Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!!

Spellbinders Logo
October 31, 2011
Special Spellbinder Book Launch!
HAVE A SPOOKY HALLOWEEN!!!
 ~and~
 SPECIAL BOOK LAUNCH
for one of your SPELLBINDERS!

This month we have a special haunted treat for you. Carolee and Caroline will interview Kimberley about her new ghost story. Read the reviews below, then scroll down for the Q&A. 

 Circle of Secrets
SCHOLASTIC PRESS
ISBN: 978-0-545-16561-7
Hardcover: $17.99
Kindle: $9.99
Fall & Spring Book Fairs
Available through Follett and Mackin, Amazon, B&N, any bookstore 

"The summer I turned eleven,  
I found out that ghosts were real . . ."

Critically acclaimed author Kimberley Griffiths Little weaves a haunting story of friendship and family and the power of faith, once again set against the lush backdrop of the Louisiana bayou.

Goodreads Review: Hauntingly beautiful. Terrifying, yet compelling. One of the best Middle Grade novels I've read in years. Kimberley Griffiths Little is a master at bringing readers the perfect story with the exotic flavor of the Bayou mixed in.
  
Kirkus Reviews: A steamy Louisiana bayou is the atmospheric backdrop to a tale about a daughter's estrangement from her mom, the mother's long-held guilty secret and a restless ghost's long-sought closure . . . A very dramatic climax leads to a sweet, satisfying ending with some surprising twists. For readers who like their ghost stories more friendly than terrifying. (Suspense. 9 -12)   

Q&A
  
Spellbinders: Circle of Secrets takes place in the same town in the bayous of Louisiana as your first book, The Healing Spell, but it's not a sequel. What is the difference between a sequel and a companion book?    

 

Kimberley: A sequel is a new book in a trilogy or series about the same characters featured in a previous book. Think of Harry Potter and Twilight where the characters of Harry and Bella continue their story with new adventures and problems. A "companion" book is a story set in the same world, but with completely new characters and a new plot.   

Spellbinders: Do any of the characters reappear?

Kimberley: Only one character appears in both my books: Miz Mirage Allemand, the traiteur (treater) woman.She was introduced in The Healing Spell and in Circle of Secrets we learn more about her mysterious lifestyle as told through the eyes of her 11 year-old daughter, Shelby.  

Spellbinders: Oh, good. She was a delightfully creepy character.

Kimberley: Circle of Secrets also has a mysterious charm bracelet, an antique doll, secrets notes in a bottle tree--and a ghost!   

Spellbinders: Is it helpful to read the first book before reading the second?

Kimberley: The two books can be independently read, but I had a lot of fun putting in a few links and ties between the two book that enriches the experience of both stories.
 
The setting is the same small town of Bayou Bridge--but that changes a bit, too. I compared/contrasted  the setting between Livie and Shelby. The Healing Spell is from the point of view of a girl who grew up in the heart of the bayou and goes fishing and frogging with her Daddy. Circle of Secrets is about a girl from town who suddenly relocates to the swamp and finds it very primitive and spooky and weird.   

Spellbinders: Why did you decide to write a ghost story?    
    
Spellbinders: La Llorona is a wonderful New Mexico ghost story.    

Kimberley:
Ghost Girl 
was one of my early attempts at writing and not ready for publication, but I always loved the ghost girl and the secrets she's hiding. I took her out of that old document, brushed her off, and gave her connections to Miz Mirage and Shelby and the swamp--as well as mysterious connections to the charm bracelet, the graveyard, an old porcelain doll, and a deserted island.    

Spellbinders: You've been having some jewelry making parties at some of your book signings. Tell us about the charm bracelets. 

 
If YOU had - or have - a special charm bracelet as a kid or an adult, tell us about it in the comments on the blog here: Spellbinders Book News Blogspot  
  
A picture of the charm bracelet from Circle of Secrets!  
  
Email me at kglittle@msn.com if you'd like to order one for a gift!!!

Email me at kglittle@msn.com if you'd like to order a bracelet  
from the book for a gift! Only $13.99 which includes shipping! 



 View our videos on YouTube 
      
Kimberley Griffiths Little has been taking lots of recovery bubble baths since sending off her new manuscript to Scholastic for publication in January, 2013 called When the Butterflies Came.  
 
 Black Stripes
Meet the Spellbinders

Kim Bio PhotoKimberley Griffiths Little is the recipient of the Southwest Book Award, The Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel of 2010, and the author of the highly acclaimed, The Healing Spell and Circle of Secrets, published by Scholastic Press. Look for her books at the Scholastic Book Fairs, as well Circle of Secretsas two more forthcoming novels in 2012 and 2013. She lives on a dirt road in a small town by the Rio Grande with her husband, a robotics engineer and their three sons. Kimberley is a favorite speaker at schools around the country, presenting "The Creative Diary", a highly successful writing Healing Spellworkshop and has been a speaker at many conferences. Please visit her website to download free Teacher's Guides and Book Club Guides. 

Follow me on Twitter 

 Carolee Dean
Carolee Dean has made numerous appearances as a guest poet/author at schools, libraries, poetry events, and teacher/library conferences. She holds a bachelor's degree in music therapy and a master's degree in communicative disorders, and she has spent over a decade working in the public schools as a Comfort Paperback Coverspeech-language pathologist. Her first novel, Comfort,was nominated as a Best Book for Young Adults, was named the Best YA Novel of 2002 by the Texas Institute of Letters, and was on the TAYSHAS (Texas Library Association) reading list. She conducts teacher trainings on inspiring reluctant writers including "The Secret Language of Stories" and "Random Take Me There CoverActs of Haiku."

To find teacher's guides, writing activities, and information about author visits, go to www.caroleedean.com.

 Follow me on Twitter 
  




Caroline Starr RoseCaroline Starr Rose spent her childhood in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and New Mexico, camping at the Red Sea in one and eating red chile in the other. She's taught English and social studies to upper elementary and middle-school students in New Mexico, Florida, Virginia, and Louisiana. Back in New May BMexico, Caroline now writes middle-grade novels and picture books full time.


Blog   
  
  
    
  
  
  

  
UPCOMING AUTHOR EVENTS
  

  
Saturday, October 29th
time TBA
Carolee Dean
Workshop
"Random Acts of Writing"
NCTE Conference
National Hispanic Cultural Center
Albuquerque, NM
  
Saturday, November 5th
2:00 p.m.   
Kimberley Griffiths Little
Presentation & Reading for Circle of Secrets 
Plus make the charm bracelet from the book!
Alamosa Books
Paseo del Norte/Barstow
Albuquerque, NM
(505) 797-7101

 
 

  
  
  

Friday, October 21, 2011

Shocking Publisher's Marketplace Announcement!!!

This all went down in the last 3 days! I'm black and blue from pinching myself, picking myself up off the floor, stunned, thrilled - such a mix of emotion! A surreal dream . . . of a story (that became a trilogy) I began researching about 8 years ago. My first draft was written in 2005. Then the project underwent another 6 years of revisions, re-imagining, changing viewpoint, adding plot, developing characters, etc. 

Children's: Young Adult
Kimberley Griffiths Little's GODDESS, pitched as "the YA Red Tent", to Karen Chaplin at Harper Children's, in a significant deal, in a pre-empt, in a three-book deal, for publication in beginning in 2013, by Tracey Adams at Adams Literary (US).


Most stunning of all is that I made Thursday's Publisher's Lunch first place announcement!

Been walking around giddy and dancing with a great big grin on my face! I've been 20 years getting to this point with my craft and storytelling. Writing my heart out. Getting hundreds of rejections. A long journey, but I feel like, in so many ways, I'm just beginning, I'm still learning so much . . . and the best part is yet to come. But right now - at last - I'm very excited to share Jayden's story with all my friends and family and readers in 2013!!

The story takes place in a fascinating time period that I love and it's a very sexy romance. Girl Power. Sisterhood. Belly dancing. Camels. Tribal Raids. Sword-fighting. Mesopotamia at the time of Abraham.

Pictures below from some book-signings for CIRCLE OF SECRETS the past two weeks! (Notice the castle cake from Chapter 2!)



 Scholastic Book Fair!

Monday, October 17, 2011

October's Book Buzz!

Spellbinders Logo
October 3, 2011
Kimberley's Book Buzz
halloweenBecause it's Halloween this month I'm doing *spooky*!  

Let's talk about the Teen Paranormal Phenomenon of the past decade - VAMPIRES are dead, right?! Or are they? Many people might wish vampire novels were done, because it's been an extremely saturated market since the worldwide success of the Twilight series and all of it's off-shoots. Writers and readers immediately turned to a werewolf craze. Then zombies. Then faeries and mermaids and witches. Now it's Dystopian/Apocalyptic type stories of a science fiction nature.

But! Just yesterday I read about a major book deal for popular author, Holly Black (Spiderwick Chronicles) who sold a new vampire trilogy set in the future where vampires live in Cold Towns outside of the mainstream population. Vampire novels still sell--if they have a new twist.

In 2011, we're watching the Paranormal genre convolute into new directions. Teens with secret super-powers. Magical realism. Alternate realities. As well as Victorian Era paranormals and Steampunk.

Is the Paranormal Phenomenon an invention of the new Millennium? It might appear so, but when we take a minute to ponder, we realize that vampire, werewolf and ghost stories have been around for at least two hundred years beginning with authors Mary Shelley (Frankenstein) and Bram Stoker (Dracula).

Paranormal stories (especially when you include that yearning romance) is escapism at its best. When I was a kid the television show, Dark Shadows, which was about a vampire in a small town in Maine, was popular and now enjoys cult status. During the 1970s women--and teens!--gobbled up dark and stormy Gothic Romances by writers such as Victoria Holt and Mary Stewart. Or how about the dark and stormy novels Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. No vampires, to be sure, but they are creepy, and the love stories are twisted and delicious like any good vampire/werewolf love triangle today.The old and new generations aren't so different from each other after all! 

Jane EyreLia Keyes, a writer repped by Andrea Brown Literary asked her readers on Facebook whether they preferred the romances of Jane Austen's world or the dangerous romances of Charlotte and Emily Bronte.  

Lia herself prefers the Bronte Sisters. She says, "It's the emotions they evoke in me as a reader. One is primal, the other is polite. Fiction is for giving into men that you wouldn't give the time of day in real life.
The Bronte darkness wormed its way into my teenage soul never to leave. It speaks to me on a primal level that I can't articulate. It's my form of horror story, and gives me chills that Austen's chandelier sparkle can't provide."

I agree. Jane Eyre is all about the danger and the obsession. A dark and almost magical tale that is pure fantasy. In stories, we have the opportunity to think about how we would react, how our own lives would be different, and what WE would do in the same situations. To me, the dark, paranormal romances contain fantasy on a much more personal level than a book about dragons or elves."

Here are a few new titles that bring great new twists to the Paranormal Genre and your insatiable teen reader:

Vespertine 
VESPERTINE by Saundra Mitchell
It's the summer of 1889, and Amelia van den Broek is new to Baltimore and eager to take in all the pleasures the city has to offer. But her gaiety is interrupted by disturbing, dreamlike visions she has only at sunset-visions that offer glimpses of the future.  
When one of her darkest visions comes to pass, Amelia's world is thrown into chaos. And those around her begin to wonder if she's not the seer of dark portents, but the cause.


 
THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER by Michele Hodkin
Seventeen-year-old Mara cannot remember the accident that took the lives of three of her friends, but after moving from Rhode Island to Florida, finding love with Noah and more deaths, she realizes that uncovering something buried in her memory might save her family and her future.  




witch 
THE NEAR WITCH by Victoria Schwab
The children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and a mysterious boy falls under suspicion as 16 year old Lexi searches for them. As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi's need to know--about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of a nameless boy.


divergent 
DIVERGENT by Veronica Wroth
In a future Chicago, Beatrice Prior must choose between five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.  



afterAFTER OBSESSION by Carrie Jones & Steven E. Wedel
Aimee and Alan both have unusual pasts and abilities they prefer to keep hidden. But when they meet each other, in a cold Maine town, they can't stop their secrets from spilling out. They believe something--or someone--is haunting them, but they're wrong. Despite their unusual history and powers, it's neither Aimee nor Alan who is truly haunted. Alan's cousin Courtney who, in a desperate plea to find her missing father, has invited a demon into her life--and into her body. Only together can Aimee and Alan exorcise the ghost. And they have to move quickly, before it devours not just Courtney but everything around her.

frost1FROST by Marianna Baer
As classes get under way, strange happenings begin to bedevil Frost House. Frames mysteriously falling off walls, doors locking by themselves, furniture toppling over. Celeste blames the housemates, convinced they want to scare her into leaving. And while Leena tries to play peacekeeper between her best friends and new roommate, soon the mysterious happenings in the dorm, and the reawakening of childhood fears all push Leena to take increasingly desperate measures to feel safe. But does the threat lie with her new roommate, within Leena's own mind . . . or in Frost House itself?
 

 Black Stripes
Meet the Spellbinders

Kim Bio PhotoKimberley Griffiths Little is the recipient of the Southwest Book Award, The Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel of 2010, and the author of the highly acclaimed, The Healing Spell and Circle of Secrets, published by Scholastic Press. Look for her books at the Scholastic Book Fairs, as well Circle of Secretsas two more forthcoming novels in 2012 and 2013. She lives on a dirt road in a small town by the Rio Grande with her husband, a robotics engineer and their three sons. Kimberley is a favorite speaker at schools around the country, presenting "The Creative Diary", a highly successful writing Healing Spellworkshop and has been a speaker at many conferences. Please visit her website to download free Teacher's Guides and Book Club Guides. 

Follow me on Twitter 

 Carolee Dean
Carolee Dean has made numerous appearances as a guest poet/author at schools, libraries, poetry events, and teacher/library conferences. She holds a bachelor's degree in music therapy and a master's degree in communicative disorders, and she has spent over a decade working in the public schools as a Comfort Paperback Coverspeech-language pathologist. Her first novel, Comfort,was nominated as a Best Book for Young Adults, was named the Best YA Novel of 2002 by the Texas Institute of Letters, and was on the TAYSHAS (Texas Library Association) reading list. She conducts teacher trainings on inspiring reluctant writers including "The Secret Language of Stories" and "Random Take Me There CoverActs of Haiku."

To find teacher's guides, writing activities, and information about author visits, go to www.caroleedean.com.

 Follow me on Twitter 
  




Caroline Starr RoseCaroline Starr Rose spent her childhood in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and New Mexico, camping at the Red Sea in one and eating red chile in the other. She's taught English and social studies to upper elementary and middle-school students in New Mexico, Florida, Virginia, and Louisiana. Back in New May BMexico, Caroline now writes middle-grade novels and picture books full time.


Blog   
  
  
    
  
  
  

  
UPCOMING AUTHOR EVENTS
  

  
Saturday, October 29th
time TBA
Carolee Dean
Workshop
"Random Acts of Writing"
NCTE Conference
National Hispanic Cultural Center
Albuquerque, NM
  
Saturday, November 5th
2:00 p.m.   
Kimberley Griffiths Little
Presentation & Reading for Circle of Secrets 
Plus make the charm bracelet from the book!
Alamosa Books
Paseo del Norte/Barstow
Albuquerque, NM
(505) 797-7101

 
 

  
  
  
This email was sent to kglittle@msn.com by spellbinders@peifercomputing.net |  
Spellbinders | 3 YAF Authors | Albuquerque | NM | 87181

Friday, October 14, 2011

Winner and Publisher's Marketplace Announcement!

THANK YOU SO MUCH, Everyone, for all the love and kudos and congrats this past couple of weeks! 

The winner of a signed hardcover copy of CIRCLE OF SECRETS IS:

JESSIE HUMPHRIES!!!!!!!!!! (The toddler has *spoken* AKA "dug into the bowl of names")

Come on down and claim your prize! Email me at kglittle at msn.com



Jessie will also receive this!



AND my new book deal was announced yesterday in Publisher's Marketplace!

Children's: Middle grade
Author of The Healing Spell and Circle of Secrets Kimberley Griffiths Little's
WHEN THE BUTTERFLIES CAME, a mystical, emotional, and physical journey
about a young girl who discovers a set of mysterious keys inside her
grandmother's old house, unlocking an explosive secret that will change
her life forever, to Lisa Sandell at Scholastic, for publication in January 2013, by Tracey Adams at Adams Literary (US). 

Happy Weekend!!!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

The Secret Language of Stories

Spellbinders Logo
October 10, 2011
Carolee -- The Secret Language of Stories

     
OVERVIEW OF THE TWELVE STEP METHOD
 This week I will be focusing on a review of the twelve steps of the story analysis procedure I call The Secret Language of Stories (SLOS). Many of you signed up for our Spellbinders newsletter after attending conferences where I spoke on SLOS, a system I use both to plot my novels and to teach writing to students of all ages. I have continued to refine the twelve steps of this story analysis process, and some of the material presented below may be slightly new. Some of you may not be as familiar with SLOS, and this will provide a basic introduction. 


The Secret Language of Stories is a twelve step story analysis procedure based upon the work of Joseph Campbell and The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Stories don't necessarily contain all of the components, and they don't always occur in the order given here. In longer stories, many of the elements are repeated. Subplots may have their own story threads and novels may include endless repetitions of the Plan, Attempt, Response sequence found in the middle section of the story. The purpose of this analysis is not to micro analyze every element of a story, but rather to help students recognize what is going on in stories and to begin to think like authors.

Beginning:
         
The beginning of the story is the setup for what is to come. It may be very short or quite long. Back-story and history is described. It may be given before the conflict is introduced or it may be woven throughout the story. This is the section where questions are raised. Will the hero succeed? What will he find out? It includes the following:

1)     Old World - Setting and characters are introduced.
2)     Call and Response - The Hero receives a call to adventure. Sometimes
    he eagerly undertakes this challenge, but more often there is a period of
     reluctance or even refusal as the dangers of the adventure are weighed 
     against possible benefits.
3)     Mentors, Guides, and Gifts - A mentor appears to encourage the hero 
     to accept the challenge of the Call and gifts are often given to help him  
    on his way.
4)     Crossing - The hero decides to act and crosses over into the New 
     World.

Middle:
         
Hero With 1000 FacesThe middle section of the story has also been called the Initiation phase (See Joseph Campbell and The Hero with a Thousand Faces) because the hero is learning how to live in the New World and proving himself as he faces a series of increasing challenges. Some questions will start to be answered, but even more perplexing questions may be raised. The middle section is much longer than either the beginning or the end. What makes it longer is a repetition of the Plan, Attempt, Response sequence which can go on indefinitely for hundreds of pages. The middle section includes the following:

5)     New World - The hero faces small challenges as she learns to function
    in the New World.
6)     Problems, Prizes, and Plans - A clear story goal is established and the
     hero makes plans for how it will be attained.
7)     Midpoint Challenge: Going for the Prize - An attempt is made to
    attain the Prize. A shift in the story occurs.
8)     Downtime - This section shows the hero's response to what   
    happened during the attempt. It may be a time of celebration, recovery,
    healing, regrouping or sulking, depending on what happened during the
  attempt to attain the Prize.

End:
         
It may seem as if the story is over at this point. In some picture books, fables, and short stories, this may be true, but for most stories, it is only the beginning of the end. The hero may even be back with his friends, thinking he is safe and enjoying his prize, but the ultimate challenge is about to happen. In this section everything is wrapped up and all (or most) of the questions will be answered. Sometimes a book will end on a cliffhanger where a brand new question is raised, suggesting that there might be a sequel. The final section includes the following:

9)     Chase - A twist sends the hero off in a new direction. Something is   
   being pursued. The hero may be pursuing the prize or the villain. On the
other hand, the villain may be pursuing the hero.
10) Death and Transformation - This is the point in the story where it
    appears that the hero will lose whatever is of highest value. Often
    someone dies at this point in the narrative.
11) Showdown: The Final Test - The hero must face one final challenge to
     demonstrate whether the changes that have occurred are lasting or  
     only temporary; internal or merely external.
12) Reward - The hero gets what she has earned. If she has passed the
     final test, it may be a reward. If not, there may be other consequences.
    Often there is a celebration and the return of the hero to the group.

The above description is a very brief overview of the story analysis process. If you have questions or if you are interested in writing workshops for your staff or students, please feel free to contact me via my website.

For information about upcoming Spellbinders Author Events, see the bottom of the right hand column.

 A special note to those of you who have generously been forwarding our newsletter to your entire school - Please use the button at the bottom of this page marked Forward this email to send to your list. If you forward through your email server, you may inadvertently get unsubscribed. It's a quirky feature of Constant Contact. Sorry about any inconvenience.

Another option is to follow us on Twitter in which case the newsletter will come right to the phone.
 Black Stripes
Meet the Spellbinders

                      Carolee Carolee DeanDean has made numerous appearances as a guest poet/author at schools, libraries, poetry events, and teacher/library conferences. She holds a bachelor's degree in music therapy and a master's degree in communicative disorders, and she has spent over a decade working in the public schools as a Comfort Paperback Coverspeech-language pathologist. Her first novel, Comfort,was nominated as a Best Book for Young Adults, was named the Best YA Novel of 2002 by the Texas Institute of Letters, and was on the TAYSHAS (Texas Library Association) reading list. She conducts teacher trainings on inspiring reluctant writers including "The Secret Language of Stories" and "Random Take Me There CoverActs of Haiku."

To find teacher's guides, writing activities, and information about author visits, go to my website.

 Follow me on Twitter
  




Kim Bio PhotoKimberley Griffiths Little is the recipient of the Southwest Book Award, The Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel of 2010, and the author of the highly acclaimed, The Healing Spell and Circle of Secrets, published by Scholastic Press. Look for her books at the Scholastic Book Fairs, as well Circle of Secretsas two more forthcoming novels in 2012 and 2013. She lives on a dirt road in a small town by the Rio Grande with her husband, a robotics engineer and their three sons. Kimberley is a favorite speaker at schools around the country, presenting "The Creative Diary", a highly successful writing Healing Spellworkshop and has been a speaker at many conferences. Please visit her website to download free Teacher's Guides and Book Club Guides. 

Follow me on Twitter 


Caroline Starr RoseCaroline Starr Rose spent her childhood in the deserts of Saudi Arabia and New Mexico, camping at the Red Sea in one and eating red chile in the other. She's taught English and social studies to upper elementary and middle-school students in New Mexico, Florida, Virginia, and Louisiana. Back in New May BMexico, Caroline now writes middle-grade novels and picture books full time.





UPCOMING AUTHOR EVENTS

Saturday, October 15th
10:30 a.m
Kimberley Griffiths Little
Presentation & Reading for Circle of Secrets
Plus make the charm bracelet from the book!
call ahead to reserve a spot
 Bookworks
4022 Rio Grande Blvd. NW
Albuquerque, NM
(505) 344-8139

Saturday, October 29th
time TBA
Carolee Dean
Workshop
"Random Acts of Writing"
NCTE Conference
National Hispanic Cultural Center
Albuquerque, NM

Saturday, November 5th
2:00 p.m.   
Kimberley Griffiths Little
Presentation & Reading for Circle of Secrets 
Plus make the charm bracelet from the book!
Alamosa Books
Paseo del Norte/Barstow
Albuquerque, NM
(505) 797-7101



MY PUBLISHED BOOKS

MY PUBLISHED BOOKS

Winner of The Southwest Book Award!

Time travel, war, love, rattlesnakes, magic . . .

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