I am so excited to be a part of this!!!! Corrine Jackson is a fellow Apocalypsie, a fellow Class of 2k12 member, a Simon Pulse sistah and one of the nicest people I know, so it gives me great pleasure to be involved in the cover reveal for her YA novel IF I LIE. I am DYING to read this book!!!! Before I show you the cover, let me tell you why you’re going to want to read it too…
IF I LIE
A powerful debut novel about the gray space between truth and perception.
Quinn’s done the unthinkable: she kissed a guy who is not Carey, her boyfriend. And she got caught. Being branded a cheater would be bad enough, but Quinn is deemed a traitor, and shunned by all of her friends. Because Carey’s not just any guy—he’s serving in Afghanistan and revered by everyone in their small, military town.
Quinn could clear her name, but that would mean revealing secrets that she’s vowed to keep—secrets that aren’t hers to share. And when Carey goes MIA, Quinn must decide how far she’ll go to protect her boyfriend…and her promise.
*SQUEE* Didn’t I tell you this is going to be awesome????
Okay…so you want to see the cover???
I know you do!!!!!
Okay…I can’t make you wait any longer.
Here it is….
I think it’s absolutely perfect!!!!
Tags: Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Simon and Schuster, Simon Pulse, YA Author, YA Novel, YA Rebels, YA Writer
The cool thing about the Class of 2k12 ARC Tour is that I’m picking up books that might not necessarily find their way into my stack of reading material. This is not because I don’t want to give them a try, but rather because there are so many books on my TBR list (that I know I NEED to read) that I’m less inclined to wander down a less traveled reading road without a strong recommendation. I am so glad that I was given the chance to challenge myself with GILT by Katherine Longshore. I was utterly fascinated with this book. Let me give you a little bit of information before I tell you why you MUST read it.
When her best friend marries Henry VIII, Kitty must learn to walk the fine line between secrets and treason, discovering that in the Tudor court, the price of gossip could literally be her head.
In the Tudor age, ambition, power and charismatic allure are essential and Catherine Howard has plenty of all three. Not to mention her loyal best friend, Kitty Tylney, to help cover her tracks. Kitty, the abandoned youngest daughter of minor aristocracy, owes everything to Cat – where she is, what she is, even who she is. Friend, flirt, and self-proclaimed Queen of Misrule, Cat reigns supreme in a loyal court of girls under the none-too-watchful eye of the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk.
When Cat worms her way into the heart of Henry VIII and becomes Queen of England, Kitty is thrown into the intoxicating Tudor Court. It’s a world of glittering jewels and elegant costumes, of gossip and deception. As the Queen’s right-hand-woman, Kitty goes from the girl nobody noticed to being caught between two men – the object of her affection and the object of her desire.
But the atmosphere of the court turns from dazzling to deadly, and Kitty is forced to learn the difference between trust and loyalty, love and lust, secrets and treason. And to accept the consequences when some lessons are learned too late.
You can pre-order GILT here:
If you would like to request a copy of GILT to review on your blog, email Penguin Young Readers Group at yrmarketing@us.penguingroup.com. Be sure to include your name, the name and URL of your blog, an address to which a possible review copy can be sent, plus any statistics and/or sample reviews. Please understand that galley quantities are limited and that not all requests can be filled.
Kimberly Sabatini’s Review of GILY by Katherine Longshore
I’m going to be perfectly honest when I tell you that often historical fiction is not my thing. Sometimes I find the factual details to be mind numbing–but when it’s done right–it gives me shivers. The truth can be scarier than the imagination.
GILT gave me shivers.
Longshore was a master of the skill, show–don’t tell, particularly when it came to sharing her historical information. She painted a rich, vivid picture of the times and I never felt like I was pulled from the story in order to get the details. And then then there were the characters… I was utterly fascinated and appalled by Catherine Howard and Katherine Tylney. I couldn’t look away from their friendship, escapades and dysfunction. The rest of the cast of characters were equally as engrossing–each one falling into place like the interlocking gears of a watch. When Cat Howard was in motion, it made the whole Tudor Court spin and I couldn’t look away. And lastly, I loved the play on words with the title. Gilt means to be thinly covered with gold leaf or gold paint. But if you scratch at the lightly veiled corruption of the times, you easily discover a lot of guilt.
This is one of those books that perfectly straddles the line between literary and commercial. I absolutely loved it!
Having spent time as a freelance travel writer, travel agent, coffee shop barista, bookseller, ship’s steward, construction company contracts manager and Montessori preschool teacher, I have finally found my calling. I write historical fiction for young adults. I am represented by Catherine Drayton of InkWell Management.
You can find out more about Katherine Longshore and her debut novel GITL here…
Tags: Gilt, Historical Fiction, Katherine Longshore, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, YA Author, YA Muses, YA Novel, YA Writer
If you’ve seen the movie Freaky Friday, you know that its premise is about change and growth through role reversal. For my Friday Blog entry I thought it would be interesting to interview aspiring authors–writers who spend lots of time reading the interviews of published authors and dreaming of the day when they might get their book on the shelves..
Some days you just get lucky. I did when an awesome new friend just shows up in my inbox. Lindsay Cummings emailed me, struck up a conversation and we just hit it off. Since then, we’ve chatted back and forth, talking about our our books and other fun stuff. One day she emailed me something that made me yelp out loud in the ladies room stall of a Bed, Bath and Beyond. It was awkward–the public yelping, I mean. And yes, sometimes I check my email in weird places. I see a future blog post here. And although I love you dear reader–no, I’m not going to tell you about the thing that made me yelp. Think of it as an imagination developing writing prompt. Anyway… Shortly after the yelp (So, my new favorite word today) I realized I needed to do a kick-ass cover reveal. Ya know–so other people could yelp with me. There was only one person I thought about asking…
You guessed it–Lindsay Cummings. If you hadn’t guessed it, I would have been a little embarrassed for you. (((hugs))) Anyway–the cover reveal–It was awesome. Lindsay was awesome. It was one of those days that I’ll always remember. (The big reveal for TOUCHING THE SURFACE.) But Lindsay isn’t just wonderful because she was my book cover fairy-godmother. Seriously, she’s just someone that you’re gonna want to get to know. So let me introduce you.
Can you tell us a little bit about how you got the writing bug and where you are on your journey to being a published author?
I always love this question, because I get to gush about how awesome of a writer my dad is. He got me hooked when I was younger. I always saw him, holed up in his room at his writing desk, typing away. I wanted to be like him, and when I started reading adventure stories like Gary Paulsen’s HATCHET, I thought, “okay. I can do this!”
Right now, I have an agent,
Louise Fury, at the L. Perkins Agency, who I totally dig. She’s awesome and young and has the most amazing enthusiasm for my work! I have this theory that we both have some seriously twisted minds. Violence is in all my books, and I always feel like somehow we end up adding more. Lol. We have been on submission with my second novel, THE MURDER COMPLEX, for about 5 months now. Crossing fingers for that book deal! (you should, too. Maybe the gods of writing will take that into account!)
I’ve already got my fingers and my toes crossed for you!!! That is so cool and sweet about your dad. You just gave me goosebumps. You are also an awesome book blogger. *does a little dance remembering how you helped me with my big cover reveal* How did you start book blogging and is it hard to be a writer and a blogger? And can I have a key to your hidden time machine that allows you to get all of this done? :o)
When I had my first novel about halfway done, a writing friend took me out to Starbucks and sat me down. She asked me about my plan for getting published…which I hadn’t really thought about before. I had no idea there were agents, or all these individual publishing houses, or conferences where a bunch of people got together to hone their writing skills. I knew NOTHING. She told me I needed to get a blog, and I didn’t want to, but she set one up for me anyways, and then it just sort of grew from there. It opened me up to this HUGE world of book nerds and other writers, tons of supportive people that are now my friends, and I really think it has helped my writing life so much! It’s so great, because I get to interact with marketing teams at publishing houses, and that sort of helps me have an edge, because now I know how much WORK goes into marketing a book. Months and months before it comes out! Blogging is a blast. It’s my reward for gettting my writing done each day, and also…free ARCs to review. That always helps 🙂
I love your reviews-so I’m so glad you did. So, I have to ask, because I ask every writer/blogger who will put up with me–is it hard to write honest reviews and be an aspiring author at the same time. I’ll be honest. I only review books that resonate with me because I don’t think I could navigate those waters very successfully. How do you do it?
Haha, I do this exactly the same way you do! If I request a book from the publisher, it’s one that I already know I am going to love! If I just receive a random one in the mail, I look at it from a writer’s perspective, someone who just loves a well-told story. I know how much work a book takes, and because of that…most always I find something to get excited about! If I don’t like a book, I just don’t review it on my blog. I will never put another author’s finished product down. Authors rock. They’re my friends 🙂
That sounds like a smart, practical and loving plan of action. Can you tell us a little bit more about THE MURDER COMPLEX or your WIP–besides the fact that you write dystopians that have a little violence? :o)
My book on sub is THE MURDER COMPLEX. That one is a very dark YA about teens who must struggle to survive in a world surrounded by constant daily murders. I can tell you this small snippet: You cannot see us. You cannot hear us. But we are here. And we control your every move.
I love that. 🙂 lol. The next novel, the one I have been working on for a bit, is a retelling of a famous short story from the 1900’s…with my own special twist, of course! That is all I can say, but it is deliciously chilling, full of action, and maybe even a little bit of romance. I love this one, and I already have a GREAT feeling about it!
Such a tease!!!! Both sound awesome-can’t wait to read them. You recently had a wonderful DEAR TEEN ME blog post and I was tickled to see that you played on a guys hockey team when you were in high school. What do you think YA writers need to know when they are writing for kids who do the unpredictable? Are we reaching and connecting with everyone we should be?
I’m only 20, so I think this question is great for me to answer! People that write for teens should keep in mind that when you are a teen…everything is a HUGE deal. If something goes wrong, it’s the end of the world. If they start to get a crush, they are positive they are falling in love. And that’s okay! I love that teens can experience the world with such passion!! It’s the most exciting time in a person’s life, in my opinion, because everything is confusing and new and such a big deal!
I love that too! Okay–I need your top 5 books…
Top 5 books. Goodness. I have a lot of recent favorites…but as a writer, here’s the top 5 that have influenced me the most in my writing life!
1- Lord of the Flies
2- Catcher in the Rye
3- Hatchet
4- Delirium
5- Uglies series
Seriously, I love all of them. I should have asked you what you thought of Gary Paulsen at the SCBWI LA Conference–and btw I can’t believe we didn’t meet there…Oh, wait…this is still your interview. Never mind–I’ll email later. If you want Lindsay Cummings for a best bud–and I’m here to tell you that you do–check out her blog or her website. Lindsay is also on Facebook, Twitter and an author at Teen Shiver.
Go ahead…ask her a question. Or you can just tell me what makes you yelp. :o)
Tags: Dear Teen Me, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, L. Perkins Agency, Lindsay Cumming, Louise Fury, The Murder Complex, YA Author, YA Novel, YA Writer
I popped into my local Barnes and Noble yesterday to buy some Christmas presents and pet the books. It always gives me a little thrill to hop in the escalator and ascend directly into the YA section. Yeah, it’s kinda cheesy, but it almost feels like one of those movies where you’ve died and gone to heaven. LOL! So, I’m about half way up when I realize that my beloved YA section is now the school curriculum area.
Huh?
My eyes immediately shoot to where all the curriculum supplies used to be and low and behold…no YA. I scan the children’s PB/MG section–thinking this can’t be good. How did they squeeze all those books in an already crowded area. My palms are starting to sweat. No YA books in sight. I double check under a table display.
Dashing back to the escalator, I begin to search the rest of the store for any sign of a new area–glittering with YA books. I can’t see anything. This is the point where I start to talk to myself…
They still have a YA section. Relax. It’s not likely that Barnes and Noble removed all of it’s teen reading, less then a year before your book hits the shelf. OMG! There’s a reason that people call our family the Griswalds. Take a deep breath. You’re being silly. Do what you have to do here and then go look for it. Find it you must. Stop talking like Origami Yoda. Damn-it! Where is Dwight and Origami Yoda when I really need help?
I quickly grabbed handfuls of the books I needed from the kids section, then I stalk down the store, reading every sign on every bookcase until I find them. It was the weirdest thing–the YA books were now shelved with the adult books.
I’ll be honest with you, my first thought was–this was no cozy, heavenly, balcony-like corner. This is plain and boring. But then I started to peruse the shelved. There were several and a couple tables. And I started to feel move comfortable. Then I looked around…
There were adults, weaving in and out of the aisles. A lot more adults than I’d normally see in the YA section. And then I got all tingly with excitement because this idea was brilliant. Teen readers are die-hard, loyal fans. Like me. I’m going to find those books no matter where they put them in the store. But there is an untapped, crossover audience out there that has no plans to wander into the YA section. It’s time to bring the Mountain to Mohammed–so to speak.
Of course I didn’t have to fake enthusiasm, to encourage the other grown-ups in my vicinity to rush over and see what I was all excited about. I seriously squeal when I get around all of those books. I petted quite a few and even adopted some. Hey–they looked lonely. And I won’t lie to you. I left pretty darn happy–feeling like there has been a shift in the universe and excited that I’m here to watch it happen.
So what do you think the YA books should be shelved?
Tags: Barnes and Noble, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, YA Author, YA Novel, YA Writer
Now that I’ve hit the tipping point within my work in progress, THE OPPOSITE OF GRAVITY, I want to spend every spare minute of my writing time working on book two. Thought I’d share with you one of my favorite writing tools–SCRIVENER!!! My fellow Class of 2k12/Apocalypsies debut author Cory Jackson did a wonderful vlog about SCRIVENER for the YA Rebels, leaving me blissfully able to give you a ton of great information and get some writing done at the same time. :o)
If SCRIVENER looks like it would interest you, they have a free trial you can check it out. That’s how I got hooked! What’s your favorite way to get the writing done?
Off to make my manuscript tracker move!!!!
Tags: Cory Jackson, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, Scrivener, WIP, YA Author, YA Novel, YA Rebels, YA Writer
