Mini Freak Out: Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff

Mini FREAK OUT!

A DYING LAND
The Shima Imperium verges on the brink of environmental collapse; an island nation once rich in tradition and myth, now decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshipers of the Lotus Guild. The skies are red as blood, the land is choked with toxic pollution, and the great spirit animals that once roamed its wilds have departed forever.

AN IMPOSSIBLE QUEST
The hunters of Shima’s imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a thunder tiger—a legendary creature, half-eagle, half-tiger. But any fool knows the beasts have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death.

A SIXTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL
Yukiko is a child of the Fox clan, possessed of a talent that if discovered, would see her executed by the Lotus Guild. Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, she finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled thunder tiger for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her.
But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire.

So I’m going to have this new feature about once a month I’m going to call “Mini Freak Outs” which may sound like a mini review, which I guess it is, but it’s more like my reactions throughout the book, a one-paragraph review and a rating. That’s it. So my first Mini Freak Out is for…Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff! Sorry if I cuss.

Page 179—Ooooh BEAT DA BITCH!

Page 193—OOOHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND THIS MY FRIENDS, is where the loyalty shifts and the truth is shown. God I sound cheesy. Dang, I'm talking to myself...this is not good...

Page 205—SHIT

Page 211—Oh God, I am HORRIFIED by the Shogun. Seriously. Can i kill him myself?

Page 236—I feel so bad for Buruu...but... BAHAHAHAHAHAHA LOLOL i'd like to see Buruu with that idiot of a guy for 5 minutes too!

Page 238—DUDE THIS SURPRISED ME TOO

Page 239—Lol Hiro is SO CUTE

Page 247—Shit. Shitshithshitshitshitshitshit. SHIT

Page 254—Oh. Oh NO. NONONONONONONO. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (You guys. I'm actually screaming this. At midnight.)

Page 268—GAG.

Page 273—Ierwjfdsiocxkmlzcqowiefn. I love Kin. I do. But GOSH Hiro is so much better!

Page 275—*cries*

Page 282—Oh. He's going to do something irrational. Something that's going to kill them all. DAMMIT (edit: Oh...never mind.)

Page 295—Ohhhhh...I KNEW that Hideo would be trouble

Page 305-306—Oh no. *sobs*

Page 307—GOD. NO. PLEASE

Page 311—Yes, yes, and yes.

Page 313—I NEED BOOK 2.

Stormdancer, while a bit slow in the beginning, was a great read! I mean, Japanese steampunk? YES PLEASE. It sounded exactly like my kind of book and I loved the intense feelings that Yukiko, Kin, Buruu, and the rest of the gang…sprouted? Haha, anyways the writing definitely matched everything else—intense, well thought out, and it had that aloof-ish feeling that seemed to match the plot and world. Oh. And Buruu? He’s definitely my favorite. Snarky? Yes. Proud? Yes. Hilarious? Yes. Adorable? He’d kill me, but yes. Caring? Yes. Brotherly? Yes. Best-mythical-creature-ever? Yes.

Original, new, and amazing, Stormdancer is a must-read and a definite pleaser! It made me scream (Did you not read the mini Freak Out above?) and you’ll have so much fun reading it! Anticipation is a normality for this book and anxiety attacks are bound to happen. If you see it in the bookstore, gasp at the cover, grab it, awe over its shininess, and buy it! Although if you don't like steampunk...stay away.



52 Days of 52 Reasons to Love Jessica Brody and her Books

52 Days of 52 Reasons to Love Jessica Brody and Her Books

1 of the 52 Reasons to Love Jessica Brody and Her Books…for 51 other reasons, visit I Am a Reader, Not a Writer (September 16th), Good Choice Reading (September 18th) and The Story Siren (September 19th).

 Jessica encourages all aspiring writers to *be* writers! According to Jessica, it's a "state of mind!"

I'm so excited to be a part of this tour! I read through 52 Reasons in a sitting and absolutely loved it! It was hilarious and sweet at the same time and Lex wasn't as annoying as I expected. Quite the opposite really!

***Farrar, Straus, & Giroux (BYR) have donated a copy of 52 Reasons to Hate My Father and a copy of Unremembered for a giveaway! You want to win these!***

 

About 52 Reasons to Hate My Father (FSG, July 2012)
Being America’s favorite heiress is a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it. Lexington Larrabee has never to work a day in her life. After all, she’s the heiress to the multi-billion-dollar Larrabee Media empire. And heiresses are not supposed to work. But then again, they’re not supposed to crash brand new Mercedes convertibles into convenience stores on Sunset Blvd either.Which is why, on Lexi’s eighteenth birthday, her ever-absent, tycoon father decides to take a more proactive approach to her wayward life. Every week for the next year, she will have to take on a different low-wage job if she ever wants to receive her beloved trust fund. But if there’s anything worse than working as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food restaurant employee, it’s dealing with Luke, the arrogant, albeit moderately attractive, college intern her father has assigned to keep tabs on her.In a hilarious “comedy of heiress” about family, forgiveness, good intentions, and best of all, second chances, Lexi learns that love can be unconditional, money can be immaterial, and, regardless of age, everyone needs a little saving. And although she might have 52 reasons to hate her father, she only needs one reason to love him.

52 Reasons to Hate My Father Excerpt

52 Reasons to Hate My Father Trailer:

The Making of the 52 Reasons to Hate My Father Book Trailer

About Unremembered (FSG, March 2013)
The only thing worse than forgetting her past . . . is remembering it.When Freedom Airlines flight 121 went down over the Pacific Ocean, no one ever expected to find survivors. Which is why the sixteen-year-old girl discovered floating among the wreckage—alive—is making headlines across the globe.Even more strange is that her body is miraculously unharmed and she has no memories of boarding the plane. She has no memories of her life before the crash. She has no memories period. No one knows how she survived. No one knows why she wasn’t on the passenger manifest. And no one can explain why her DNA and fingerprints can’t be found in a single database in the world.Crippled by a world she doesn’t know, plagued by abilities she doesn’t understand, and haunted by a looming threat she can’t remember, Seraphina struggles to piece together her forgotten past and discover who she really is. But with every clue only comes more questions. And she’s running out of time to answer them.Her only hope is a strangely alluring boy who claims to know her from before the crash. Who claims they were in love. But can she really trust him? And will he be able to protect her from the people who have been making her forget?From popular young adult author Jessica Brody comes a compelling and suspenseful new sci-fi series, set in a world where science knows no boundaries, memories are manipulated, and true love can never be forgotten. More details: http://www.jessicabrody.com/books/teen-fiction/unremembered-series/unremembered/about

Giveaway!

• Rules:
• US only! (Sorry INT folks!)
• One set of entries PER HOUSEHOLD
• All false entries will be deleted
• All entrants must be 13+ or have parent's permission

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GYDO: Daniel Marks

Danny Marks, Author of Velveteen (2012)

Why did you decide to write about the afterlife?

It's not so much a decision as it comes naturally. I've always been a fan of horror and had written about just about every kind of supernatural creature in my adult series (written under a pseudonym which I'd rather keep separate), but when it came to writing for young adults, I went back to basics. That first scare when you're a kid: ghosts. My inclination is to worldbuild and I knew I wanted to do something that was heavy on the fantasy aspect so setting a large portion of the book in a sprawling industrial Purgatory appealed to me.

Velveteen (the girl) has been called "sassy" and "kickass"! So how much fun was it to write from her POV? And was it hard or easy to write in her POV?

Velveteen is awesome fun to write, but probably not fun to hang around. She's violent, aggressive and lets very little get by her without a comment. She's a super strong heroine, which is exactly how I like them, in fiction and real life. As to whether it's difficult to write from her perspective, I'd say no. I'm pretty comfortable with a dark, dramatic voice and when I worked as a counselor, the majority of my clients were adolescent girls so I can mimic pretty well at this point...I think. I guess the reader will be the judge of that, though I hope they'll find Velveteen’s dark perspective refreshing.

What are your opinions on the cover? (I personally LOVE it!)

I was super excited about it. It's subversive (like the book). At first, you're drawn in by the familiarity, the CW-ness of it, but the closer you look the more it reeks of death. The characters are gray and emaciated, the pretty dress is worn and the girl's gloves look like they've seen a fistfight. I just can't wait to feel it in person. The title is supposed to be embossed and the whole thing is supposed to be buttery!

If you only had a two word pitch for Velveteen, what would it be?

Ghostface Killah!

What has been your favorite book of 2012 so far?

Definitely John Green's THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. Green has this uncanny way of creating unique characters that look at the world in such a vivid, funny and poignant way that you can't help but like them. His treatment of cancer and the shifting of the whole paradigm was fresh and fantastic. Loved that book!

Can you name the best thing about writing?

The flexibility. I'm able to take care of my wife and the house and write on my own timeline. I'm accountable to myself, which is sometimes the worst thing about writing. But overall, it suits me.

Any last words to all the readers?

Just that VELVETEEN comes out on October 9th and If you like snarky, violent heroines, hot boys, ghostly revolutions, serial killers and tentacle monsters, then this is the book for you! Also, come visit me at my YouTube channel! There's a thriving YA book community over there and we'd love to have you visit!

Velveteen Blurb

Velveteen Monroe is dead. At 16, she was kidnapped and murdered by a madman named Bonesaw. But that’s not the problem.
The problem is she landed in purgatory. And while it’s not a fiery inferno, it’s certainly no heaven. It’s gray, ashen, and crumbling more and more by the day, and everyone has a job to do. Which doesn’t leave Velveteen much time to do anything about what’s really on her mind.
Bonesaw.
Velveteen aches to deliver the bloody punishment her killer deserves. And she’s figured out just how to do it. She’ll haunt him for the rest of his days.
It’ll be brutal... and awesome.
But crossing the divide between the living and the dead has devastating consequences. Velveteen’s obsessive haunting cracks the foundations of purgatory and jeopardizes her very soul. A risk she’s willing to take—except fate has just given her reason to stick around: an unreasonably hot and completely off-limits coworker.
Velveteen can’t help herself when it comes to breaking rules... or getting revenge. And she just might be angry enough to take everyone down with her.

Short Author Bio

Daniel Marks writes young adult horror and fantasy, spends way too much time glued to the internets and collects books obsessively (occasionally reading them). He’s been a psychotherapist for children and adolescents, a Halloween store manager, a cafeteria janitor (gag) and has survived earthquakes, volcanoes and typhoons to get where he is today, which is to say, in his messy office surrounded by half empty coffee cups. He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, Caroline, and three furry monsters with no regard for quality carpeting.

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Book Haul and GYDO Wrap-Up!

GYDO Wrap-up
Woot! GYDO is officially done today! (Scroll up to see my interview with Daniel Marks, author of Velveteen) Here are the links of past GYDO posts!

Jay Kristoff
J.A. Souders
Jessica Khoury
Elsie Chapman
Suzanne Lazear
Jeanne Ryan
Mindee Arnett
Tiffany Schmidt
Gina Rosati
Fiona Paul

Lauren Morrill

Kimberly Sabatini

A.G. Howard

Daniel Marks (Scroll up!)

This entire thing was SO fun and I hope you guys enjoyed it too!

Book Haul

Over the course of GYDO I've gotten some AMAZING ABSOLUTELY STUNNING BOOKS!

Why, yes. That is a UK copy of Crewel. (Oh! I also got these JUST today! Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door from the library and Surrender and Possession for the Surrender Blog Tour. I have no pics of my library books, but I managed to take one of my tour books!)

Giveaway

Given

Bought

Traded

Library

    

Signed!

So YES! I actually didn't win the giveaway for Treachery of Beautiful Things! Eileen (Singing and Reading in the Rain) won the giveaway and donated the prize to me! She's SO NICE IT MAKES ME CRY! I can't wait to start it! Defiance is a preorder giveaway I won a while back and I did read it...not as good as I hoped but still pretty good. And CREWEL! OMG I'VE READ THIS AWESOMENESS and expect a review. I actually won an ARC copy too but I dropped it in mud. Yeah. MUD. I hate the rain.

YES. THAT IS SEND ME A SIGN. EEP! I totally read it in one sitting and bawled my eyes out! It's just so heartbreaking! My review''s coming up sometime this week! I can't believe it! My first Bloomsbury book! Dear Teen Me is porbably the only non-fiction book that I've read for pleasure, but some of these are so heartbreaking. I can't wait until my stop on the Dear Teen Me tour! Haunting Violet is from ARCycling, which is one of the best ides EVER. And eep! Such a Rush I got from Jennifer Echols herself! I've been absolutely DYING for this! Surrender and Possession are from (according to the return address) Elana Johnson for the Surrender Tour! I've been meaning to read these and am so glad I can dive right into Book 2 after Book 1!

Kill Me Softly, 20 Boy Summer, and Forgotten. I haven't read Forgotten yet but the other two were pretty "meh" I'm writing reviews on both so wait until those to see what I mean! Forgotten I seriously need to get to! I haven't read Revived (ARGH. NEED!), but I've heard awesome things about her work!

EEP! Tiger's Destiny I traded with Eileen! And. I. Loved it. ACK. I am a bit curious as to how the fifth book will turn out though. Tiger's Destiny seemed to pretty much wrap things up. And yes! That is Burning Blue, The Loop, and Falling Kingdoms! I actually hadn't heard of The Loop or Burning Blue until Montana from Book Belles offered it and I knew immediately I'd want them!I've scheduled my review of Burning Blue, but it's sometime in early October! I can't bleieve I have ALL THE BREATHLESS READS NOW!!! ACK! Oh. Dang. I also traded for an ARC of The Innocents (I KNOW I KNOW) but forgot to take a pic! Eep!

I read Anna, onto Lola! I absolutley ADORED Anna and the French Kiss and can't wait to sink into book 2! Ack!

And oops. Guess I didn't mention that Jennifer Echols also SIGNED Such a Rush for me, did I? Well she did and she threw in a bookmark too! This book is so pretty! I can't decided what to read next! HELP!

 

What's in YOUR mailbox? Leave a link below!

GYDO: A.G. Howard

A.G. Howard, Author of Splintered (2013) 

Instead of talking about Splintered today, I thought it would be fun to highlight one of the two masterpieces that inspired it. See, it wasn’t just Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland that sparked my Wonderland companion novel … Carroll’s second book, Through the Looking Glass and what Alice Found There , also had several scenes/characters which played a part in my spinoff.  The most obvious example is the crazy dinner scene. It was always one of my favorites, so of course I wanted to give credence to it in my book. I kept my tribute nonsensical like Carroll’s, but at the same time wove in some sadistic and violent undertones to darken it.  Here’s a small excerpt of the original, and the piece of artwork that first ignited my imaginings:

(John Tenniel’s illustration of the bowing mutton leg from Through the Looking Glass) 

At last the Red Queen began. 'You've missed the soup and fish,' she said. 'Put on the joint!' And the waiters set a leg of mutton before Alice, who looked at it rather anxiously, as she had never had to carve a joint before.  'You look a little shy; let me introduce you to that leg of mutton,' said the Red Queen. 'Alice -- Mutton; Mutton -- Alice.' The leg of mutton got up in the dish and made a little bow to Alice; and Alice returned the bow, not knowing whether to be frightened or amused. 'May I give you a slice?' she said, taking up the knife and fork, and looking from one Queen to the other.  'Certainly not,' the Red Queen, very decidedly: 'it isn't etiquette to cut any one you've been introduced to. Remove the joint!' And the waiters carried it off, and brought a large plum-pudding in its place.

(A little later, really crazy things start to happen)

And then (as Alice afterwards described it) all sorts of thing happened in a moment. The candles all grew up to the ceiling, looking something like a bed of rushes with fireworks at the top. As to the bottles, they each took a pair of plates, which they hastily fitted on as wings, and so, with forks for legs, went fluttering about in all directions: 'and very like birds they look,' Alice thought to herself, as well as she could in the dreadful confusion that was beginning.  At this moment she heard a hoarse laugh at her side, and turn to see what was the matter with the White Queen; but, instead of the Queen, there was the leg of mutton sitting in the chair. 'Here I am!' cried a voice from the soup tureen, and Alice turned again, just in time to see the Queen's broad good-natured face grinning at the for a moment over the edge of the tureen, before she disappeared into the soup.  There was not a moment to be lost. Already several of the guests were lying down in the dishes, and the soup ladle was walking up the table towards Alice's chair, and beckoning to her impatiently to get out of its way.  'I can't stand this any longer!' she cried as she jumped up and seized the table-cloth with both hands: one good pull, and plates, dishes, guests, and candles came crashing down together in a heap on the floor.  'And as for you,' she went on, turning fiercely upon the Red Queen, who she considered as the cause of all the mischief -- but the Queen was no longer at her side -- she had suddenly dwindled down to the size of a little doll, and was now on the table, merrily running round and round after her own shawl, which was trailing behind her.  At any other time, Alice would have felt surprised at this, but she was far too much excited to be surprised at anything now. 'As for you,' she repeated, catching hold of the little creature in the very act of jumping over a bottle which had just lighted upon the table, 'I'll shake you into a kitten, that I will!'

And so, from Carroll’s amazingly vivid and chaotic dinner scene, one of the most Carrollian chapters in my book was born. Well, that and a trip to the ER room, which magnified all of the crazy emotions needed to nail that scene. If you want to know what I mean by that, check out this post (add link: http://adr3nalin3.blogspot.com/2012/03/what-er-taught-me-about-writing.html) on my YA group blog. Now, when you read my book one day, you’ll know exactly how that chapter came about. :) Thanks Nikki for having me! And hope to see you all in January when Splintered hits the shelves!

Splintered Blurb

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.
When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

Short Author Bio

A.G. Howard was inspired to write SPLINTERED while working at a school library. She always wondered what would've happened had the subtle creepiness of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland taken center stage, and she hopes her darker and funkier tribute to Carroll will inspire readers to seek out the stories that won her heart as a child.

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GYDO: Kimberly Sabatini

Kimberly Sabatini, Author of Touching the Surface (2012)

Building A Platform

What I'd like to talk about today is platform building. First of all, what is an author platform? According to The Creative Penn...

"The author platform is how you are currently reaching an audience of book-buying people, or how you plan to do so. It is your influence, your ability to sell to your market. It is your multi-faceted book marketing machine!"

Today I thought I'd share some of my platform building experiences for those of you who are aspiring authors and bloggers. Both groups are trying to reach many of the same audience. :o)

I have many writer friends that I share my social media ups and downs with. The very first thing that I tell them about platform building is to get started NOW!  Like clockwork, they inevitably  look at me, all flustered and discombobulated, before they start sputtering something about grabbing an agent, selling a book or maybe even kidnapping an editor first. Waving their hands and shaking their heads, they let me know they're completely uncomfortable hocking a book they haven't written, finished, found an agent for, or sold yet. Duh! I agree completely, but that doesn't mean you can't begin to build your platform. It simply means that your focus is not hocking your own book. Or in the case of bloggers--your blog.

A real platform is all about genuine interactions and those are not developed overnight. And trust me--you want a real platform. With this in mind, it doesn't matter where you start (Twitter, Facebook etc...) or if you do ALL at once.  What matters most is that however you proceed, you must make yourself an active participant in your literary community.

Here are some of my best suggestions...

1.  Follow your favorite authors and help them sell their books. Read their blogs because they are full of information and experience that is going to help you with your writing, blogging and marketing. They WILL appreciate the support and you may even develop a cyber friendship with that author. *fan-girl dreams* Retweet or share their best stuff. Shout out their marketing efforts from the roof-tops. Read their books, write reviews and be sure to post them on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I can not stress how much they will appreciate your support. In my own experience, after years of doing this (yes...I said years) many of those very same authors have stepped up and given me the same support that I have given them. And I did not have to ask for it. The world of children's literature functions as a tribe and I promise you--everyone remembers what it felt like to want IT so bad. Will everyone you support live up to your expectations? No. But then again, I don't just use social media to market myself. I genuinely enjoy it and love the community. Win-Win!

2.  Repeat the above strategy with agents and editors. Again, they are a wealth of information and they are also promoting their author's books too. You can learn and you can help and they will be appreciative. Just don't be a weird and clingy stalker. Now...this doesn't mean I didn't don't stalk certain folks...it just means that I try to stay professional by keeping my own needy weirdness isolated to the privacy of my own head. Michelle Wolfson (my uber agent) didn't need to know that I hung on her EVERY word including her insane knowledge of Pop-tarts while I glued my eyeballs to her Twitter feed. And NO, I didn't send her a manuscript wrapped in Pop-tarts. Although...never mind. On the other hand,  sometimes I did make a cute Pop-tart comment--so she knew that I was paying attention. And of course, the most important thing I did while I stalked my future agent on Twitter, was to carefully watch how her clients interacted with her and spoke about her. And I began to follow and support them.In doing this, it didn't take long for me to realize that Wolfson Literary's Wolf Pack would be the perfect fit for me. And make no mistake--she was watching how I behaved online too.

3.  Repeat the above with bloggers. Do you see a pattern here?

***I'm interrupting #3 for a public service announcement***

In all of the platform building we've just talked about, you haven't HAD to mentioned your book once, but... you absolutely could have shared bits and pieces of who you are and what you're working on because you HAVE proven yourself to be a well rounded person. Huzzah!

***Back to our regularly scheduled programing***

Oh, and by the way...Bloggers Rock! Yeah, I know there's much author/blogger angst in the world, but I can't be a part of it and neither should you. Why?

1) Bloggers work hard and long for the simple love of books. I respect that.

2) I can't even begin to tell you how much I've learned by following bloggers. I've gained knowledge about reviews, building-up a blog, meta-data and a ton more.

3) Yeah, I can't say this enough...These are people who LOVE books and dedicate a truck load of time and effort into promoting authors. It gives me tingles.

So, in my humble opinion, you should support them right back. Appreciate them. Study how other authors handle their reviews--good and bad. Begin the process of preparing yourself for bad reviews and give the bloggers permission to write them. I know that's hard, but good reviews feel so much better when they are balanced with the sucky ones. They feel earned. It's like the olympics...winning is so damn good when you have to work that hard for it. Will there be stinky, snarky, mean reviews sometimes? Sure. Your job is to act professionally, eat a lot of chocolate, privately cry a few river of tears and then pull up your big-girl panties and not let what happened effect the great relationships you've made.

Ummm I may have deviated. Sorry--mini-rants happen. Back to my last tip.

4.  In the same way that you've made yourself a part of the author, writer, agent, editor and blogger communities--you need to start finding authentic ways to connect with your target audience. When you're writing YA, this one of the toughest platform building tasks. Teens might be interested in you when you've already written a book that they love (if you're lucky) but they are not likely to be knocking on your door before then. I won't lie--I still struggle to make this connection. Sometimes I find some overlap, like the many teen bloggers that are out there. We share a love of books and that automatically gives us something in common. But what about those teens that are just readers--out there. So, what do you do? Quite by accident, I learned the most important bit of advice from the teen relationships I already have. I take dance class every week with my target audience young friends and without a doubt, these relationships are genuine and precious to me. They aren't about books and they can't be faked. I've cultivated them slowly like any other true relationship, and because of that, I've gained much more than you could ever imagined. I can't tell you where you should go to make these connections--although I highly recommend dance class. *grin* You are unique and have your box to reach outside of. But I can imagine that there are many teens looking for more real people in their lives--volunteer, take time to talk to your sitter, abduct your friend's kids, mentor a young writer or reach out in your community. They are there--in person and on-line. Expect it to be a slow and fragile process, but know that if you do it right, building a platform will be the very last thing on your mind. And that is what makes it all worth while.

Nikki, thanks so much for having me over to your blog, I had a wonderful time. Anyone else have any awesome suggestions for building a platform? I'm always up for learning a few new tricks. And of course I'm up for any questions about platform building, cyber stalking or Pop-tarts? I'm here to

Touching the Surface Blurb

Experience the afterlife in this lyrical, paranormal debut novel that will send your heart soaring.When Elliot finds herself dead for the third time, she knows she must have messed up, big-time. She doesn’t remember how she landed in the afterlife again, but she knows this is her last chance to get things right.

Elliot just wants to move on, but first she will be forced to face her past and delve into the painful memories she’d rather keep buried. Memories of people she’s hurt, people she’s betrayed…and people she’s killed.

As she pieces together the secrets and mistakes of her past, Elliot must find a way to earn the forgiveness of the person she’s hurt most, and reveal the truth about herself to the two boys she loves…even if it means losing them both forever.

Author Bio

Kimberly Sabatini is a former Special Education Teacher who is now a stay-at-home mom and a part-time dance instructor for three and four year olds. After her dad passed away in 2005, she used writing as a way to make sense of the experience and discovered that she’s full of questions that need to be answered. She lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with her husband and three boys. Kimberly writes Young Adult fiction and is a member of the SCBWI (The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) and she’s also a member of two debut author groups–the Class of 2k12 and the Apocalypsies. She is represented by Michelle Wolfson of Wolfson Literary Agency and thrilled to be part of the “Wolf Pack.” TOUCHING THE SURFACE is her debut novel. (Simon Pulse – Simon & Schuster, October 30, 2012)

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