BOOK GIVEAWAY: NOT QUITE SNOW WHITE by Ashley Franklin

Ashley Franklin has a new picture book titled, NOT QUITE SNOW WHITE, illustrated by Ebony Glenn. It hits book shleves on July 9th. Ashley has agreed to share a book with one lucky winner.

All you have to do to get in the running is to leave a comment. Reblog, tweet, or talk about it on Facebook with a link and you will get additional chances to win. Just let me know the other things you do to share the good news, so I can put in the right amount of tickets in my basket for you.

Sharing on Facebook, Twitter, reblogging really helps spread the word for a new book. Thanks for helping Ashley!

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

A picture book for magical yet imperfect girls everywhere, written by debut author Ashley Franklin and perfect for fans of such titles as Mary Had a Little Glam by Tammi Sauer and the classic Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman.

Tameika is a girl who belongs on the stage. She loves to act, sing, and dance—and she’s pretty good at it, too. So when her school announces their Snow White musical, Tameika auditions for the lead princess role.

But the other kids think she’s “not quite” right to play the role.

They whisper, they snicker, and they glare.

Will Tameika let their harsh words be her final curtain call?

Not Quite Snow White is a delightful and inspiring picture book that highlights the importance of self-confidence while taking an earnest look at what happens when that confidence is shaken or lost. Tameika encourages us all to let our magic shine.

BOOK JOURNEY:

NOT QUITE SNOW WHITE began as a story idea for Tara Lazar’s StoryStorm challenge (then PiBoIdMo). For me, this wasn’t just another challenge. It was a new opportunity to regain the faith I had lost in my writing.

Having received mostly silence and no’s after being on submission with multiple manuscripts, I’d started losing faith in my writing. Perhaps everything I’d done up until that point had been a fluke. After all, I had landed my (then) agent through a Twitter pitch contest that I’d entered at the last minute. Before that, I hadn’t queried too many agents. Maybe it was time to face reality. Maybe my writing was good but just not that good.

So yes, I entered PiBoIdMo on a mission. My mission was to come up with a list of ideas I could mine for my next “sure thing.” As we all know, there’s no “sure thing” when it comes to writing.

While my idea for NOT QUITE SNOW WHITE was on this list, it wasn’t one that I focused on. I came up with several manuscripts, but none of them felt right. I didn’t get excited when I read them. My mission was starting to feel like a chore instead of a pursuit of passion. Something wasn’t connecting.

This time, instead of wallowing in self-doubt, I waded through the muck of uncertainty and decided that I needed to make a big change. I was getting lost somewhere between my ideas and the writing. I needed help.

I signed up for Susana Leonard Hill’s Making Picture Book Magic course. That’s when I revisited that same PiBoIdMo list and found “Princess story—but a Black girl.” The title came to me almost immediately—NOT QUITE SNOW WHITE. I read each course lesson with this title and idea in mind. Those guided lessons gave me the tools that I was missing. By the final lesson, I had a completed manuscript.

Would I say that I completed my mission? Nope! It was truly mission impossible. There’s no way to know what will definitely sell. I did, however, realize a mission that I set when writing every manuscript now. If I’m not in love with it, I have to let it go.

2016 was the year I regained faith in my writing. I loved tinkering with my princess manuscript, and my agent seemed as enthusiastic about it as I was. I loved every draft of NOT QUITE SNOW WHITE that I did (and there were many). I loved it enough to keep revising it until I believed it was a story that others would love as well.

Fortunately, my editor, Luana Horry at HarperCollins, fell in love with Tameika’s story as much as I had. I received the offer for publication in 2017.

ASHLEY’S BIO:

Ashley Franklin is an African-American writer, mother, and adjunct college professor. Ashley received her M.A. from the University of Delaware in English Literature, where she reaffirmed her love of writing but realized she had NO IDEA what she wanted to do about it.

Ashley currently resides in Arkansas with her family. Her debut picture book, NOT QUITE SNOW WHITE, will be published July 9, 2019 by Harper Collins. The idea for the book originated from a former StoryStorm (then PiBoIdMo) challenge. For more information on Ashley and her writing journey, you can visit her website: http://www.ashleyfranklinwrites.com

Social media savvy? You can find Ashley on one of these platforms:

Website: www.ashleyfranklinwrites.com

Twitter: @differentashley

Instagram: ashleyfranklinwrites

Facebook: Ashley Franklin

Thank you, Ashley for sharing your book and its’ journey with us. It looks like a fun picture book for children. Best of luck promoting NOT QUITE SNOW WHITE.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy