Cover Reveal for FORBIDDEN by Kimberley Griffiths Little Plus Great Giveaways Including INFERNAL DEVICES TRILOGY!

by Jan Lewis

Hi, it’s Martina, interrupting Clara’s Question of the Week post to share something with you. Today, I am honored, HONORED, to present the cover for a brilliant book from my brilliant friend and fellow YASeriesInsiders.com member Kimberley Griffiths Little. Her cover is GORGEOUS, almost as gorgeous as her prose and her story. But I’ll let her tell you a little about that herself.

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Traveling the Book Journey Road . . .

I was bitten by wander-lust as a child. Because my grandparents had emigrated from there, I dreamed of going to England and the Yorkshire moors. But my grandparents and parents were not well off—my mother had only one dress at a time and her teachers snuck her extra crackers at lunch time—so the only way I could travel was by reading. Even after I put myself through college and married my college sweetheart, it took decades to be able to afford a trip. By that time, I was writing my wanderlust into my own books.

Since then I’ve been able to go many places for adventure and research trips, here at home and abroad. Everywhere I go there are a hundred stories begging to be told and whispering in my ears. One of my favorite trips was my research visit to Jordan and Israel. I adored the desert and the lovable, affectionate camels; the cliffs and valleys and magnificent beauty of this ancient land with a history that goes back many thousands of years.

The most incredible journey I’ve ever taken though has been the one I’ve been on the past 10 years with Forbidden. Years of research, MULTIPLE drafts figuring out story, character and setting. There’s also this crazy story of selling Forbidden to one of the big NY publishers in 2008, only to pull it in 2011 and then sell it again to Harpercollins in a pre-empt significant deal. And at last, this journey—a journey of my heart and soul with thousands of hours of work and tears, angst and sheer longing to see this story between covers —will end on November 4, 2014 when I finally see Forbidden on the shelf of a bookstore. I can’t wait to share it with you all!

About Kimberley

I grew up in San Francisco, but now live in an adobe house on the banks of the Rio Grande with my chaotic, messy family. I think I’ve drunk so much Land of Enchantment water that some of that ancient magic got into my blood and now spurts out my pencil—I mean ergonomic keyboard. I’ve been scribbling stories since I was a kid and it’s a thrilling dream-come-true to see them on the bookstore and library shelves.

I make way too many cookies when I’m revising – and I’ve got the best book trailers ever – for reals! Check them out on my website or Youtube.

I’ve stayed in a haunted castle tower room at Borthwick Castle in Scotland, sailed on the Seine in Paris, walked the beaches of Normandy, ridden a camel in Petra, sunbathed on Waikiki, shopped the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, and spent the night in an old Communist hotel in Bulgaria.

P.S. I also write award-winning middle-grade novels with Scholastic. 🙂

About Forbidden

In the unforgiving Mesopotamian desert where Jayden’s tribe lives, betrothal celebrations abound, and tonight it is Jayden’s turn to be honored. But while this union with Horeb, the son of her tribe’s leader, will bring a life of riches and restore her family’s position within the tribe, it will come at the price of Jayden’s heart.

Then a shadowy boy from the Southern Lands appears. Handsome and mysterious, Kadesh fills Jayden’s heart with a passion she never knew possible. But with Horeb’s increasingly violent threats haunting Jayden’s every move, she knows she must find a way to escape—or die trying.

With a forbidden romance blossoming in her heart and her family’s survival on the line, Jayden must embark on a deadly journey to save the ones she loves—and find a true love for herself.

Set against the brilliant backdrop of the sprawling desert, the story of Jayden and Kadesh will leave readers absolutely breathless as they defy the odds and risk it all to be together.

Add FORBIDDEN on Goodreads

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Now was I right? Isn’t that cover fabulous? The book will be available 11/4/14. Follow Kimberley on her blog, on Twitter, on Facebook, or sign up for her newsletter to keep up with the progress on FORBIDDEN as it goes through the publishing process.

Giveaway

One Grand Prize plus 10 sets of FORBIDDEN cards

Signed ARC of FORBIDDEN when available in March/April
Complete set of THE INFERNAL DEVICES trilogy (because they’re set in England, of course, in the same time period as my great-grandparents!)
Belly dance veil and earrings
A set of beautiful FORBIDDEN Bookmark Club Cards for 10 people

US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Jan Lewis

Jan Lewis writes YA fantasy of the contemporary and traditional varieties. She lives in Oklahoma with a husband, two kids, two cats, a dog, and a mother. Instead of unpublished, she prefers to call herself pre-published. While she enjoys drafting, her heart is truly in rewriting and editing. She loves ladybugs, fairies, blue roses, cats, musical theater, and pretty much all things geek.

Post © Jan Lewis and/or Adventures in YA Publishing. All rights reserved.

Posted: Feb 16, 2014

Category: Imported from AYAP

Tags: Literary Agents | YA Fiction Giveaways

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The first slide is an animation of a science/magic room in a castle. A cartoon character of a mad-scientist looking man in in the foreground says: “Hello! Dr. Frankenstein here to say, Well Done on kid lit zombie week! I’m an expert at reviving the dead, and let me assure you, with a little spark, you can bring dead projects to life. Especially if you dig up parts from other dead things. I’ll even let you have a sneak peek at my laboratory’s store room to consider potential parts for your dead project. If you see something with a yellow glow, that means you should click it. Have fun!”

He points to the right side of the screen and a new scene slides in of a castle science/magic storage room. There are various cartoon Frankenstein body parts scattered around. Some of them have a yellow glow. If you click on them, the images below appear (I’ve added alt text to them, so I hope it works).

The Heart of your story is the main character. The protagonist is the beating core that truly brings your story to life. If your MC doesn't make kids (and their grown-ups) care within the first few pages, your story will flatline. </p>
<p>Your main character needs to be:<br />
• Relatable enough for kids to see themselves<br />
• Unique enough to stand out in the slush pile<br />
• Active enough to drive the story<br />
• Memorable enough to survive multiple readings at bedtime</p>
<p>Where do you find this amazing donor heart? It might be the very thing you loved so much about the manuscript you want to revive. It might be the younger sister from your shelved YA novel. Or maybe it’s the hilarious kid you blogged about meeting at a school visit. Find a character beating with potential and place it in the center of your story.<br />

The Brain of your story is the theme or central message. The theme is the big idea that controls everything else. Picture books are more than stories - they're tiny life lessons disguised with humor and heart.</p>
<p>But your theme needs to be:<br />
• Subtle enough not to trigger the dreaded "didactic" rejection<br />
• Clear enough for a four-year-old to grasp<br />
• Universal enough to speak to both kids and adults<br />
• Fresh enough to prevent agents and editors from responding with "Not another sharing/bedtime/first-day story!"</p>
<p>Check your other dead manuscripts to see if there is a recurring theme, something that really seems to be speaking to you. Find the bit of poetry you scribbled on the back of a receipt to see what theme inspired it. Reread the pep talk you texted your critique partner at 1am. Pick the theme that will drive your story, giving it purpose, direction, and deeper meaning.<br />

The Legs of your story is the plot. Not to be confused with a grave plot.🤪 The plot is what keeps everything upright and moving, as well as providing support for all the other elements. You have very few words to use in a picture book, so you need to do a lot with each plot point.</p>
<p>In general, your plot should:<br />
• Hook readers fast<br />
• Build tension that a child can follow<br />
• Create page turns that feel natural<br />
• Wrap up in a way that satisfies</p>
<p>You can borrow a plot twist (a leg) from one manuscript and the opening (the other leg) from a different manuscript. Consider if the subplot of the middle grade novel you trunked would work better as a picture book. Or maybe your Facebook post about a disastrous camping trip could become a story for kids. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other until you have your storyline.

The Arms of your story are the side characters.

The Torso of your story is the setting. Setting helps a story breathe and connects all the elements of the story. It isn't just where your story lives, it's what makes your story ALIVE. It's the difference between "this happened in a park" and "this happened in that park, the one with the twisty slide that burns your legs and the creaky swing that sounds like a baby crying.”</p>
<p>Your setting should:<br />
• Make your character's world feel real<br />
• Contain your story in a way that makes sense to young readers<br />
• Connect different scenes and moments organically<br />
• Give your illustrator enough room to add visual subplots</p>
<p>Half-finished manuscripts are a great place to dig up settings, since you worked out the place details before the plot petered out. Or maybe you had to cut a second fantastic location from your chapter book. You can also revisit the detailed caption from your Instagram carousel documenting your tour of that delish candy shop. Disinter a robust setting that can house all of your story's vital organs.

After you press the Click When Done circle button, the lights flash with the sound of electricity buzzing. Then the screen goes black and lightning zaps across the screen with the sound of thunder.

The screen then lights up to show the storage room, and all the Frankenstein pieces have been assembled into the whole monster. An upbeat song plays in the background. Then a speech bubble pops up with the words, “I’m alive! I’M ALIVE!” Then the screen goes to black.

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