The Lion Awakens is on shelves!

The Lion Awakens is now available

I'm super happy to announce that "The Lion Awakens" has been published. *Happy Dance*

Here's the blurb

Two worlds, two teens, two destinies... 

For thirteen years, Annie Lange and David McClure believed their parents were killed in fiery car crashes. They learn the truth about the past when they find hidden messages in anonymous gifts left on their front porches. The notes lead them to a mentor who helps them discover and master their special powers, powers they will need if they have any chance of saving their world from the tyrant Goliath. 

When the lion awakens, their world is forever changed...

And here's the first review: 

Buffy Andrews has done it again! “The Lion Awakens” is adventurous, mysterious, surreal, intriguing and perfectly crafted. Not to mention, the story line is unique and compelling! As with all of her books, Ms. Andrews drags you into the story within the first few pages and keeps you there until the very end. You will want to know how, who and why, and won’t stop reading until all of the questions are answered. Nothing is predictable, and your imagination will run wild with anticipation. I highly recommend this book, and guarantee you will love it! - Sharon Kirchoff

Cover reveal: The Lion Awakens

I'm super excited to release the book cover for "The Lion Awakens," a young adult title from Prism Book Group.  

Two worlds, two teens, two destinies... 

For thirteen years, Annie Lange and David McClure believed their parents were killed in fiery car crashes. They learn the truth about the past when they find hidden messages in anonymous gifts left on their front porches. The notes lead them to a mentor who helps them discover and master their special powers, powers they will need if they have any chance of saving their world from the tyrant Goliath.

…When the lion awakens, their world is forever changed

Two interesting blog posts

Check out this post from Sarah LaPolla on YA: Then vs. Now

AND

this post from Mandy Hubbard YA and MG trends.

Carolrhoda Lab open for YA submissions

It's April 1 and you know what that means. No, this is not an April Fool's Day joke. Promise. Andrew Karre is accepting unsolicited complete YA novels for Carolrhoda Lab beginning today and ending April 30. He is interested in YA novels only, including realistic, paranormal, dark fantasy, dystopian, etc. No high fantasy or graphic novel submmissions.
Get the skinny here: Carolrhoda Lab
And good luck to all who send.

WIP: The Lion Awakens

The Lion Awakens (WIP)
Logline: Two teens battle enemies from alternate universe to save their own.
Opening: “Gabe, we talked about this. There’s no other way. Annie and David need to know. We’ve watched over them for thirteen years. We’ve done everything we promised Charlotte and Tom we would do. But we need their help now.”
Gabriel looked at his dying brother lying under a heap of wool blankets in the brownstone they had lived in since coming to this universe. He knew Peter was right. They would need Annie and David’s powers, powers the teens were not yet aware they had, to stop the destruction of their world.
“Are you sure they will find the messages?” Peter asked.
Gabriel had observed Annie and David since they were toddlers. He knew everything there was to know about them. Their favorite foods and movies and TV shows and books and whether they did their homework or lied to their parents or skipped school or failed a test.
“They’ll find them,” Gabriel said, “and the lion will awaken.”

Writing contest

Another contest from Mary Kole, associate agent at Andrea Brown Literary Agency on the West Coast. This  contest is for a novel beginning (up to 500 words) of your YA or MG novel. For details, check here: http://kidlit.com/kidlit-contest/

Ella's Dance: A Grandma note

In my YA novel, Ella's Dance, her grandmother writes her notes, one for every day of the coming year. Before Grandma dies, she leaves instructions for Ella to be given a note each day. Through Grandma's notes, a healing process begins. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes again and Ella faces some life-changing events she could never have anticipated. 
I'd like to share some of Grandma's notes with my blog readers. Grandma D is the grandma we all wish we had (and some of us might) or hope to become one day. And Ella, well Ella is each of us, hurt and struggling for answers to life's many questions. My hope for 2010 is that this manuscript finds an agent who believes in it as much as I do. For now, I'm hoping you'll allow me to share the notes with you from time to time because I really feel that the words speak to each of us. Thanks everyone for going along on this journey with me. And if you'd like to follow Grandma on Twitter, you'll find her @Grandma_Dorothy.

My dearest Ella,

Stop and listen to the music. Sometimes it’s very faint.
After your parents and sister died, I thought all of the music in my life was gone. But then I saw you, cradling your baby doll and feeding her a bottle and I realized that the music wasn’t gone, it was just very faint. So faint that if I had not been listening at all, I would have completely missed it. Ella, you provided me with some of the sweetest music I have ever known and for that I will always be grateful. When times are tough, as they will surely be, listen for the music. It will be there, waiting to be discovered and crescendo once again.
Love you bunches and bunches, Grandma

YA novel discovery contest

Hey fellow writers, this sounds like a great opportunity. Serendipity Literary Agency, in collaboration with Sourcebooks and Gotham Writers' Workshop, is hosting its first Young Adult Novel Discovery Competition. Get all the details here. And good luck!

http://www.writingclasses.com/ContestPages/YAPitch.php

Excerpt from "Grandma's Last Dance"

Grandma insisted on a funeral service for King David. She turned a small, white jewelry box into a tiny casket complete with a purple velvet lining. Then she made a grave marker out of a piece of wood. “Here lies King David. May he rest in peace,” it said.

Maddie came to the funeral service, too. Grandma had asked her to read from the Bible and Grandma sang “Jesus Love Me.” Then Grandma talked about how much she loved watching King David swim around his bowl and what a beautiful fish he was and how he made Ella so happy. Then Maddie talked about how King David was the best fish she had ever met and how happy she was to have had the opportunity to know him.

Then Ella took King David’s casket and placed it in the hole Grandma had dug in the backyard underneath the cherry tree. It was a beautiful ceremony, and Grandma told Ella she could get a new goldfish if she wanted. But Ella didn’t want another fish. She wanted King David.