Three Times A Charm With Kimberly Sabatini

Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the publishing industry.

This week we are joined by Kimberly Sabatini. Kim is a never ending bottle of bubble solution. Whether you are blowing the bubbles or chasing them, you are having TONS OF FUN! Kim, tell us about yourself.

I’m a former Special Education Teacher who is now a stay-at-home mom and a part-time dance instructor for 3, 4 and 5 year olds. After my dad passed away in 2005, I used writing as a way to make sense of the experience and discovered that I’m full of questions that need to be answered. I live in New York’s Hudson Valley with my husband and three boys and write Young Adult fiction.  I’m represented by Michelle Wolfson of Wolfson Literary Agency and I’m thrilled to be part of the "Wolf Pack." TOUCHING THE SURFACE is my debut novel.  (Simon Pulse - Simon & Schuster, Fall 2012)

What a great title! Tell us more about TOUCHING THE SURFACE.

Life-altering mistakes are meant to alter lives.

At seventeen, Elliot Turner feels like she’s a failure in life and in the afterlife. She’s died for the third time and until she can remember her past and figure out the growth plan for her soul, she’s stuck at the Obmil Center for Progression. Elliot’s not surprised that her third stay in limbo guarantees her a rocky road to enlightenment, but she never expected her best friend, Julia to be mad at her. Things get even worse when Elliot meets Oliver and Trevor.  One guy is as radiant as the sun and the other is dark and snarky and seems to hate her for no reason at all. It doesn’t take long for Elliot to realize that the deeper she delves into her past, the more complicated it gets--she’s only touched the surface.

Now, for the Threes. Share with us your top 3’s to help us know you a little better.

  • Top 3 pieces of advice for people just starting in your business.

#1-Write what is important to you.  This does not mean that you shouldn’t be smart and learn how to be a really good writer.  It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be aware of what is current in the write-o-sphere.  But you have to take those tools with you on your own journey. 

#2 – Find the joy in each stage of what you are doing.  It’s very easy to get discouraged by the constant rejection, instead focus on things like the wonderful friends you meet, lessons learned from failure, your own growth as a writer and a person and most importantly how you feel when you are writing. 

#3 – Be a friend.  In a world of social media, it’s very easy to get on your own little soap box feeling like a Who down in Whoville trying to get noticed.  The very best way to be noticed is to be a friend to someone else.  If you do that, you will rarely have to ask for a favor in return.  Your friends will be there for you.

(Don’t you LOVE this woman?!)

  • Top 3 leisure activities. 

The top three things I do that are not writing related, but never stop making my writing better:

#1 – I’m a runner.  I’ve been doing it for just over a year and I LOVE it.  I like the solitude, the exercise and the chance to just let my mind wander. 

#2 – I’m also a dancer.  I’ve danced since I was 3 years old and I continue to take classes that challenge me, but I’m also a dance instructor to 3,4 and 5 year olds.  I water the seeds that grow a love for dance.  It’s a pretty awesome “job.” 

#3 – I know it’s not “exciting” but I’m a reader.  It is one of my favorite things to do and I do it as often as I possibly can.  I even listen to audio books in the shower.  LOL!  My favorite time of day is reading out loud with 3 boys snuggled up against me.  It doesn’t get much better than that. 

  • Top 3 authors. 

Here are the three author’s that have had an amazing influence on my journey as a writer. 

Laurie Halse Anderson:  She was the keynote speaker at the very first SCBWI conference I attended.  Everything about her inspired me and I was blown away by her ability to make a personal connection with every single person she came into contact with.  She looked me in the eye and asked me what I write--I felt like a real writer for the first time.   

K.L. Going:  Kelly was also at my very first conference and I was so impressed with her that I signed up for a local workshop she was presenting.  In addition to the class, she was doing critiques and I started to write TOUCHING THE SURFACE to have something for her to look at.  Her advice and support over the years has helped me to stretch and grow as a writer. 
Lois Lowry:  I can clearly remember reading THE GIVER for the very first time.  I hadn’t known that someone else in the world thought about the same kind of strange things that I did.  I hadn’t known that it was possible to take those thoughts and craft them into a story.  Reading that book changed me.  It created the first crack that allowed me to eventually find my own voice.  I was in awe meeting her in person at this year’s NY SCBWI Conference.

Kim and Lois Lowry January 2011
Kim makes me want to be a better person, have more fun, be an inspiration!

Where can our readers learn more about you or find more of your bubbles solution inspiration?

My blog: Jess Free Falcon - http://kimberlysabatini.blogspot.com/
Livejournal: Jess Free Falcon - http://kimmiepoppins.livejournal.com/
The Apocalypsies: 2012 Debut Authors - http://apocalypsies.blogspot.com/


Kim, thank you so much for stopping in to Strands of Thought! I have a feeling this is the beginning of a long and beautiful career for you and I’m happy to say “I knew her when.”

Thanks so much for letting me stop by.

Kim

I’m always looking to people involved in children’s publishing to feature in Three Times A Charm. If you have project, service, book, blog or agency to promote, contact me directly through my email: kaistrand at yahoo dot com.

Comments

  1. Thanks so much-this is my very first interview as a debut author and I'm grinning from ear to ear. (((hugs)))

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yippee! I'll always rank up there with your first love, then huh? Awesome!!

    ReplyDelete

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