Jenny Torres Sanchez
Small Medium At Large by Joanne Levy
Ten by Gretchen McNeil
The Dark Light by Sara Walsh
Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris
The Wicked & the Just by J. Anderson Coats
The Marble Queen by Stephanie J. Blake
Fishtale by Hans Bauer & Catherine Masciola
Possess by Gretchen McNeil
Fair Coin by E.C. Myers
The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls by Claire LeGrand
Auracle by Gina Rosati
Time Between Us Tamara Ireland Stone
Chained by Lynn Kelly
You Can’t Have My Planet by James Mihaley
Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood
The Secret Sisters Club by Monique Bucheger
Here’s how it works…
SUPER SWAG SUNDAY is a celebration of the best in new kids and teens
literature. What is swag? Swag is all the fun stuff authors giveaway
to promote their books and I’ve got TONS OF IT!!!!
31 authors (many who are Apocalypsies) have donated everything you can
imagine for this event: signed bookmarks, postcards, tattoos,
stickers, pins, magnets, pens, frishbees, rubber bugs, origami, guitar
picks, fortune cookies, and more!
Every day for 7 days I will spotlight 4 or 5 new titles from the most
amazing up and coming children’s and teen authors. Then, next Sunday,
June 10th seven (7) giveaway winners will be announced. Each winner
will receive a MEGA SWAG PACK containing swag from every spotlighted
author!
You can enter the giveaway just once or every day for more chances to
win! This is great way to kick off your child or teen’s summer
reading! Come on by first thing tomorrow morning and join in the fun!
http://1000wrongs.blogspot.com
Here are some of the goodie you can win…
What are you waiting for? Oh, right–I always ask you a question. What is your most prized piece of book swag you’ve ever received?
Tags: A Thousand Wrongs, Apocalypsies, Contest, Contest. swag, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Laurisa White Reyes, Super Swag Sunday, Swag, Touching the Surface
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Next week is Book Expo America (BEA) week in New York City which means that a plethora of publishing folks take a bite out of the Big Apple during a weeklong discussion and celebration of books, books and more books. Yeah, my kind of a get together. This is my first time going to BEA so I’m not sure exactly what to expect, but I know I’m really excited to hook up with my agent, Michelle Wolfson. Hang with out with my Editor Anica Rissi and meet a whole slew of people from Simon Pulse. I’m also so excited to meet more than a handful of members from the Class of 2k12 and the Apocalypsies for the first time. And of course I’m thrilled to spend more time with the ones I have met before. Last but not least,I’m really excited to meet some of the book bloggers that I follow online. Remember, first and foremost, I’m a reader and I depend on those wonderful reviews to figure out what goes to the top of my reading list.
No need to reinvent the wheel. The lovely Sarvenaz Tash, debut MG author of THE MAPMAKER AND THE GHOST, put together this amazing list of events that I’ll be participating in. Here are all the places I’ll be–so if you’re going to BEA, or if you’re a blogger, teacher, librarian or a reader who wants to get out of the house, feel free to come to one or all of these events. I’d be super stoked to see you.
Monday, June 4, 2012
What: BEA Kick-Off Party/Breaking into KidLit Panel with the Class of 2K12
Where: Bank Street Bookstore
610 112th St., New York, NY
When: 7 PM
RSVP: Your invitation is here!
Info: Kick off BEA week with the Class of 2K12. We’re going to talk a bit about how we broke into the kidlit business before mingling in a fun party atmosphere.
Tuesday, June 5th
What: Meet the Apocalypsies at BEA
Where: Javits Center, Room 1E04
655 W. 34th St., New York, NY
When: 3-5 PM
Info: Come meet over 20 of this year’s debut MG and YA authors. There will be raffles, prizes and cookies! You do need a BEA pass to attend this event.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
What: Mix, Mingle and Win with the Class of 2K12
Where: Tenth Rail
413 10th Ave., New York, NY
When: 6 PM
RSVP: Your invitation is here!
Info: Our big BEA party complete with appetizers and awesome raffles where you can win books, swag and critiques!
*I won’t be there for the Thursday event because I don’t have a book yet, LOL!!!! Only 150 more days to wait!!!! But there is another Class of 2k12 event at Books of Wonder that sounds awesome. Wish I could be there.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
18 W. 18th St., New York, NY
When: 6-8 PM
RSVP: Your invitation is
here!
Info: Come meet some of 2012’s debut kidlit authors (including me) and get your books signed!
And here are the official flyers for the events…
I also have a really cool post card to show you from the Apocalypsies, but due to a Level 2 cover reveal today, I’ll be sharing that one with you at a later time. Hope to see you at BEA. Before you go…have you been to BEA before? Any tips for me? Any questions about the event? I might be able to answer them. Hope to go some day?
Tags: Apocalypsies, BEA, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Simon and Schuster, Simon Pulse, The Class of 2k12
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I’m going to come right out and admit this…Lynda Mullaly Hunt is a soulmate. From the moment I met her, I knew that we had an incredible bond. And I’m struggling to try to capture the depth of my emotion for her and her debut novel ONE FOR THE MURPHYS. I want to share what’s in my heart, but I can’t–I’m not that good of a writer. So you’re just going to have to trust me on this one. You are getting a glimpse of one of the new heroes in the world of children’s literature…
A moving debut novel about a foster child learning to open her heart to a family’s love
Carley uses humor and street smarts to keep her emotional walls high and thick. But the day she becomes a foster child, and moves in with the Murphys, she’s blindsided. This loving, bustling family shows Carley the stable family life she never thought existed, and she feels like an alien in their cookie-cutter-perfect household. Despite her resistance, the Murphys eventually show her what it feels like to belong–until her mother wants her back and Carley has to decide where and how to live. She’s not really a Murphy, but the gifts they’ve given her have opened up a new future.
You can order ONE FOR THE MURPHYS here…
*Barnes & Noble
*Amazon
*IndieBound
*Additional on line book sellers
Kimberly’s review of ONE FOR THE MURPHYS…
Lynda Mullaly Hunt is a fellow Class of 2k12er and I had the luck to meet up with her during the 2012 NY SCBWI conference. After talking to Lynda about ONE FOR THE MURPHYS–I knew that I was going to love this book. It was obvious to me that Lynda wrote from a very emotional and honest place and I gravitate towards books that make me feel things deeply.
This book is beautiful.
I’ll start with the cover–which is perfect. Well done Nancy Paulsen Books–this couldn’t be better. But it’s what’s between the covers that grabs a hold of me and won’t let go. Oh, Carley–you make me both ashamed and proud to be an adult. You remind me that children put up walls to discover if the grown-ups are willing to scale them. You hammer home the truth–that we learn from our children if we take the time to listen to them. You remind me that adults must make the tough choices, the ones that are the best for the child, but that we can be kind and gentle in our tough love. You awaken my desire to be somebody’s hero and I want to hold you in my arms. Lynda hasn’t written a character–she has introduced me to someone I will love and think about forever.
And then there is Mrs. Murphy–who comforts me as much as she comforts Carley. Because even as an adult, I need to know that there are good people in this world who lead with their hearts. I need those role models in my life–she’s who I want to be when I “grow up.”
Each and every character in this book played a part in creating this wonderful read. I want to talk about every one of them, but I’m treading on spoiler ground if I don’t reign myself in. So I just want to say that it takes a village to “raise” a child and this community of characters, flawed and growing, rises to it’s own occasion. They never reach perfection, but that’s okay, because neither do I. This book is ONE FOR THE MURPHYS, but it’s also one for the Sabatini’s and it’s one for you…
Lynda Mullaly Hunt
I was born in the late sixties–the age of “flower children.” I must admit, though, that I ended up more as a “flour child” and a coffee lover. How did this happen?
Being the youngest of five children, I can fend for myself pretty well. I was a tom-boyish girl who loved skateboarding, climbing trees, playing baseball, and seeing everything there was to see on my bicycle. I must confess that one of those bicycles had a banana seat, was bright green, and had “Dill Pickle” written (complete with a picture!) on the chain guard; it was big enough to be read from a long distance away, too. Funny…I’d always wondered why no one ever tried to steal that bike…
After graduating from Conard High School in West Hartford, CT., I attended UConn and got two degrees in education. As a teacher, I really learned how much I loved writing for the fun of it. I mostly wrote stories that had structural errors so that I could give the kids red pens, tell them to give me an “F” if they wanted, but they better be able to explain why. Kids relished the opportunity to fail the teacher, so they dug deep. Oddly, it was a lot of fun.
When my daughter was born, I left teaching to be home with her. After her brother joined us and I realized that I was finding Sesame Street to be genuinely stimulating, I told my husband that I was joining a writers group at the local bookstore. I did and the rest is history! Well, maybe not quite yet… ;-
So, how about the writer’s journey? Did I want to be a writer since I could hold (and eat) a crayon?
You can learn more about Lynda Mullaly Hunt and ONE FOR THE MURPHYS here…
*Website
*Blog
*The Class of 2k12
*The Apocalypsies
*Twitter
*Facebook
I need to know…who is your hero?
Tags: Apocalypsies, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Middle Grade, One for the Murphys, The Class of 2k12
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Thanks to the lovely and generous Daisy Whitney, author of THE MOCKING BIRDS and THE RIVALS, I was able to read an ARC of SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL by my fellow Apocalypsie–Trish Dollar. And because I *love* you, I’m going to have a contest and give someone else a chance to read it too. Before I explain how you can win this amazing book, let me tell you a little bit about the SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL, Trish and my response to her debut YA novel.
SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL by Trish Doller
When Travis returns home from a stint in Afghanistan, his parents are splitting up, his brother’s stolen his girlfriend and his car, and he’s haunted by nightmares of his best friend’s death. It’s not until Travis runs into Harper, a girl he’s had a rocky relationship with since middle school, that life actually starts looking up. And as he and Harper see more of each other, he begins to pick his way through the minefield of family problems and post-traumatic stress to the possibility of a life that might resemble normal again. Travis’s dry sense of humor, and incredible sense of honor, make him an irresistible and eminently lovable hero.
You can Pre-order SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL here…
*Barnes & Noble
*Amazon
*IndieBound
Kimberly’s Review of SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL…
It seems like every writer’s conference I attend, someone is always trying to pin down what is meant by that wonderful, but hard to define thing called VOICE. In my opinion, the best way to explain the magic of voice is to have a list of books that contain a distinct and powerful one. Trish Doller’s SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL would absolutely go on my “voice list.” I’m in awe of what she did here.
I’m not sure where to start, because this book has endless depth and layers, but what I do know is that it’s going to be one successful debut. Doller’s knowledge of the military, the amazing nuanced relationships between all the characters, the internal and external struggles, the friendships and the love–It’s all here and I adored every minute of it. There are certain books that I read, where I connect very deeply to the story and the characters because the author has stripped down to his or her vulnerable parts and risked a lot to put a kind of truth down on the page. This is one of those books and Trish Dollar is one of those authors. I am officially a fan-girl for life.
About Trish Doller…
I’ve been a writer as long as I’ve been able to write, but I didn’t make a conscious decision to “be” a writer until fairly recently. For that you should probably be thankful.
I was born in Germany, grew up in Ohio, went to college at Ohio State University, got married to someone really great, bounced from Maine to Michigan and back to Ohio for awhile. Now I live in Florida with my two mostly grown kids, two dogs, and a pirate. For real.
I’ve worked as a morning radio personality, a newspaper reporter, and spent all my summers in college working at an amusement park. There I gained valuable life skills, including counting money really fast, directing traffic, jumping off a moving train, and making cheese-on-a-stick. Also, I can still welcome you to Frontier Town. Ask me sometime.
These days I work as a bookseller at a Very Big Bookstore. And I write.
You can find out more about Trish Doller and SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL here…
*Website
*The Apocalypsies
*Blog
*Facebook
*Twitter
*Goodreads
Now that I’ve got your interest, I bet you’re wondering how to win this ARC. Easy-peasy! In the comments section, please tell me something about yourself that makes you feel less than normal. Don’t be shy, I’ve got a list of things as long as my right arm. Feel free to share them all or just tell me one. And remember… “like normal” is the new normal–so you’re in good company. Don’t forget to leave your contact information in your comment. You can’t win this amazing book if you I can’t reach you. And trust me, you want to win this book. Yup.
Tags: Apocalypsies, Book Review, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Something Like Normal, Trish Doller, YA Author, YA Book, YA Novel, YA Writer
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