I’m leaving tomorrow for SCBWI LA…SQUEE!!!! The conference is sold out again and I can’t wait to go hang with the tribe! As you might have suspected, I’m keeping this short and sweet because I have a zillion, trillion things to get ready before I leave. But I have to give you some information…
Last year I went to the LA Conference for the first time and it was AMAZING!!!! But being my first time, it also meant that there were many years when I was living vicariously through the tweets, blogs and FB posts of those in attendance. Yup, I was trolling the net to find out what was going on. You can absolutely do that too. Virtual fun and information is a writer’s right of passage–it’s the next best thing to being there.
If you’re not familiar with the conference or *gasp* SCBWI, here is my wrap up posts. SCBWI LA 40th Anniversary Conference Parts 1-9
You can follow live tweeting of the conference on Twitter by using the hashtag #LA12SCBWI. I’ll absolutely be tweeting, but I won’t be alone.
Another FABULOUS way to get information about the conference is the SCBWI Blog. 
Team Blog consists of…
And you absolutely do not want to miss them. They put in so much hard work to make this conference accessible to everyone. (((group hug)))
Of course, I’ll mini blog from the conference as best as I can and you can guarantee I’ll have a full recall for you when I get back. In the mean time, check out the SCBWI, my old posts and start following the blogs and tweets, but if you have any questions about this conference or conferences in general, I’ll do my best to answer your questions. Also, what’s the best conference you’ve ever been to? Best tip for attending conferences? Is there a conference or speaker that got away and you’re kicking yourself for not attending? Dream speaker at a conference???? Come on…distract me from packing…it’s so easy.
Also–If you’re going and you’re by yourself, have no one to eat with, and are possibly feeling a little overwhelmed and TERRIFIED!!!! Let me know and we can connect!!!
Tags: Conferences, Jamie Temairik, Jolie Stekly, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, LA12SCBWI, Lee Wind, Marhta Brockenbrough, SCBWI, SCBWI Team Blog, Suzanne Young, twitter
****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
So my big blog plan for today was to let you know what my next contest is. I have an ARC of a really great book to giveaway, but a super foul thunderstorm with the potential for a tornado came ripping through my area and now my power is out. That wouldn’t have stopped me in and of itself, but my Internet doesn’t seem to be working either and I don’t have the pressing need to A–try to fix it or B–give up this rare,quiet time.
So, I’ve decided it will keep until Monday and instead I’ll read a book I’m loving by camp light while eating M&M’s and listening to crickets fill the quiet night.
In the Book Blogging world–Wednesday is considered WOW day–Waiting on Wednesday! This is when book enthusiasts talk about up and coming reads they covet. But today it’s a little different on my blog. I’m going to share a book that I recently finished that is just plain WOW!!! As in–you are going to want to put this one on your Waiting on Wednesday list ASAP! Okay…stop tapping your foot impatiently. I’ll let you know what the book is before I get carried away talking about it…
PIVOT POINT by Kasie West
Coming February 12, 2013
I bet you’re wondering how I got to read it so early. Lucky me–Kasie is part of Michelle Wolfson’s Wolf Pack!!! When I found out my agent had copies of PIVOT POINT, I bullied and threatened her to put me first on the ARC Tour!!! Soooo glad I did that! *grin* Here’s a little bit a about PIVOT POINT…
Addison Coleman’s life is one big “What if?” As a Searcher, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she can look into the future and see both outcomes. It’s the ultimate insurance plan against disaster. Or so she thought. When Addie’s parents ambush her with the news of their divorce, she has to pick who she wants to live with–her father, who is leaving the paranormal compound to live among the “Norms,” or her mother, who is staying in the life Addie has always known. Addie loves her life just as it is, so her answer should be easy. One Search six weeks into the future proves it’s not.
In one potential future, Addie is adjusting to life outside the Compound as the new girl in a Norm high school where she meets Trevor, a cute, sensitive artist who understands her. In the other path, Addie is being pursued by the hottest guy in school–but she never wanted to be a quarterback’s girlfriend. When Addie’s father is asked to consult on a murder in the compound, she’s unwittingly drawn into a drawn into a dangerous game that threatens everything she holds dear. With love and loss in both lives, it all comes down to which reality she’s willing to live through…and who she can’t live without.
“Kasie West is a master of suspense. The unique structure–seeing two alternate realities playing out at once–leaves you pleading with the characters, don’t answer that phone, don’t go to that house, don’t talk to that person. PIVOT POINT is at once tense and romantic, challenging and engaging. It’s a truly remarkable debut.” (Robison Wells, Author of VARIANT)
“West’s debut is an expertly plotted, delightfully clever story. Addie’s dual realities pull the reader along to a startling—and devastatingly unavoidable—finale. I can’t wait for the next book!” (Kiersten White, New York TimesBestselling Author of PARANORMALCY)
“With superb storytelling, a masterful blend of paranormal and normal, a helping of wit and humor, and a mouth-watering romance, PIVOT POINT is one of the most delicious books I’ve read.” (Elana Johnson, Author of POSSESSION)
You can Pre-order PIVOT POINT here…
Kimberly Sabatini’s Review of PIVOT POINT
I’ll be honest. Most of the time I know what’s going to happen in a book. Maybe not the smallest details, but the big picture is usually there–I’m a good predictor. If the writing is really good–and most of the time it is–it doesn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story. But from time to time, I like it when I’m stumped, frantic and half-crazed, wondering where this novel is going to end. PIVOT POINT by Kasie West took me there and I loved it!!!
Addison Coleman’s life is one big “What if” and I was immediately fascinated by this and what it meant for the story line, but also because it is a life concept that has always intrigued me. Have you ever had that urge to take one road and found a way to talk yourself out of it, only to end up stuck in traffic wishing you had listened to your instinct? Addie has the ability to look down both of those roads and decide which one has the better outcome. BUT…knowing both paths doesn’t necessarily make choosing any easier. In fact, sometimes being cognizant is even harder. PIVOT POINT had me on the edge of my seat trying figure out how it was going to end. Without giving any spoilers–I’ll tell you it ended perfectly–with the proper balance of satisfaction and anticipation for the next book. I LOVED this book and it still has me thinking!!!
Kasie West
I love to write–too much. It’s a sickness really. My debut novel, PIVOT POINT, will be published by
HarperTeen Feb. 12, 2013. (Followed by its sequel a year later.)
THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US, my comtemporary YA novel, will be published in the Fall of 2013 (HarperTeen).
You can find out more about Kasie West and PIVOT POINT here…
So, what do you think about PIVOT POINT? What about the concept intrigues you the most? Have you ever had one of those moments where you made that pivotal choice? Was it a good one or a bad one?
Tags: Book Review, Kasie West, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Michelle Wolfson, Pivot Point, Wolf Pack, Wolfson Literary
Everything is slower in the Bahamas.
That’s my excuse for getting this blog post up on the late side. I’m still in the vacation mind set I guess.
But sometimes slower is good and sometimes it’s not. For instance, I was in the Dunkin’ Donuts at the airport in Nassau. I was trying to grab a few muffins and a bagel for the kids to munch on while on the plane and the flight was beginning to board. The lady at the register quickly grabbed the muffins and then directed me to the end of the counter for my bagel. It took all my self control not to jump the counter and butter the damn thing for the very sweet and slow moving guy working the toaster. He buttered that bagel like it was the only thing he had to do all day and he was enjoying it. His head nodded slightly to the music in his own mind and he wrapped it carefully and handed it to me with a smile.
Yes, I still wanted to throttle him but…I also wanted to be him. Because sometimes I just don’t want to be rushed. I want to just be…
So not only was I rushing, but I was uptight about being in a rush LOL! And then I realized that sometimes I am on Kim Time. Sure, most of the time, I’m running around like some crazy lunatic. I am a New Yorker and we have special New York DNA that is hard to battle. But sometimes, when left to my own devices, I write the stories as they come to me, I stop and dance to the songs in my own head, I run like I have no where else to be and I live like this is the only moment that I can confidently call my own. And don’t tell anyone…but I enjoy it.
Watching the world go by…
So what do you rush through? And when do you slow down and smell the flowers? What moment to you wish you would have savored? What one did you practically stop time for? Do you rush or do you linger softly?
Tags: Bahamas, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini
