Judith Graves Interview & GIVEAWAY of UNDER MY SKIN!

It's time for another Oh MG YA Canada and I am thrilled to have Judith Graves, author of the SKINNED series, on the blog. We have been planning this for a while now so very excited the time is here! And not only that, Judith is providing a giveaway of her first book UNDER MY SKIN (a fun, smart, scary, sassy read). 

Judith agreed to a some questions. I asked...she answered. Enjoy!

What has the publishing journey been like for you so far. Do you feel like a veteran now that your second book is coming out and the third is on the way (love the cover btw!)? 

It’s been a wicked ride. From six months pre-release of Under My Skin in March 2010 I’ve been immersed in publishing - either writing for the SKINNED series or other projects, blogging, or promoting fellow authors. While I feel I have a handle on certain aspects, I’m far from a veteran. There’s just so much to learn.

Second Skin was originally set to release October 31^st and has been pushed back to December 1^st. However, I do have a short story in Spirited: 13 Haunting Tales which DOES have an October 31^st release date and it’s perfect for this project – bestselling authors like Maria V. Snyder, Candace Havens, Shannon Delany, as well as wicked debuts. Three of the Spirited authors are from Alberta. YEAH! Myself, Dawn Dalton and Halli Dee Lilburn. Quite the honour for us to be on the author roster and promoting such a worthy cause. Proceeds of Spirited go to 826 National, a literacy-based charity.

Favorite part of the writing process? Least favorite? Anything major change now that you are writing to deadlines? More coffee in your diet?

My approach has definitely evolved. I’ve always been a plotter, but now I have specific plotting strategies, not just general jotting the plot down. I use bulletin boards, white boards and the storyboard feature in Scrivener to work through plots. I divide stories into acts, acts into scenes and characters into their related development arcs. Whoa…that sounds so anal and nerdy…lol…but the process of establishing all these factors is my way of eliminating plot threads, characters, and scenes that lessen the impact of the overall story.

Coffee…yes. Chocolate too. ;)

In my book club there are some keen readers (of course!), but also some keen writers. They range in age from 8 to 15. Do you have any advice for them?

Invest in a good pen and many coil notebooks. Keep handy at all times. Write every day - words, phrases, poems, lyrics, plot ideas, anything that rings true for you in some way. Read. Everything. Ignore anyone who tells you to only write what you know. That’s bunk. The trick is to tap into what you know or have experienced, sure, but dare to write what you dream.

And on the topic of book clubs. Any recent reads you'd recommend for middle graders and or teens? An all time favorite read from when you were a kid?

For MG and YA readers with a yen for dark and sarcastic, I’d recommend:

Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy

Monster Squad series by Laura Dover

Ghosthunters series by Cornelia Funke

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

And any titles from ANY authors who joined me this October for the Crossroads Blog Tour ........................................................>

All time fav read? 


Anne of Green Gables, of course. Anne is smart, sassy and a kick-ass female lead – she puts many characters written today to shame.

And of course when you aren't reading, you're writing-what's your writing space like? All spooky and howly, close to graveyards? Which leads me to wonder if you scare yourself when you write.  

I do collect Halloween decorations, pop culture horror figurines, etc. I’m a geek and proud of it – my Buffy figures are still in their packages. ;) Wherever my husband and I travel, I do drag him to old graveyards. There are some amazing ones in Quebec and eastern Canada (can’t beat tombstones from the 1700s for macabre beauty), however this summer we visited Europe and the medieval graveyards of France and Germany were to DIE for.

I’ve had the odd shiver go down my spine while writing a suspenseful scene, and, okay, maybe I only work on my laptop as long as my back is to a wall…hmmm….I guess I do freak myself out a smidge sometimes. That’s part of the fun. Bwahhahhaaa….

Thanks so much for having me, Deb!


It was my pleasure! Have fun on your Crossroads Tour and thanks for the giveaway~! 


Learn even more about Judith on her website.  More about her books here.

AND--the give away is for UNDER MY SKIN, the first in her Skinned series 

From Good Reads-All her parents wanted was for Eryn to live a normal life...

Redgrave had its share of monsters before Eryn moved to town. Mauled pets, missing children. The Delacroix family is taking the blame, but Eryn knows the truth. Something stalks the night. Wade, the police chief's son and Redgrave High's resident hottie, warns her the Delacroix are dangerous. But then so is Eryn--in fact, she's lethal.

But she can't help falling for one of the Delacroix boys, dark, brooding--human Alec. And then her world falls apart. A normal life? Now that's the real fairytale.



If you would like to win a copy of this book, comment by midnight MST October 31. Make sure I have a way to contact you please. US and Canada Only.