Can you believe it’s been almost a year since I became an author? And even longer since I sold my first book and got an agent. Here’s a little walk down memory lane. Humor me–I’m nostalgic today. So in no particular order because that would add a layer of organization I’m not capable of, here’s just a few of my most fabulous moments between finding my agent and birthing a paperback…
Standing outside the Simon & Schuster offices.
Apocalypsies at the LA SCBWI Conference!!!
Meeting my agent (Michelle Wolfson) and editor (Anica Rissi) for the first time. <3
Kimmiepoppins met Mary Poppins!!!! I met Julie Andrews!!!!
Signing my contract!!!!!! I AM GOING TO BE AN AUTHOR!!!
My book was at Bologna. Takes my breath away.
Wow!
My Yanni dance girls wearing TOUCHING THE SURFACE T-shirts. <3
Signing books at my book launch.
Good friends drove in from far away despite all the trouble with Hurricane Sandy.
Just an amazing experience.
Unable to thank my friends and family enough for their love and support on that special day.
More book launch at Oblong Books. I LOVE that bookstore and everyone in it. <3
Dad–there–even when he couldn’t be. The dedication.
On bookshelves in bookstores.
Kimmiepoppins finally gets a book launch in NYC after Hurricane Sandy delayed it. Mean Hurricane–awesome party.
Woo hoo!!! I got to speak at the NY Public Library.
I’m a fangirl–it’s A.S. King people!!!!!
I’m a fangirl–it’s Sharon Creech people!!!!
My first SCBWI faculty gig at the Eastern NY SCBWI Conference–where I got paid to talk with my hands about things I love.
Connecting with teen readers and making hedgehogs. *grin*
Loving on my writer mama, K.L. Going. <3 Wouldn’t be here without her.
And because you made it to the end of my reminiscing…you shall be rewarded with a chance to win a signed copy of the brand spanking new TOUCHING THE SURFACE paperback!!!!
I just finished another amazing book by my fellow Wolf Pack Sistah, Daisy Whitney. Check this out…
Available: September 3rd 2013 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Seventeen-year-old Julien is a romantic—he loves spending his free time at the museum poring over the great works of the Impressionists. But one night, a peach falls out of a Cezanne, Degas ballerinas dance across the floor, and Julien is not hallucinating.
The art is reacting to a curse that trapped a beautiful girl, Clio, in a painting forever. Julien has a chance to free Clio and he can’t help but fall in love with her. But love is a curse in its own right. And soon paintings begin to bleed and disappear. Together Julien and Clio must save the world’s greatest art . . . at the expense of the greatest love they’ve ever known.
Like a master painter herself, Daisy Whitney brings inordinate talent and ingenuity to this romantic, suspenseful, and sophisticated new novel.A beautifully decorated package makes it a must-own in print.
Kimberly’s Review of STARRY NIGHTS:
One of the biggest things that I love about Daisy Whitney’s writing (and I love a lot) is just when I think I know who she is as a writer, she redefines herself. Often, for authors, this kind of an evolution is a by-product of an ever changing market. I don’t feel that’s true for Daisy. I think she is a sponge in her own life, soaking up a million people, places and things that are interesting. And then she writes about the things she loves and the things that fascinate her. She writes about the questions she has and the things that must be witnessed. She writes what she knows and what she needs to know. And then luckily, she shares it with us.
It is obvious that STARRY NIGHTS was born from Daisy’s love of art and her desire to share the magic she feels, not only for paintings, but for artistic expression in general. Her passion for her topic was infectious and it raised my curiosity about some pieces that weren’t in my vocabulary before. This book could be used, to great collaborative effect, with art and english teachers.
I was also fascinated by Daisy’s take on Renoir. I think that in our society, we often have a tendency to confuse the artist with the art. When we have a big name Hollywood star, an athlete, artist or politician we love, it’s hard to look past our adoration for their craft or skill when their private life raises red flags. What to do about such real life discrepancies is a topic for another day, but what I loved was that Daisy subtly raised the question.
Additionally, I’m a big fan of books that step outside the typical take on the paranormal. I believe there’s a lot more magic in the world than we open ourselves up to. STARRY NIGHTS is different than anything else that’s out there and that is a wonderful thing. It creatively crafts elements of paranormal intrigue with something that in today’s day in age, could literally become a lost art. STARRY NIGHTS makes reading and learning about art history really cool. I’m also a huge fan of Daisy’s funny bits. If you read STARRY NIGHTS, one of the best payoffs is finding out what the Mona Lisa has been thinking all this time. It’s hysterical and adorable.
And on a little side note, I loved that every night when I curled up in bed, I got to go to Paris for a little while. I walked the streets, saw the sights, smelled the coffee and tasted the food. I can not wait until I get to revisit Paris and bring my kids. And I know, when I go and walk into the Musee d’Orsay and the Louvre, thanks to Daisy Whitney and her STARRY NIGHTS, I’ll be waiting for the art to come alive.
By day, Daisy Whitney is a reporter and ghostwriter. At night, she writes novels for teens and is the author of THE MOCKINGBIRDS and its sequel THE RIVALS (Little, Brown). Her third novel WHEN YOU WERE HERE released in June 2013 (Little, Brown), and her fourth novel STARRY NIGHTS (Bloomsbury) hits shelves in September 2013. When Daisy’s not inventing fictional high school worlds, she can be found somewhere north of San Francisco walking her adorable dog, watching online TV with her fabulous husband or playing with her fantastic kids. A graduate of Brown University, she believes in shoes, chocolate chip cookies and karma. You can follow her writing blog and new media adventures at DaisyWhitney.com. (I don’t rate books on GoodReads, nor do I check the site so please friend me on Facebook instead.)
Enter to win my ARC of STARRY NIGHTS by Daisy Whitney!!!!!
Today I’m cross-posting over at YA Outside the Lines and talking about The Truth About Sleep Away Camp. There may be 80’s permed hair for your amusement!
Just a reminder, you still have time to enter my write a review contest!
*I’ll be at Oblong Books and Musics HVYAS Birthday Party!! More info HERE!
*Children’s Writer or Illustrator and located in the Hudson Valley? Join us for our local SCBWI Shop Talk Meeting in August. For more information, feel free to contact me directly.
*I’ll also be faculty at my very first conference, which is also the very same conference I first attended as a newbie. Yea, pretty WOW! Registration is still open for the SCBWI Eastern NY Conference on September 21-22nd. Lots of amazing speakers and opportunities.
*September 28th I’ll be part of a fantastic line-up at the Warwick Children’s Book Festival. Details Here
And good news…finding me is not nearly as hard as finding a little unidog. So, come hang out and we’ll squee and hug and talk about books and maybe eat some chocolate. I usually have some stored in a bag or pocket somewhere.
Guess what? In one week I’ll be teaming up with Rockstar Book Tours!
The tour runs for two weeks – July 8th-12th and July 15th-19th. There are ten stops on the tour, which consist of reviews, guest posts and interviews.
The tour will also have a giveaway for five SIGNED copies of TOUCHING THE SURFACE via a shared Rafflecopter.
I am in love with this gorgeous badge, designed by Parajunkee Design. Didn’t she do an amazing job? Feel free to check out more of her design work and to grab a copy of the badge to post in your sidebar! In fact–plaster it anywhere you’d like. I would love to have you help to spread the word.
You can find out more about Rockstar Book Tours HERE. And if you’d like more information and a schedule of the TOUCHING THE SURFACE tour, you can check that out HERE.
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Don’t forget–all summer I’m running a Write-a-Review contest!!!!
As if that wasn’t already a whole bunch of awesome, I’m really looking forward to doing a book signing at Anderson’s Bookshop in Larchmont, NY on Saturday July 13th!
I’ll be there with Joanne Rock and Karen Rock aka JK Rock!
And Kimberly Ann Miller…
You can click on the covers to find out more about both books!
And of course it got me thinking. Reviews ARE important. Really important. We live in a media and statistical world, at least until the zombie apocalypse comes. This means that review are right behind the act buying the book in importance to an author’s success.
Kinda cool. Kinda scary. But here’s how I’ve been visualizing it. It’s like surface space…
In today’s social media age, a book without reviews is like a flat piece of paper. It’s there, but it has trouble standing out. Add reviews (positive or negative) and the book starts to become more visible and textured. It’s surface space appears to expand and it catches the eye. There are more options to touch the surface. Yeah, I went there LOL!
The truth is, authors need your reviews, just as much as we need your word-of-mouth recommendations.
This, of course, got me thinking about effective marketing strategies. The world is a busy place. Who has the time to write a review when there are a zillion other things we could be or should be doing. I’m guilty of this myself. In such a busy world, is there an incentive to get those fingers typing?
I didn’t have to look far for a great idea. My wolf pack sister, Jennifer Iacopelli (debut author of GAME. SET. MATCH.) and her publisher Coliloquy came up with this…
— Jennifer Iacopelli (@jennifercarolyn) May 14, 2013
I LOVE the idea! So here’s what I’m going to do…
I would love to increase the number of reviews on my Amazon TOUCHING THE SURFACE page and my Barnes & Noble TOUCHING THE SURFACE page. If you write a review of TOUCHING THE SURFACE for Amazon, you’ll entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card. If you write one for Barnes & Noble, you’ll be entered to win a $100 Barnes & Noble gift card. If you’ve written a review on Goodreads already, all you have to do is post it to Amazon and Barnes & Noble for two entries. If you write one review for Amazon, it can also be posted on Barnes & Noble or visa versa. One review (that you may have already written) gets you entered once or twice for a gift card.
In order to make sure I can reach the winner, use this Rafflecopter to record your entry. The contest will be open for the whole summer. And I’ll be posting it on my website home page so it’s easy to follow. a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. And if you have other authors that you love and you’d like to see them continue to put books on the shelf, help them out with a review. They will love you so much, they want to share their chocolate with you. I’m serious.
Can I just say, I was thrilled when I was asked to be part of The Official Blog Tour for WHEN YOU WERE HERE by the lovely and talented Daisy Whitney.
There is nothing I love more than promoting books and authors that I love.
Filled with humor, raw emotion, a strong voice, and a brilliant dog named Sandy Koufax, When You Were Here explores the two most powerful forces known to man-death and love. Daisy Whitney brings her characters to life with a deft touch and resonating authenticity.
Danny’s mother lost her five-year battle with cancer three weeks before his graduation-the one day that she was hanging on to see.
Now Danny is left alone, with only his memories, his dog, and his heart-breaking ex-girlfriend for company. He doesn’t know how to figure out what to do with her estate, what to say for his Valedictorian speech, let alone how to live or be happy anymore.
When he gets a letter from his mom’s property manager in Tokyo, where she had been going for treatment, it shows a side of his mother he never knew. So, with no other sense of direction, Danny travels to Tokyo to connect with his mother’s memory and make sense of her final months, which seemed filled with more joy than Danny ever knew. There, among the cherry blossoms, temples, and crowds, and with the help of an almost-but-definitely-not Harajuku girl, he begins to see how it may not have been ancient magic or mystical treatment that kept his mother going. Perhaps, the secret of how to live lies in how she died.
And because I love love you, dear blog reader, you get an exclusive (never before seen) video of Daisy in Japan!
And want the inside scoop on Laini, Danny’s sister? Here it is…
One of the things I really enjoy, as a reader and writer, is a character that is sometimes hard to love. I usually find these characters to have the most epic internal journeys and growth, which makes them really interesting to me. For me, Laini was that character in WHEN YOU WERE HERE. Yet, despite my frustration with her (and it got ugly at times LOL!) I couldn’t let her go. But I’m so glad i didn’t it. She had her own pain and she reminded me that I shouldn’t judge until I’ve walked two moons in someone else’s moccasins. Did you plan on having Laini turn out the way she did or was she a force of nature that simply took over when you were writing?
Yes! Thank you! Laini was always a bit cold, and she had her reasons. Being hard to love was a part of her character makeup from the start. She has a chip on her shoulder and she believes she has reasons for it. As such, she was a hell of a lot of fun to write with her sternness and self-righteousness! But I also think her relationship with Danny shows that while you might not ever be close with a sibling, you can at least respect and understand their choices. And though she’s nearer to brittle than not, I think Danny ultimately “gets” her.
If Laini could relive the last several years of her life, would she do anything differently?
She wouldn’t have left the family the way she did. She would have gone back and said the things she needed to say to their mom sooner. But she’s glad she eventually said them.
Family is a strong theme in WHEN YOU WERE HERE, the presence and the absence of it. What would Laini tell readers about family?
Embrace them. Love them. Don’t run from them. Don’t assume you know everything.
Daisy, you wrote a book that crosses cultural barriers in a wonderful way. As our world shrinks and becomes more and more interconnected, books like this become even more important. What do you think was Laini’s most important contribution to the cultural theme in WHEN YOU WERE HERE?
While I didn’t intend this as I wrote her, I would say she typifies how families today are created. She’d an adopted daughter from a foreign country, and the identity challenges she faces are ones other adopted children may confront. But she also feels an intense, deep-seated love for her homeland, and I think the depth of her love for China – a complex and fascinating country – is important to consider in our global world.
If WHEN YOU WERE HERE were a television series, Laini and Kana would be the characters I’d most like to see in a spin off series. Have you written the rest of their stories in your head? Would you ever consider giving us more Laini?
I have considered writing a story for Kana! I thinks she would be a fascinating main character. I often imagine a handsome British boy sweeps her off her feet. Perhaps that’s because I like British boys.
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I know, I know–there can’t possibly be more to this awesomeness. But there is. I have FIVE copies of WHEN YOU WERE HERE to giveaway to some very lucky readers!!!!! *fist pump*
Today is the official relaunch day for the BOOKANISTAS!!!! If you’ve been following along, you know that I’m one of the newest members of this group. When I was invited to join the Bookanistas I jumped at the chance because they are perfectly in line with my own personal feelings about reviewing books.
Nothing But Love Policy
The Bookanistas ONLY recommend and review young adult, middle grade, and picture books we truly love!
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but as an author, I feel there is no room in my life for negatively critiquing the work of my peers. If I have a book gripe, I share it on a personal level, not a public one. But on the other hand, I have multiple reasons for wanting to positively promote books.
Here are some of my reasons…
*It helps authors to have reviews posted in places like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads etc… If you want to help your favorite author continue to write books, please support and endorse them. It does help, but even if it didn’t, I’m positive it would make that author very, very happy to know you care.
*I love connecting books I love with people I love. *fist pump* And it’s even more fun if after the connection, we get to talk about the books. Yup–I’m a book nerd and seriously proud of it!
*I enjoy writing quirky reviews. I am incredibly impressed with the time and effort that goes into the in-depth reviews that most bloggers write, but I honestly don’t feel I can live up to the standard they’ve set. Rather than not share at all, I review books in my own unique way. I try to see the book through my own personal filter. Hopefully, by coming at it a little differently, I catch the attention of someone who will love the book the way that I do .
Not sure what a REALLY UNIQUE Kim review might look like? Here’s an example… LOL!
*I read reviews. They help me to pick out my own books. I can only read about 100 books a year (I hate that I’m such a slow reader) so I like to increase my chances of finding something utterly awesome. Plus, I’m simply fascinated by the fact that so many different people can feel completely different emotions about the same book. The oddities and intricacies of human nature simply suck me in, I also like being a part of the process–not just a taker, but a giver too.
As I mentioned earlier, with May drawing to a close, we’re celebrating the start of summer and another great beginning: THE RELAUNCH OF THE BOOKANISTAS! New members, new logo, new website design and a whole lot more of the book love we all adore!
THE WINNER OF THE BOOKANISTA RELAUNCH GIVEAWAY OF AWESOME WILL RECEIVE
Signed copies of these Bookanista-authored books…
IF I LIE and TOUCHED by Corrine Jackson PLUS ARCs of JUST ONE DAY and SPEECHLESS
LET THE SKY FALL by Shannon Messenger
BY BLOOD by Tracy Banghart
POSSESSION, SURRENDER and ABANDON by Elana Johnson
TOUCHING THE SURFACE by Kimberly Sabatini (plus a swag surprise)
BAD TASTE IN BOYS by Carrie Harris
AUDITION by Stasia Ward Kehoe
THE GIRL GUIDE by Christine Fonseca (plus sweet swag)
MILA 2.0 by Debra Driza
LEVEL 2 by Lenore Appelhans
AND A SECOND WINNER WILL GET A BOX FILLED WITH Bookanista-beloved reads including WILL GRAYSON WILL GRAYSON (signed!) by John Green & David Levithan, DITCHED by Robin Mellom, JELLICO ROAD by Melina Marchetta, TAKEN by Erin Bowman, CLOCKWORK ANGEL by Cassandra Clare, MONSTROUS BEAUTY by Elizabeth Fama and SPARROW ROAD by Sheila O’Connor.
Hello Friday! What took you so long to get here??? Even though this week seemed endless, with very little sleep, it also simultaneously sped by at the speed of light. Yup. That’s exactly how it happened. Trust me. I’m feeling the need to recap, mash things up and write in bullets today. It may be the lack of sleep thing. Just go with it.
*Don’t forget you still have time to support a great film…PROMISE LAND…and earn yourself one of five signed copies of TOUCHING THE SURFACE or a 10 page ms critique from me. GO HERE!!!!
I’m still chuckling about that one. <3 Beans loves a good mousey. Reeces on the other hand loves a good hair elastic. Cat diversity.
*I’ll be at BEA on Friday May 31st!!!! I’ll be having lunch with my spectacular agent and hunting down ARCs with my roomie from last year, Lisa Lueddecke. <3 It’s our friendship’s one year anniversary!!! I’m also hoping to finally see Rachel Simmons in person. We just miss each other every where we go. LOL! I’m also going to miss my girl, Grace Smith who made me smile every time I saw her last year. 🙁 Hoping to see a bunch of people who I connected with last year and of course make some new face to face friends. If you see me, don’t let me pass you by–I’m a little bit of a spaz when it comes to remembering names of cyber friends and then attaching them to real live people. HELP ME OUT!!!!
*On June 2nd I’ll be participating in the Chronogram Kids & Family Fun Day. When I have more information on the author panel, I’ll let you know.
*Interesting observation: I’ve been cleaning and prepping the house for sale and I’ve been writing and revising. One of those things burns a lot more calories than the other. Damn.
*On June 12th I’ll be a guest speaker at the Orange County Librarians Dinner. I’m super stoked about that!!!! Watch out Orange County Librarians, I’m giddy with excitement about hanging with you.
*And I’ll leave you with my very entertaining Goodreads review of…
“I’ll be honest. My boys and I LOVE Roald Dahl books. All of them. Rather than review this book in my predictably gushy manner, I thought I would tell you a funny story that happened during our nightly reading sessions…
For those unfamiliar with the story, a grandmother is instructing her grandson on the multiple ways one might recognize a witch in disguise. While giving this info to my eight year old, he checked me over to confirm that I was indeed, not a witch. When he heard they wore itchy wigs, he checked my hair line. He investigated my toes and fingers for cat like claws and block like feet without toes.I thought I’d passed inspection, but a few days later, I caught him staring deeply into my eyes. (There had been a mention of a witches pupils being multicolored.) After a good hard look, he pronounced that I was definitely not a witch–I didn’t have multicolored NIPPLES. I corrected him and indicated that he meant PUPILS. His response was…whatever…it’s the same thing.
And there you have folks.”
I figure I’ve given you enough information for the comments without having to light your way. ROTFL! Have a fabulous holiday weekend. I WILL NOT BE BLOGGING ON MONDAY (Memorial Day) I’ll be picnicking and celebrating my 12yo’s graduation and move up to middle school. I’ll also be very busy being proud to be an American. May the force be with you!
Not too long ago, my husband mentioned that a friend and colleague, Kevin Dalvi, had written and directed a movie and we were invited to the red carpet premier in NYC. Of course, there is nothing about this that doesn’t sound interesting to me. I love movies, red carpets and supporting underdog artists trying to put their vision out in to the world. I am so glad I went to see PROMISE LAND, a NEQUA Studios Production, because I really, really connected with the movie and it’s artists. Here’s a little bit about PROMISE LAND…
PROMISE LAND is relevant, heart wrenching, funny and hopeful. I know my sphere of influence is very limited, but I would really like to do something to help this film get the attention it deserves. So, there will be a contest!!!!!!
And here are some pics from the PROMISE LAND Premier…
If you get the chance to see PROMISED LAND on it’s Summer Tour, I highly encourage it. It was a wonderful movie!!!! A list of summer screening dates and information on how to buy tickets is available HERE. Information on how to turn your blog post comment into contest entries is available above with rafflecopter. Thanks so much for spreading the word. It really means a lot to me. Kevin Dalvi may not realize it, but he has all the makings of one of John Green’s Nerdfighters! *fist pump*
Yesterday was gorgeous!!! The most perfect weather ever. So I spent the day outside putting in my vegetable garden and starting a butterfly garden. I used to have one and it didn’t make it through the installation of the retaining wall and last year I missed my one gardening window (not too hot, not too buggy) plus the whole impending debut book launch thingy kept me preoccupied. So needless to say–the butterflies got the shaft last year. But this year, not only did I run across the most perfect spring day that just made me want to plant a vacation paradise for butterflies, but my fabulous nephew has been doing some yard work to help me get ready to put the house on the market. This means…I get to pick the flowers and plant them and tomorrow he will do all the unpleasant bed weeding and mulching around my creation. *sigh* Everyone should have a fabulous nephew. <3
But acting like Martha Stewart all day has left me with the need to shower and get acquainted with my couch this evening. Because of this, I have decided to enlist all of you with the job of blog-post-deep-thinking. Of course, there has to be a pay off for you firing your brain cells so mine can rest. So, as a reward for being creative and funny, (myself and the mystery judges) will pick one lucky winner to get a signed copy of TOUCHING THE SURFACE. Keep it for yourself, donate it to the library or use it as a gift. Just get it in the hands of a reader. How to win? Write a caption for this picture in the comments and you will be entered. Every caption is a separate entry. And just so you know, the cat in the picture is named Beans. This contest is open internationally. Have fun.
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