Guest Post with Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan

Photo Content from Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan

SUSAN KIM is a playwright, TV writer, and author. Her two graphic novels w/co-author Laurence Klavan, “City of Spies” (artwork by Pascal Dizin) and “Brain Camp” (artwork by Faith Erin Hicks), were published by First Second Books in 2010. “Flow: the Cultural Story of Menstruation” (co-written w/Elissa Stein) was published by St. Martin’s Griffin in 2009. Plays include the stage adaptation of Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club (Dramatists Play Service) and various one-acts that were produced in the EST Marathon, including Death and the Maiden, Rapid Eye Movement,Dreamtime for Alice (Dramatists Play Service and Farrar Strauss), and Memento Mori (Smith and Krauss). Her work has been produced internationally. Ms. Kim has been nominated five times for the Emmy and four times for the Writers Guild award for her work in both non-fiction and children’s TV; she won a WGA award in 1996 for Best Documentary. She lives in New York City, teaches dramatic writing in the MFA program at Goddard College and currently blogs for the Huffington Post.

LAURENCE KLAVAN wrote the novels, “The Cutting Room” and “The Shooting Script,” which were published by Ballantine Books. He won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for the novel, “Mrs. White,” co-written under a pseudonym. His graphic novels, "City of Spies" and "Brain Camp," were co-written with Susan Kim and published by First Second Books at Macmillan. His short work has been published in The Alaska Quarterly, Conjunctions, The Literary Review, Gargoyle, Louisville Review, Natural Bridge, Pank, Stickman Review, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, among many other journals, and a collection is forthcoming from Chizine Publications. He received two Drama Desk nominations for the book and lyrics of "Bed and Sofa," the musical produced by the Vineyard Theater in New York and the Finborough Theater in London in 2011. His one-act, "The Summer Sublet," is included Best American Short Plays 2000-2001.

        

Publisher: HarperCollins
Format: Hardback | 432 pages
Publication date: 23 April 2015
Publication City/Country: New York
ISBN 10: 0062118579
ISBN 13: 9780062118578

Praise for GUARDIANS

A forbidding tower of glass and steel called the District; nefarious bands of roving Outsiders; a poisonous rain that kills anyone over the age of 19. In this dark dystopia, Esther and her friends struggle to survive in their rooftop garden, caring for and protecting her new baby. This installment wraps up the trilogy for devoted fans. ―School Library Journal

IS THERE SUCH THING AS A FORMULA FOR STORY TELLING?

No, not like plugging names into software and hitting enter. I’m actually kind of leery about craft books: “just do this, this, and this, make sure you have an inciting incident and a complication, then a reversal in your second act, blah blah blah”… it’s like trying to give someone directions on how to build a bird, because they’ve examined birds on a dissecting table and have lots of theories. That being said, I definitely think there are elements that are extremely useful for 90% of all great stories ever written. 

First of all, you need good characters: and by that, you need to know how they act when they really want something and how they act when they’re in trouble. In fact, you define character by their actions: characters aren’t just a list of adjectives, but reactions and behaviors in specific situations. And your characters need to want things… and not just, say, another helping of dessert, but something big, vital, the kind of thing that changes one’s life: love, power, revenge, forgiveness. 

You then have to think about what are the obstacles to that want: your protagonist’s stepmother and stepsisters won’t let her go to the ball? The beautiful cheerleader has decided she wants to date the cute new boy? Your protagonist’s brother wants to get the inheritance instead of her?

If there’s a flaw to a lot of first drafts, it’s that the stakes are way too low and that the protagonist is too passive. You might argue that that’s your intention… but trust me, it’s hard to keep your reader engaged when nothing matters and your hero just sits around, waiting for someone else to save the day. But other than that, there are no real rules.

The Emmy Award-nominated and Edgar Award-winning duo of Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan deliver a heart-pounding finale to the postapocalyptic teen world of the Wasteland, filled with dramatic twists and turns. Bestselling author of Criminal, Karin Slaughter, called Wasteland "a Lord of the Flies for future generations. An irresistible page-turner."

No one dares to leave the District—the towering structure of glass and steel that is their protection against the unruly bands of Outsiders that roam Mundreel and the deadly rain that carries the disease that kills all over the age of nineteen.

This skyscraper stands amid the urban devastation, the city rumored to have once been called "Montreal." Esther and her allies have created a haven on the rooftop, a garden that flourishes, and a home for her new baby, hidden from all but the very few who know her secret. But as Gideon's power grows and factions form, the ultimate darkness is born from greed, and Esther must find a way to save the citizens from themselves.

You can purchase Guardians at the following Retailers:

        

And now, The Giveaways.

Thank you SUSAN AND LAURENCE for making this giveaway possible.

2 Signed Copy of Guardians by Susan Kim & Laurence Klavan.

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MARCH 24th TUESDAY JeanBookNerd GUEST POST
MARCH 25th WEDNESDAY Book Lover’s Life DREAM CAST
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