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The Girl Who Would Be King Store is OPEN!

December 29, 2012 in bonne braverman, lola lefever, superheroes, The Girl Who Would Be King, the novel, writing | Permalink

Bonnie vs Lola #2 by Stephanie Hans

Head on over to THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING STORE to get limited edition signed copies of the illustrated book, and plenty of swag including “the blue envelope” and VERY limited edition signed prints.

You can also buy the paperback on either Amazon or Lulu (for what it’s worth the Lulu copy is slightly superior in my opinion – even though the jpg color is off on the site).

And of course the digital copy remains on sale at Amazon (for the crazy low price of $2.99). 

And as always, thanks for all the reviews and support guys, you’ve been awesome.

 

 

 

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Why Superhero Prose?

December 15, 2012 in bonnie braverman, bonnie vs lola, lola lefever, The Girl Who Would Be King, the novel | 2 comments

Photo by Eric Smith via Eric Smith Rocks Blog

So why write about superheroes as prose when they’re so visual?

Those who were familiar with me before I published THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING are less curious since they know about my love of comics, and superheroes specifically. They also know I crave strong and complicated women in my fiction, I can’t get enough of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and love nothing more than sassy chicks that kick a lot of ass (hence, Buffy!), but even those familiar with my affection for these things sometimes wonder why I chose to write about superheroes as prose, instead of comics.

And the answer is simply this…I didn’t.

When I began THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING (way back in 2004) I started writing it as a screenplay.  Now, that’s still not a comic, but films are obviously great places for excellent visual action and for good or ill, a lot of superhero movies have been made — certainly there was a lot more than I had seen of superhero prose in 2004.  But as I tried to write this screenplay (I had written one before, it was terrible) I kept finding myself wanting to go deeper into the characters heads. To explore them more fully than I though I could in either film or comics. Now, thinking I couldn’t do that in those other mediums may have just been my lack of experience, but the end result was that I decided to try my hand at writing my superheroes as prose…and thus my first novel was born.

I had a lot of doubts over the years (even more than I had version of the book – which is saying a lot) – but when all was said and done I was really happy with my decision to delve so deeply into my heroes as prose. And once the book was done I found myself fantasizing about someday adapting it not only into a film (circle of life and all that) but possibly into a comic book. It intrigued me to almost go backwards, starting with a comic book idea, but executed in prose, and then taking it back to its more natural roots. It’s something I would love to try someday.

The added benefit is that while I spend a ton of my life trying to talk about women in comics, and getting more women to read comics, and understand how wonderful they can be, I love even more the idea that a lot of women and girls might love TGWWBK as a novel and then come along to read an adaptation of it, and thus discover comics.

That’s dreaming big at this point I suppose, but it’s certainly a place I’d like to go…and to have others follow me. You know one of the things that made doing TGWWBK as a comic book some day feel like a reality? All the amazing artists that helped make the book what it is – cover and interior illustrations artist Stephanie Hans, as well as comics creators Ross Campbell and Meredith McClaren.

Their work is too inspiring not to get any writer’s mind fantasizing about what might be next…

Lola and Bonnie heads by Ross Campbell

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THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING – REVIEWS & THINGS!

October 22, 2012 in bonnie braverman, bonnie vs lola, lola lefever, The Girl Who Would Be King, the novel | 2 comments

Awesome Meredith McClaren Lola and Bonnie “itty” magnets that all the $50 and up people will be receiving. LOVE THEM!

Hey, kids!

Just a little update about THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING reviews and news and such.

First up, it looks like, thanks to my badass printers, the print editions may get to me by the end of the month! This is much faster than expected and I hope it works out so I can get this out to all of you as quickly as possible! Fingers crossed!

Secondly, I finally got THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING up on iBook.  Barnes & Noble is up next and is already in process…hopefully it will go live this week.  One word of caution – on iBooks it’s linking TGWWBK to another book by a different Kelly Thompson – this is NOT my book.

The reviews continue to come in and they are AWESOME. Here are two from independent blogs (and if you write a review on your blog make sure to send it in so that I can link to you!):

First up is Lewis Smith’s review from WITLESS PRATTLE who has said some of my favorite things ever about the book. It’s a great read!

Also up is this sweet review from Jessica Anderson.

And here are some badass excerpts from things people have said at Amazon US, Amazon UK, and Goodreads – I honestly could not ask for more wonderful feedback – THANK YOU EVERYONE – and, because I’m greedy – KEEP THEM COMING! :)

“The writing is electric, relying on colorful imagery and breakneck pacing that brings to mind comic panels fed into a HD film projector … The whole thing comes off like if Neil Gaiman and Brian Michael Bendis had locked themselves in a cellar to determine what made superheroes great and what made a great superheroine and launched their results from a trebuchet at the internet.” – January Hooper, 5 Star Review, Amazon

“What a great book. Curveball of an ending, but a must read if you are at all interested in superhero stories. the narrative voice fits the characters so well, it is brilliantly self aware of its genre, and it just sweeps you right up into these two extraordinary girls’ lives. TGWWBK is a force to be reckoned with, and I cant wait to see more of Kelly Thompson’s work.” – Rachael Stephen, 5 Star Review, Amazon (UK)

“A Masterpiece of Classic Fiction and Comic-book Hero/Villain duality.” – Grant Hayward, 5 Star Review, Amazon

“Smart and grown up!” – Lauren Las, 5 Star Review, Amazon

“Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down.” – Megan S., 5 Star Review, Amazon

If you like strong female leads and non-stop action, this is definitely for you.” – L. Cappelli, 5 Star Review, Amazon

“[TGWWBK] was everything I needed in a good book. It has it all. Adventure, mystery, and great characters. I fell in love with both Bonnie and Lola. Their Stories are both compelling and heart wrenching … a week later I still can’t stop thinking about this book.” – Lisa Higgins, 4 Star Review, Amazon

“[TGWWBK] is a totally original concept, and without giving anything specific away about the ending, this could EASILY be the first book in a series (although I would settle for a sequel). However, traditional publishers thought that we needed another vampire romance or dystopian trilogy more than we needed this book. I strongly disagree, and I suspect you will too. I highly recommend this book for mature teens, fans of strong female characters, comic book enthusiasts, and anyone who enjoys solid YA lit that doesn’t follow all the rules.” – Jessica, 5 Star Review, Goodreads

YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING! :)

 

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The Girl Who Would Be King – Contest Day Five!

October 12, 2012 in bonnie braverman, bonnie vs lola, contests!, giveaways, lola lefever, The Girl Who Would Be King, the novel | Permalink

Thanks for all the entries everyone! Keep in mind that your entry will NOT show up in the comments – only I can see it – but be assured that I got it – today is the LAST DAY TO ENTER!  Prize giveaway will happen tomorrow – Saturday October 13th – so come back (at noon Eastern Standard Time) to see if you won!

You can read the details and fine print of the contest here.

Here’s what you’re competing to win:

1 signed limited edition hardback edition of The Girl Who Would Be King, including at least 9 full color Stephanie Hans illustrations, 2 Ross Campbell “heads” magnets (1 Bonnie, 1 Lola), 2 Meredith McClaren “itties” magnets (1 Bonnie, 1 Lola), 6 over-sized post cards, 6 bookmarks, and eight stickers.

One of 5 packages worth nearly $70.00 and which will be given away in a drawing at the end of the week.

Here’s how you enter the drawing:

Write ABCDX at the top of your comment/ballot, then:

1 point for just entering your name, age (you must be 15 or older to enter), and email address.

You can also get additional points for all of the following:

2 points for a link showing me how you’ve promoted TGWWBK in some way – this can be a tweet, a blog post, a tumblr, whatever.

2 points for referring someone to the contest and getting them to enter (they must confirm you sent them in their own entry)

5 points for answering a question correctly from Part I of THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING. If you don’t have it yet, you can buy it on Amazon (for Kindle) or on Lulu (Nook and iPad).

You must include the code ABCDX on your comment entry, so that only I can see your entry form!

Today’s question from the book is:  What is the name of the strongwoman that both Bonnie and Lola are hoping to meet at the end of Part I?

And we’re off!!!

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The Girl Who Would Be King – Contest Day Four!

October 11, 2012 in bonnie braverman, bonnie vs lola, contests!, giveaways, lola lefever, The Girl Who Would Be King, the novel | Permalink

Thanks for all the entries everyone! Keep in mind that your entry will NOT show up in the comments – only I can see it – but be assured that I got it!

You can read the details and fine print of the contest here.

Here’s what you’re competing to win:

1 signed limited edition hardback edition of The Girl Who Would Be King, including at least 9 full color Stephanie Hans illustrations, 2 Ross Campbell “heads” magnets (1 Bonnie, 1 Lola), 2 Meredith McClaren “itties” magnets (1 Bonnie, 1 Lola), 6 over-sized post cards, 6 bookmarks, and eight stickers.

One of 5 packages worth nearly $70.00 and which will be given away in a drawing at the end of the week.

Here’s how you enter the drawing:

Write ABCDX at the top of your comment/ballot, then:

1 point for just entering your name, age (you must be 15 or older to enter), and email address.

You can also get additional points for all of the following:

2 points for a link showing me how you’ve promoted TGWWBK in some way – this can be a tweet, a blog post, a tumblr, whatever.

2 points for referring someone to the contest and getting them to enter (they must confirm you sent them in their own entry)

5 points for answering a question correctly from Part I of THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING. If you don’t have it yet, you can buy it on Amazon (for Kindle) or on Lulu (Nook and iPad).

You must include the code ABCDX on your comment entry, so that only I can see your entry form!

Today’s question from the book is:  Name two animals Bonnie sees in her dream about “the storm”

And we’re off!!!

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The Girl Who Would Be King – Contest Day Three!

October 10, 2012 in bonnie braverman, bonnie vs lola, contests!, giveaways, lola lefever, The Girl Who Would Be King, the novel | 3 comments

Thanks for all the entries everyone! Keep in mind that your entry will NOT show up in the comments – only I can see it – but be assured that I got it!

You can read the details and fine print of the contest here.

Here’s what you’re competing to win:

1 signed limited edition hardback edition of The Girl Who Would Be King, including at least 9 full color Stephanie Hans illustrations, 2 Ross Campbell “heads” magnets (1 Bonnie, 1 Lola), 2 Meredith McClaren “itties” magnets (1 Bonnie, 1 Lola), 6 over-sized post cards, 6 bookmarks, and eight stickers.

One of 5 packages worth nearly $70.00 and which will be given away in a drawing at the end of the week.

Here’s how you enter the drawing:

Write ABCDX at the top of your comment/ballot, then:

1 point for just entering your name, age (you must be 15 or older to enter), and email address.

2 points for a link showing me how you’ve promoted TGWWBK in some way – this can be a tweet, a blog post, a tumblr, whatever.

2 points for referring someone to the contest and getting them to enter (they must confirm you sent them in their own entry)

5 points for answering a question correctly from Part I of THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING. If you don’t have it yet, you can buy it on Amazon (for Kindle) or on Lulu (Nook and iPad).

You must include the code ABCDX on your comment entry, so that only I can see your entry form!

Today’s question from the book is:  What’s the first thing Lola steals in Las Vegas?

And we’re off!!!

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The Girl Who Would Be King…BIG PRIZE GIVEAWAY!

October 8, 2012 in contests!, giveaways, The Girl Who Would Be King, the novel | 6 comments

So I’m going to be running a contest giveaway all this week for THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING.

I’ll be giving away FIVE deluxe GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING packages on Friday October 12th.*

These packages will contain everything you see below**:

A signed limited edition hardcover of the book – which includes at least 9 full color Stephanie Hans illustrations, 2 Ross Campbell “heads” circle magnets (1 Lola and 1 Bonnie), 2 Meredith McClaren “itties” magnets (1 Lola and 1 Bonnie) all of the over-sized postcards (6 total), all of the bookmarks (6 total), and eight stickers. This package is worth nearly $70.00.

So here’s how it’s going to work, everyday this week, Monday through Friday I’m going to do a little post about The Girl Who Would Be King called “The Girl Who Would Be King Contest Day 1 – etc.” and if you leave your name in the comments, you can be entered to win one of the packages at the end of the week.

However, “Hunger Games” style, you can enter your name more than once, by doing cool THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING stuff and answering questions.  Everyday you can earn points for the following:

1 point – your name, age,  and email

2 points – a link to some way in which you’ve promoted the book (including a link to buy it on Amazon or Lulu) – this can be a tweet, a blog post, an article, a tumblr post or similar.

2 points – for referring someone else to the contest and getting them to enter

5 points – if you correctly answer a question from Part 1 of the novel – you can buy it now from Amazon (for Kindle) and Lulu (for Nook and iPad)!

So in theory, you can accrue anywhere between 1 point and 10 points a day, every day, Monday through Friday.  Obviously more points, the more times your name will be in the drawing and the better your chances of your name being drawn for one of the 5 packages at the end of the week (you can only win once).  Also, since you will be answering questions that we don’t want everyone to know, you need to begin every entry with the letters ABCDX, that way the system will know to only show ME your entry.

Your entries should look something like this:

ABCDX

Kelly Thompson, 20 (I wish!), 1979semifinalist[at]gmail[dot]com (obviously without the brackets)

Referred: Bonnie Braverman (and remember Bonnie has to comment and confirm who referred her) in order for you to receive points for this one.

Book Answer: Sandwiches!

So if that was your entry form (and your answer was correct) you would earn a total of 8 points for Day 1.

Sound off in the comments if you have any questions.  The first contest post goes up at noon (est)!

THE FINE PRINT:

Everyone over the age of 15 is eligible to enter, including those of you that participated in the Kickstarter already, but you can only win once. International entries are allowed and you can enter once per day for each day of the contest – you can enter up until the new contest is posted (Monday through Friday at 12pm Eastern Standard Time).

*Please note that packages will not ship until sometime in November when the hardcover books have been received from the printer.

**The Hardcover pictured is just a mock-up and NOT the final book. 

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The Girl Who Would Be King Bookmarks…So Awesome

October 6, 2012 in bonnie braverman, bonnie vs lola, lola lefever, The Girl Who Would Be King, the novel | 1 comment

So this week the bookmarks for THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING arrived.  I was originally only going to do three, but Stephanie and Meredith’s illustrations were so great I had to do six.  They are AWESOME.

Matte finish so they don’t get a million fingerprints, huge thanks to @erinjadelange for turning me onto Next Day Flyers for these!

Oh, and here’s the obligatory do you have THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING yet?  If not, buy HERE (for Kindle) and HERE (for Nook and iPad Compatible).  Also, I’m going to be running a contest next week, for a chance to win one of five deluxe packages (including the hardcover with full color illustrations by Stephanie Hans), but one of the ways to increase your odds to win, will be by answering questions from Part I of the book – so buy your digital copy now and get reading! You can read an excerpt here if you’re still on the fence.

Have you already read THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING and not yet reviewed it? What are you waiting for?!  People are saying awesome stuff like this:

“Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down.” – Megan S. (Amazon)

“If you like strong female leads and non-stop action, this is definitely for you.” – L. Cappelli (Amazon)

“The writing is electric, relying on colorful imagery and breakneck pacing that brings to mind comic panels fed into a HD film projector. It makes me drool at the notion of a possible graphic novel. Reinforcing that four-color feeling are the girls’ association with their powers in pop iconography while hinting, then directly pointing to a much deeper and more potent source. The whole thing comes off like if Neil Gaiman and Brian Michael Bendis had locked themselves in a cellar to determine what made superheroes great and what made a great superheroine and launched their results from a trebuchet at the internet.” – January Hooper (Amazon)

“Amazingly written and clever dialogue, coupled with mind-boggling and sentimental characters make this book a masterpiece in the literature world. If you are even hesitating to buy this book– you are doing yourself a dis-service. BUY THIS BOOK.” – Grant Hayward (Amazon)

Keep ’em coming guys…because reading things like Lola is “Ghengis Kahn in a catsuit” will NEVER stop me from smiling!  Thank you!!!

 

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The Girl Who Would Be King Art – MOAR LOLA PLEASE

October 5, 2012 in art, artists, bonnie braverman, lola lefever, superheroes, The Girl Who Would Be King, the novel | 1 comment

I think all of us that dabble in comics know how awesome the idea of “fan art” and “reinterpreting characters” is, so with that in mind I commissioned the fantastic Meredith McClaren to do portraits of Bonnie and Lola for me.  These are of course going to look different than Stephanie’s interpretations – and Ross’s – but that’s part of what I love about them.  You saw a Bonnie by Meredith a couple days ago, but here is her Lola, which I LOVE.  And I think it’s an awesome contrast to Stephanie’s “Lola and bike” – both beautiful, both different, both so much of what I love about Lola (and this book).

So huge thanks to Meredith! Oh, and when the store opens on TheGirlWhoWouldBeKing.com to sell all the extra swag from the Kickstarter, there will be both oversized promotional cards and bookmarks to buy of this version of Lola.  BE EXCITED!  😉

Last thing! Some of you are putting up amazing reviews on both Amazon and Goodreads.  Thank you SO MUCH.  And for those of you that have finished reading and not yet reviewed…what’s stopping you!? And if you haven’t even bought it yet…then REALLY what’s stopping you? Get it now! :)

Thanks everyone for the support – you’re all awesome.

Lola LeFever by Meredith McClaren

 

 

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Another Day, Another Amazing The Girl Who Would Be King Image…

October 2, 2012 in bonne braverman, The Girl Who Would Be King, the novel | 1 comment

This one I commissioned from the sublime Meredith McClaren and it’s from an early scene with Bonnie.  Funnily enough, this was a scene I never liked the ending to, and which I rewrote at the last moment when I was posting pages during the Kickstarter.  It was a rewrite that really made the scene work – and then I got this amazing image of it from Meredith! EVERYONE WINS!

Enjoy.

If you don’t already have the book – buy! buy! buy!

If you’ve already read the book – review! review! review!

Thanks everyone!

Bonnie Braverman by Meredith McClaren

 

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