Touching The Surface Blog Tour – Guest Post & Giveaway with Kimberly Sabatini

Welcome to my stop on the Touching The Surface blog tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. I was so excited to join this tour because, not only does Touching the Surface have a gorgeous cover, whats inside is even better. Thanks so much Kimberly Sabatini for stopping by The Happy Booker to share 10 of the things readers should know about this book.

Ten Things Every Reader Should Know About 
Touching The Surface

Guest post by Kimberly Sabatini

10. TOUCHING THE SURFACE is a paranormal, afterlife story that reads like a contemporary.

9. The afterlife in TTS is called the Obmil, which is Limbo spelled backwards. The full name is the Obmil Center for Progression.

8. The lyrics for Annie Lennox’s song “Little Bird” are used at the beginning and the end of TTS. Birds, both real and origami play a roll in the story.
http://youtu.be/ETHw7GCB9fw

7. Every soul in the afterlife has a distinct scent. That way, when I soul begins a new life in a new body, they can still be recognized. Elliot’s soul smells like freshly cut wood and dark chocolate.

6. Deep thoughts on TTS: Insta-love isn’t actually insta-love if you’ve known someone over more than one lifetime. Love triangles are sometime actually love knots and they’re bigger and more complicated than just romance.

5. Most of the characters in in TTS spend a chunk of time being unlikable, but that is part of growing.

4. I think of chapter titles as the accidental, secret poem of the book…

the other side of the surface
circles in the sky
reunions
creation variation
unguided
the distribution of guilt
the walls between us
silhouettes
suspending disbelief
tilt
revelations
still waters run deep
questions
choices
optical illusion
the things we don’t see
the funny thing about wishes
creating distance
bellyaches
go with the flow
complications
the rain on the pain
near misses
already gone
falling of flying?
remembering blue
frozen in place
choose your coincidence
the third time lacks charm
a twist of faith
deeper understanding
hell and back
rubber band
the be present

3. Souls at the Obmil must attend Workshop and Delve for their memories in group therapy sessions. When Delving, a soul and all the other souls participating, can’t interact with anyone who is still alive. They also can’t change what’s happened in the past. It’s hard work, but they must look to the inside to figure out some important things about themselves before they can move on.

2. My intent was to not have preachy messages or religious directives in TTS. The goal of this book is to resonate and connect. I like to think of it more like Mad Libs--you bring your own experiences and plug them in.

1. What I figured out from writing TOUCHING THE SURFACE: Life altering mistakes are meant to alter lives.
Thank you so much for having me over to spend time on your blog. I really appreciate it. And thanks so much to all the folks who’ve stopped by the Book Tour. I hope you love TOUCHING THE SURFACE.



Thank you so much Kimberly. I LOVE what you said about the chapter titles being the accidental poem. And the quote “Life altering mistakes are meant to alter lives” certainly resonates with me and I’m sure with many others.
Thanks everyone for stopping by The Happy Booker for my stop on this tour. Please be sure to comment, enter the fabulous giveaway, and visit the other blogs on the tour listed below.

Week One

July 8 – The Book Cellar – Guest Post (w/link to review)


July 9 – Alluring Reads – Review


July 10 – The Happy Booker – Guest Post


July 11 – In Bed With Books – Interview (w/link to review)


July 12 – The Book Belles – Review


Week Two

July 15 – Parajunkee – Guest Post

July 16 – Reader Girls – Review

July 17 – Books Complete Me – Interview

July 18 – Imaginary Reads – Review

July 19 – The Irish Banana Review – Review

Experience the afterlife in this lyrical, paranormal debut novel that will send your heart soaring.

When Elliot finds herself dead for the third time, she knows she must have messed up, big-time. She doesn’t remember how she landed in the afterlife again, but she knows this is her last chance to get things right.
     Elliot just wants to move on, but first she will be forced to face her past and delve into the painful memories she’d rather keep buried. Memories of people she’s hurt, people she’s betrayed…and people she’s killed.
     As she pieces together the secrets and mistakes of her past, Elliot must find a way to earn the forgiveness of the person she’s hurt most, and reveal the truth about herself to the two boys she loves…even if it means losing them both forever.

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | THE BOOK DEPOSITORY | GOODREADS

About the Author

(Photo credit: *Author photo by Dawn Sela Photography - www.dawnsela.com.)

Kimberly Sabatini is a former Special Education Teacher who is now a stay-at-home mom and a part-time dance instructor for three and four year olds. She lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with her husband and three boys.
Kimberly writes Young Adult fiction and is represented by Michelle Wolfson of Wolfson Literary Agency. TOUCHING THE SURFACE is her debut novel. (Simon Pulse – Simon & Schuster, October 30, 2012)

TWITTER | FACEBOOK | WEBSITE | BLOG | GOODREADS

The Giveaways

A SIGNED hardcover copy of TOUCHING THE SURFACE by Kimberly Sabatini to FOUR (4) winners – US ONLY.
A SIGNED hardcover copy of TOUCHING THE SURFACE by Kimberly Sabatini to ONE (1) winner – International ONLY.
Giveaway #1 is US only. Giveaway #2 is International only.
Must be 13 or older to enter.B
Giveaway ends July 22 at 12:00 a.m. Pacific.
Winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter and contacted by email.

Requirements
Must answer a question to determine which giveaway they want to enter – US or International.
Must leave a comment about the book.
Optional entries: Like Kimberly Sabatini on Facebook, follow her on Twitter and Tweet (daily) about the tour/giveaway.
All giveaway options are weighted evenly.



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Scott Nicholson’s The Home for Halloween Kindle Fire Giveaway!

<div align="center"><a href="http://happy-booker.blogspot.com" title="The Happy Booker"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v605/mizkreant/backgrounds/ScottsButton_zps1334c029.jpg" alt="The Happy Booker" style="border:none;" width="95%" /></a></div>

 

Scott Nicholson does spooky like no one else I know, so what better way to kick off the month of Halloween than with his novel-The Home and an awesome giveaway!

 

Enter the Rafflecopter to win your choice of a Kindle Fire, Nook HD, or Kobo Glo, as well as signed books and audiobooks in the Home for Halloween giveaway from author Scott Nicholson.

The giveaway celebrates the launch of paranormal thriller The Home. Experiments at a group home for troubled children lead to paranormal activity—and the ghosts are from the home’s dark past as an insane asylum. In development as a feature, it’s available in ebook at Amazon US, Amazon UK, BN.com, Kobo, and Smashwords.

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EXCERPT: THE HOME

By Scott Nicholson

(From Chapter 10)

Starlene loved Group. The setting was perfect for teaching socialization skills while also gaining the children’s trust. In group therapy, she could be a “facilitator,” though she hated that word for it. A facilitator was someone who was structured and inflexible, who “empowered” others while not taking much personal risk. She thought of her job as more like “witnessing,” showing others the blessings she’d discovered and which all could share in.

“Hey, guys,” she said, looking into each face in turn.

“You’re late,” Deke said.

“And I apologize. Adults have to apologize sometimes, too, don’t they, Freeman?”

Freeman winced, twitched one corner of his mouth, and said nothing.

“You going to make us talk about something, or do we just got to sit here for an hour?” Deke said.

“I think it’s better when we get things out in the open,” Starlene said.

“Because sharing is caring,” Freeman said.

She ignored his sarcasm. Many placements came to Wendover with a wall around their hearts. You couldn’t hammer through the wall; battering at it only made the wall stronger. Love was better. Love seeped through the cracks and melted the wall away, eroded its base until the stones crumbled. “We do care, Freeman.”

Deke glowered at Freeman, then at Starlene. He looked around the circle, at the children sitting in their straight-backed chairs, making sure he had an audience. “Not all of us care, Freaky Freeman.”

Starlene was about to quiet Deke, then decided the group dynamic might be more interesting if she let the children lead the discussion themselves. If only Deke’s natural leadership skills didn’t turn nasty so easily. Six years in therapy, according to the case file, and Deke was no closer to adjusting to society than he’d ever been. Still, the Lord and her professional obligation required her to have hope for him.

But patience was a demanding virtue. That was one of the warnings that her Psych teachers had burned home, that occasionally you’d feel like slapping little Johnny across the face. No matter that he had been abused and suffered a neurochemical imbalance and was diagnosed with an adjustment disorder, you sometimes had to wonder if a particular brand of vermin was, and always would be, a rat.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

ARC Review and Giveaway- Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Shatter Me
Author – Tahereh Mafi
342 Pages
Publisher – Harper Collins
Date – November 15, 2011














Shatter Me introduces us to Juliette as she sits in solitary confinement in what seems to be a mental asylum, counting the days (264) since she’s seen, heard, or been touched by another human. The world outside those four walls (with 14 cracks) has gone insane, people starving to death, whole species of animals no longer exist, and the people in power call themselves the Reestablishment. The Reestablishment…these are the people who drug her away to this place for a murder she didn’t mean to commit, to a fate she’s sure she deserves, to be trapped by her guilt as much as by the prison walls. The power she holds within her very skin is one she doesn’t want and she will do anything to disprove the notion that she is a monster, even though she herself believes it. She maintains her tenuous hold on sanity by writing in her notebook and refusing to allow herself to acknowledge the thoughts that sometimes overwhelm her. When she awakes one day to find herself with a cellmate, her entire world begins to change.

The writing style of Shatter Me was like none I’ve read before, both haunting and at times a bit overwhelming. Written in an almost lyrical or poetic prose, Juliette’s inner thoughts and feelings were often uncomfortably intense, which would be understandable considering the situation she was in. Many of her words/thoughts were written and then struck out, as if she were refusing to allow herself to acknowledge those thoughts. I thought this was a powerful way to show how she was struggling to hold onto her sanity. As she began to have more human interaction, the strikethroughs became less common. It was such a fascinating progression. While, for the most part, I thought the writing was beautiful, there were also times when it felt like overkill and it became a bit tedious. Overall though, I enjoyed the unique imagery and the flow of the words.

“I always wonder about raindrops. 

I wonder how they are always falling down, tripping over their own feet, breaking their legs and forgetting their parachutes as they tumble right out of the sky toward an uncertain end. Its like someone is emptying their pockets over the earth and doesn’t seem to care where the contents fall, doesn’t seem to care that the raindrops burst when they hit the ground, that they shatter when they fall to the floor, that people curse the days the raindrops dare to tap on their doors.

          I am a raindrop.
       
          My parents emptied their pockets of me and left me to evaporate on a           concrete slab.”

The story itself was intense and reminded me very much of Xmen. Juliette’s power is reminiscent of Rogue and many of her characteristics also reminded me of Rogue from Xmen. The plot was action packed and thrilling. The villain, Warner, was out of his mind and made an even more effective bad guy because of the hint of a hidden past that may explain why he is the wicked boy he’s become. Happily, this did not become a love triangle since Warner is simply too psychotic to engender much sympathy from Juliette. The interplay between Juliette and Adam was extremely well done. This is a romance that I can believe. Things between them tend to get pretty steamy a couple times, but Mafi reins it in and manages to keep it PG. The ending also reminded me a lot of Xmen and has me incredibly excited about the sequel.

Overall, I think that Shatter Me has lived up to all the hype. Most readers will enjoy the intense and original writing style as well as the exciting premise, a steamy romance, and a villain you love to hate. In the sequel, I hope to see more details about the dystopian world and how it became that way and more about the two factions, the Reestablishment and the people who are not ready to succumb to that tyrannical rule and of course more Adam and Juliette! I would recommend Shatter Me to readers who enjoy dystopian or post-apocalyptic fiction, fans of Xmen, and anyone who enjoys a thrilling YA adventure.

Rating- 4

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The Giveaway


I somehow ended up with two ARCs of Shatter Me so I decided to give one away to one of my lucky readers. I will be shipping this myself so this will be US only. You do not have to be a follower to enter but following is appreciated! Extra entries for sharing the giveaway on Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, etc. (leave me the link) and for commenting on yesterday’s discussion question located here.
You have from today (November 9) until Monday (November 14) at 11:59 PM to enter. Winner will be announced on Shatter Me’s release date, Tuesday November 15. Simply fill out the Rafflecopter form, if you have any problems please email me. Good Luck!!