Second Skin

Second Skin is now available online via Amazon and will be hitting Chapters stores across Canada very, very soon. I'm rallying the troops and hope to set off on a blog tour filled with excerpts, reviews, SWAG and signed copy giveaways. The schedule will be posted shortly. If you're a blogger and would like to participate in the tour, email me: judithgraves at ymail dot com

In the meantime, here's the Second Skin trailer for your enjoyment. Whoot! It's a book birthday!

Spirited Anthology by Leap Books

TAKING A WICKED LEAP FOR LITERACY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Leap Books digs the importance of literacy – and they’ve unearthed 13 haunting tales to help spread the word. After all, there’s no rest for the wicked.

More than a dozen young adult paranormal fiction authors are contributing to Spirited, a collection of steampunk, cyberpunk and downright spooky stories guaranteed to get your heart racing. Proceeds from the anthology will be donated to National 826, a literacy-based charity.

“Leap Books tends to lean towards the eccentric and snarky, so when we found an organization that’s a little off-the-wall and dovetails with our goals – reading and writing – we couldn’t resist,” says Spirited editor, Kat O’Shea. “One of our goals is to get teens excited about books. What better way to do that than to offer stories by some of their favorite authors?”

The anthology features supernatural tales by bestselling writers such as Maria V. Snyder, Candace Havens, Shannon Delany, Linda Joy Singleton, Heather Kenealy and more.

“I was amazed at how many well-known authors were willing to carve time out of their hectic schedules to benefit charity,” says O’Shea.

For bestselling author and leading entertainment journalist Candace Havens, Charmed & Dangerous (Berkley), the chance to be a part of Spirited was a no-brainer. Trying her hand at a ghost story was something she’s wanted to do for a long time, and as the emcee for several literacy charity events, she hears amazing stories of literacy inspiration all the time.

“When my first novel came out, one of the nurses at my doctor’s office bought my book for her daughter,” she says. “The daughter was in her 20s and had never read a book all the way through. She read mine and told her mom she wanted more. She didn’t know books could be so fun. A story like that will get you through those tough writing times.”

As a school library technician, Judith Graves, Under My Skin (Leap Books), has seen the power of literacy awareness, promotion and support at work, and believes any organization that offers this is worthy of heralding.

“When I heard that the Spirited anthology had a paranormal theme and that proceeds would go to a literacy-based charity, I was ready to claw my way onto the roster,” she says. “Luckily, my story made the cut and no editors were harmed in the making of this anthology.”

That’s not to say there aren’t a few deaths involved. Albeit fictional. With the e-book launch slated for October 31, 2011, Spirited is the perfect read for young thrill-seekers. While many of the featured authors will be hauntingly familiar to fans of the paranormal, readers will be invited to discover new authors venturing into the genre.

New York Times Bestselling author Maria V. Snyder, Poison Study (Mira), says the opportunity to write for Spirited offered a creative challenge. “The subject or theme of an anthology is usually not within my comfort zone of fantasy and science fiction, and I always have fun playing in someone else’s sandbox.”

Leap Books is also thinking outside of the coffin with this release. In addition to a macabre and eclectic collection of stories, Spirited will feature some unique graphics, including AR (augmented reality) in a cyberpunk/dystopian story by award-winning author Shannon Delaney, 13 to Life (St. Martin’s Griffin).

“Readers will be able to hold the story icons under a webcam to see some cool 3-D effects,” says O’Shea.

Spirited manifests October 31, 2011, in e-book format, followed by a print edition of the anthology unleashed in March 2012. Copies can be summoned by pre-order via the Leap Books website at HYPERLINK "http://www.leapbooks.com" www.leapbooks.com.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO BOOK AN INTERVIEW WITH ONE OF THE SPIRITED AUTHORS PLEASE CONTACT:

Dawn Ius or Judith Graves Cathleen Cartwright

Bridge Social Media Leap Books

HYPERLINK "mailto:bridgesocialmedia@gmail.com" bridgesocialmedia@gmail.com cathleencartwright@leapbks.com

Ph: 780.938.2034 Ph: 717.497.0632

HYPERLINK "http://www.bridgesocialmedia.blogspot.com" www.bridgesocialmedia.blogspot.com www.leapbks.com

HYPERLINK "http://www.bridgesocialmedia.com" www.bridgesocialmedia.com www.leapbks.blogspot.com

BACKGROUNDER

Founded in 2009, Leap Books is a shiny new publisher specializing in teen and tween fiction.

Proceeds from the sale of Spirited will benefit 826 National, a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting students, ages 6-18, to improve their writing skills. The 826 mission is based on the understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success. For more information, please visit HYPERLINK "http://www.826national.org/"www.826national.org.

Spirited is not the only charity project Leap Books is doing. All of their authors have causes they care about, so Leap Books supports them in reaching out to others. October is Domestic Violence Awareness month, and they’re donating 20% of the sales from For the Love of Strangers by Jacqueline Horsfall to the Domestic Violence Awareness project. Horsfall’s book is about sixteen-year-old Darya, who helps her adoptive mother run a shelter for abused women. Leap Books is also donating free copies of For the Love of Strangers to shelters along with a frameable copy of “Libby’s Lament,” a poem from the point of view of a young abused mother, and a booklist for teens on domestic/relationship abuse. The poem and booklist are also available to any teens who would like them. Just send an email to HYPERLINK "mailto:info@leapbks.com" info@leapbks.com.

Leap Books is also offering a free copy of Stakeout by Bonnie J. Doerr to any environmental organizations who are working to save sea turtles. In Doerr’s eco-mystery Stakeout, teens endanger their lives to capture the poacher of sea turtle eggs.

October Thrills

Kitty and I are thrilled to be participating in the second annual Crossroads Blog Tour, which brings 15 YA paranormal authors together in one freak-a-thon of Halloween-inspired goodness. Don't miss out on chances to win SWAG, signed ARCs, learn more about NY Times Best-selling and debut paranormal authors, as well as freaking CHAT with them....LIVE!

Follow the tour on Twitter: @TheCrossroadsBT

And on FACEBOOK.

It's gonna be to DIE for!

If that's not enough to get us SCREAMING...both Kitty and I have stories published in Leap Books' anthology, SPIRITED: 13 Haunting Tales along with some big names in YA fiction - Maria V. Snyder, Candace Havens, Shannon Delany, Linda Joy Singleton, Jill Williamson, Dawn Dalton and more!

SPIRITED has its heart on its sleeve - Leap Books is donating proceeds of their sales to 826 National, a literacy-based charity.

There's a contest going on all month - follow SPIRITED on Twitter: @Spirited13 for details.

Talk about one hell of an October. Here's the SPIRITED trailer:

Scene and Sequel

Writing By The Seat of My Pants...

When I first heard the words scene and sequel…I cringed. Because I didn’t write that way. I didn’t plot. I just sat down at the computer and typed. That was many years ago. Ahem…I have binders full of unfinished manuscripts.

I’m Kitty and I’m a Pantser. I write by the seat of my pants. Yep, I said it. I confessed. Now what? Is there a twelve step program to join? Support groups? Do I get a shinny pin? Nope. Darn!

The good news is Pantsers can plot and still keep their edge. Really?

I’ve learned what background information I needed to have ahead of time. I will never sit down and write out a forty page outline or twelve pages of notes on each character. It’s not me. And I’m not knocking those that do. I admire them, truly.

So here’s one take on plotting from a die-hard Pantser. (As I am a Pantser, any major amount of planning causes adverse affects. I promise to keep this short. And yes, I’m sort of winging it.)

Back to those two words SCENE and SEQUEL. (See in bold type they seem ominous don’t they? Wahhhaaaaa. They’re not once you have the tools to slay the beast.)


Let’s start with SCENE:

What’s a scene? What should it contain? (Okay, tiny beads of sweat are forming at my forehead as I write this. Must continue… gripping mouse harder. BREATHE. EXHALE, INHALE)

The best book I ever found that described scenes was written by the late Jack M. Bickhman. He wrote, “What is a scene? It’s a segment of the story action, written moment-by-moment, without summary, presented onstage in the story “now.” It is not something that goes on inside the character’s head; it is physical. It could be put on the theatre stage and acted out.” SCENE AND STRUCTURE, ISBN 0-89879-906-6, Chapter 4, page 26.

Wow that’s pretty easy, right? Clear. Scenes are action. They are not summary. They happen in the story now. There are three things all scenes should have and this dare I say, this is where the plotting comes in. Big Gulp.

GOAL,CONFLICT, DISASTER (OMG! I’m so want to head for the hills right about now. Someone hold my hand. Spoiler alert! Big scary words ahead.)

First big scary word…Goal.

All characters must have a goal. Something they want. Ray Bradbury wrote, “First find out what your hero wants; then just follow him.” The goal is why the story is. Your hero wants something.

Second big scary word…Conflict.

This is actually my favorite. Conflict drives your story. Conflict makes it interesting. Without conflict your story would be about as exciting as a grocery list. Conflict can be from the hero himself, from nature, or from another character…the villain. Everyone boo and hiss. The more conflict you have the more interesting. But, conflict needs to have a purpose. It needs to drive the story forward. Random acts of conflict is just that, random.

The third big scary word…Disaster.

Dunt dunt dunt dunt….shark! Disaster is the failure of the character meeting his goal. It’s what makes us turn the page and read the next chapter with the next scene.

Okay so that’s pretty easy right? Just think of each scene as cause and effect. Cover the five W’s… who, what, when, why, and where. Have your dialogue crisp, natural and have a point. And the scene should have a reason. Yep. That about covers it. Not really. But it’s a start. And remember I’m a Pantser. Too much information will make my head explode. I try to keep all of this organized in my thoughts. Mostly though, I think of the major three, Goal, Conflict, Disaster.


Okay cringe, big scary word, again… Sequel.

I thought a sequel was something after the first Lord of the Rings movie, the second movie, part two. In a way, I was right. A sequel follows a scene. WARNING. Doctrine alert! This is where people differ on opinion. I’m going to share what works for me. Remember I’m a Pantser, the less planning, the better. I believe— please hold the tomatoes until after— that you don’t have to have scene/sequel, scene /sequel.

Sequels as their nature slow the story down. They are the reflection. They are not in the story now. They must have Reaction, Dilemma, and Decision. This is the part where you get into the character’s head. This is where you see how they work. This is also the spot for flashbacks. Flashbacks, in my opinion should only be used to tell an important key element that you couldn’t tell any other way.

Stepping off soap box now…

Back to Sequel.

Following the last scene or scenes you wrote, there should be a sequel. The hero needs to have some time to process what has happened to him. This is his reaction. I think many writers forget to have hero reactions and that’s what their stories are missing… the connection with the characters. This is where we, as the reader, get to know the hero. The hero now has a dilemma. He has faced some conflict in the previous scenes. It caused—ohhh there’s that word again—a disaster and now the hero as an effect has to make a decision. That will lead him onto the next goal. Whoa! Not too hard is it?

I don’t write scene/sequel. It’s too patterned for me. I might have scene/scene/sequel or scene/scene/scene/sequel or sequel/sequel/scene, one in the hero’s POV, one in the heroine’s POV or even villain’s POV. Basically, find what works for you and your story.

Just remember, the sequel is the aftermath of the scene. It’s the reaction, with emotion and thought, the decision making area and the bridge to the next scene.

In the spirit of a Pantser, on my wall above my computer, I have two Post-it notes. One reads: Scene Structure: Goal, Conflict, Disaster. The other reads: Sequel Structure: Reaction, Dilemma, Decision. That’s it. I look up as I writing and ask myself those questions. Then, I let my fingers fly.

Welcome, Heather McCorkle!

When Judith and I started Wolfy Chicks nearly three years ago we were new at everything. Being published authors blogging the works. One of the most joyous things about this journey has been our followers and supporters. Awhile back we had the pleasure of featuring Shannon Delany, who was one of our first Wolfy Chick Followers. She is now a sensational YA author with her 13 to Life werewolf series. We have yet another opportunity to share another talented author that has been very supportive of our journey. Heather McCorkle debut novel just came out this month. Please give her a Wolfy Chicks howl and welcome her!


What projects are you working on / have published?
My debut novel, a young adult urban fantasy titled The Secret of Spruce Knoll, just released this August (it feels totally surreal to say that :). I'm currently working on editing the sequel which is due out next spring.

What's your "road to publication" story?
It has been a rocky road for me, as with many people in this changing industry. I've had two agents and two different manuscripts that failed in the editorial submission rounds. This last one felt it was all about timing and the tumultuous state of the market though. We parted ways because he was downsizing like so many others lately. I never stopped writing and improving though, and I started submitting to editors of publishing houses myself. A few interested houses later I finally found my path to success.


Why YA?
I took my adult fantasy novel to a writer's retreat where I met YA authors Aprilynne Pike and Sarah Rees Brennan. They showed me that YA wasn't what I thought it was. It was fun, quirky, daring, and very cutting edge. I realized it was what I was meant to write.

Best writing advice you've heard?Keep writing even when you've landed an agent and you're manuscript is on editor submission. That advice is why I'm published today.

What inspires you?
Life! LOL, I know that's a bit vague. I'm an active outdoor person and my surroundings are very inspiring to me. So are people, animals, movies, great books, art.

Did you write stories as a teen? If yes what has/hasn’t changed?
Definitely! I've been writing novel length work since I was twelve. My writing is better but still carries a lot of the same tone and atmosphere it had when I was a teen writer. I think that helps make it something they can relate to.

Describe your office/workspace/writer’s cave.
I don't have an office yet, but I hope to soon! In the meantime my work space is the kitchen table, the end next to the bookshelf with all my necessities on it. ;)

Who is your favorite character in your work? Why?
Oh no, you're making me choose favorites! Well alright, but only if you don't tell the others. That is so hard, I love them all so much. I would have to say Aiden though since he had such a challenging childhood it made him very interesting and deep to write. I love characters that push me and he definitely did that.

Thank you for having me over, it's always a pleasure!