Three Times A Charm With Kimberley Griffiths Little

What is that smell? {sniff sniff } Is that the sweet scent of GIVEAWAY?

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 the lovely Kimberley Griffiths Little. Kimberley visited SoT last year when, The Healing Spell, released. Her fantastic and informative interview can be read here. But it has been 15 months since her blogview and she is celebrating a new book release. Let’s catch up on all things Kimberley:

Kimberley Griffiths Little is the author of five novels for Middle-Grade and Young Adults, including the highly acclaimed, The Healing Spell, which was named a Bank Street College Best Books of 2011 and received the Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel of 2010. She has also been the recipient of the Southwest Book Award. Two more novels with Scholastic Press will be forthcoming in 2012 and 2013. She lives on a dirt road in a small town by the Rio Grande. Please visit www.kimberleygriffithslittle.com to download free Teacher's Guides and Book Club Guides, and view the book trailers.

Congratulations on the awards for, The Healing Spell. Well deserved, such a beautiful book. And two more books with Scholastic Press? That’s fantastic!

Kimberley, please tell us more about your new book, Circle of Secrets.

A mysterious charm bracelet, secret notes in a blue bottle tree, and a ghost are the elements of my novel, Circle of Secrets, which was just published October 1, 2011. My lovely publisher said: “Kimberley Griffiths Little's haunting and powerful tale brings one girl's attempt to grapple with family, friendship, and forgiveness to beautiful, vivid life.”

Did you say mysterious charm bracelet? I’m partial to all things charming on this blog. Do I sense a GIVEAWAY?!

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

  • Top 3 books you’ve read in the past year.

I am a very eclectic reader, actually, and read across all genres; paranormal, magical realism, humorous, mystery, contemporary, literary, historical, etc. so choosing favorites is difficult because it’s impossible to compare, but I’ll list a few very different books from each other that I found to be unique and beautifully written.

1.      STOLEN by Lucy Christopher, YA contemporary written as a letter from a girl to the man who kidnapped her and took her to the outback of Australia.
2.      CLEOPATRA CONFESSES by Carolyn Meyer, fascinating historical fiction written beautifully.
3.      INCARCERON by Catherine Fisher, a very unusual futuristic/dystopian novel, and yet has an interesting “medieval” setting.
4.      BONUS TITLE: Because I’m currently in the midst of a multi-book middle-grade deal – so I can’t leave that genre out: THE GRAND PLAN TO FIX EVERYTHING by Uma Krishnaswami, a humorous and yet literary novel written in an unusual and compelling style and voice about a girl who’s fascinated with Bollywood and travels to India to meet her favorite Bollywood actress.

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

1.      Never give up.
2.      Never give up.
3.      Never give up.

The above was a mantra I said to myself every single day during the decades of writing and working without knowing any other writers, before I ever went to my first writer’s conference, and before I got published. The online world of blogging and networking and sharing and critiquing is fantastic – I’m not the solitary, lonely writer I used to be. Here’s a one sentence piece of advice: Write like crazy, get feedback, edit like crazy, strive to improve your craft, study the best writers, network – and never give up, of course!

  • Top 3 leisure activities:

Reading, Reading, Reading . . . okay, I’ll come up with something else a bit more interesting since reading lots of books is a given if you’re a writer!

 I love to go to the movies, bake cookies, and belly dance! And snuggle babies. Oops, that’s four! Sorry I’m not following directions very well!

I always thought you’d be better at following directions than that, Kimberley *wink*.

So much exciting news and it seems to keep pouring in. How and where can our readers go to keep up with you and your writing?

www.kimberleygriffithslittle.com

www.kimberleygriffithslittle.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kimberleygriffithslittle

Kimberley has generously offered to give one lucky reader a signed copy of her new book, Circle of Secrets, and a replica of the charm bracelet from the book (replica charm bracelets are also available to purchase from her website). Can I tell you how excited I am about this giveaway? Do you see the tie in here? Three Times A Charm. Charm bracelet. Isn’t Kimberley generous?!

Okay, so here are the rules.
  • Must ship within the U.S.
  • Must follow either of my blogs (livejournal or blogger).
  • Leave a comment.
  • Make sure it displays your user name so we can verify you follow (entries under anonymous will not count, sorry.)
  • Leave an email address in the comment. Okay to speak ecode: kaistrand at yahoo dot com.
  • Tell us if you’ve ever had a charm bracelet. (I still have mine. Love mine)
Contest ends 11:59 pm (Pacific Time) Sunday, October 16th. We’ll randomly choose a winner on Monday the 17th. One drawing from the valid comments from both blogs. Please only enter on one blog.

Kimberley, it has been a pleasure having you back to Strands of Thought. Thanks for participating in Three Times A Charm and for offering the super exciting giveaway! Cheers to lots of success for Circle of Secrets.

THANK YOU, KAI!!!

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 12, 2011 at 10:53 AM

    Congratulations to Kimberley, and thanks for the shout-out about The Grand Plan to Fix Everything.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Melissa Ann GoodwinOctober 12, 2011 at 12:19 PM

    I always wanted a charm bracelet, but I never had one! This book sounds terrific - who doesn't love secrets??? Loved your answers!
    lissaanngood@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kimberley Griffiths LittleOctober 13, 2011 at 10:25 AM

    Thank you, Uma! And I've shouted out about Grand Plan in a few places because it's a great book! :-)

    Melissa, it's never too late to start a charm bracelet with your own memories and stories as an adult. I still have my childhood one, but recently started collecting charms that go with my books or have some sort of meaning to me now. I'm going to turn it into an *adult* bracelet.

    There's no reason that kids get all the fun! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kai Strand, AuthorOctober 13, 2011 at 11:29 AM

    Oooo, Kimberley, I love the idea of writing/book related charms. Maybe I'll start a charm necklace!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Susan B JamesOctober 13, 2011 at 5:26 PM

    I still have a charm bracelet. It was given to me several years ago by my good friend and former husband, Barry Corbin. The charms are all memories of our time together. And I want to read Circle of Secrets. sueberger3 at aol dot com
    We also have a giveaway book over at Pen and Ink: http://thepenandinkblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/in-conversation-with-mina-javaherbin.html

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beverly Stowe McClureOctober 16, 2011 at 11:31 AM

    Oh, The Healing Spell is a wonderful story. (I won it in Kai's other contest. Thank you.) And I love charm bracelets. Still have mine from when I was in high school. After I married and had children I added charms with their pictures.

    Great interview, ladies. Circle of Secrets sounds intriguing. Congratulations, Kimberley. Please enter me.
    Beverlysmcclure(at)aol(dot)com

    I follow you on LJ and here, Kai.

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Kai Strand, AuthorOctober 16, 2011 at 7:20 PM

    Thanks for showing your interest in our giveaway, Susan and Beverly. Time is almost up. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Kai Strand, AuthorOctober 17, 2011 at 2:35 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Kai Strand, AuthorOctober 17, 2011 at 2:37 PM

    Congratulations to Kelly Hashway, a follower over on livejournal, for winning the signed copy of Circle of Secrets and the charm bracelet!

    Thanks to all of you for entering and supporting my blog!

    (I spelled Kelly's name right this time. Sheesh!)

    ReplyDelete

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