From the back cover: What do Sunday afternoon court proceedings, cheerleader tryouts, and a book burning have in common? Katie McCabe is back in action.

After her nemesis Harvey is found guilty and sentenced to community service, Katie wants to believe her troubles are over, but Harvey won’t rest until he gets revenge. When blackmail rears its ugly head, she’s caught between friends and enemies putting her growing relationship with Tom at stake. Books go up in flames and Katie’s world rains down in tatters.

And now….. *drumroll please* …. the cover!!!!

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The odd thing is that prior to writing No Boundaries I had more of an idea of what I wanted the book to be when it grew up than any other I’ve written. I had a more detailed outline. I knew the majority of the characters, there were fewer surprises for me to deal with along the way. It should have made the book easier to write, but it didn’t. Or maybe it did, but I don’t realize how bad things would have been with something else. I’m still struggling with this book, but this time from a different persepctive. Although there are days when I feel like I will NEVER get the editing completed, I know I ultimately will finish this and get it on the shelf.

Now my digging has taken on a different aspect. Before I was frantically trying to dredge up what I could so I didn’t drown in the hole (or get buried alive or any other such drastic thing). Now, I’m still digging through this story… but it is to find the pearls I know are there. At one point through the process of writing No Boundaries I contemplated stopping, calling it quits with this series and announcing that I had been beaten (okay – maybe it was more than once). What stopped me was the story itself. It has value; there is good in there; I just have to clean the mud off. Does this mean because of all the difficulty I had in writing this book that it will not be as good? Absolutely Not!!! This book has a lot that I love, and I can’t imagine Katie’s life without these events. It just means I need to take the extra time to slog through the mud and dig out the pearls.

What are your writing challenges?

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I just finished writing a rough (and I mean very rough) synopsis of No Boundaries and in the middle of it, I realized Good Grief!! I packed a lot of crap stuff in this book!!! Not that having a packed book is a bad thing… it just makes it difficult to summarize.

I thought about how I came to have so much going on in the book. First of all, it’s the third book in the series, and there are story lines that were started in book 1 (Misfit McCabe) which are carried through book 2 (Nowhere Feels Like Home) and into book 3 (No Boundaries). And there are story lines that started in book 2 (Nowhere Feels Like Home) and carried into No Boundaries. So at the beginning of this book, I already had two books worth of story lines to keep track of, plus the new story lines and characters in No Boundaries… no wonder I feel like this one is bursting at the seams. And I still have two books in the series to go.

The other reason why there is so much packed into the book is I like it that way. I do write some serene sections of reflection, but those are generally short and then we move back to more things happening. And on reflection one additional reason for the book to be full of goings-ons. Misfit McCabe was about Katie, Nowhere Feels Like Home is about Katie and her family, so the scope broadens, No Boundaries is about Katie and her relationships at school – an even bigger scope, the next book in the series will be about Katie and the world, and the final book in the series… well it’s a secret for now.

Now I can get back to the job of finishing the edits on No Boundaries so I can launch it and get the next book written.

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It’s official. For the second year in a row, LK Griffie has garnered Pearson Prize Teen Choice award honors with her late 2009 release, Nowhere Feels Like Home. The second book in the Misfit McCabe series captures the tumultuous emotions of the teen years through the struggles of fourteen-year-old Katie McCabe as she copes with grief and anger. By inviting teens to select their favorite books for the contest, The Pearson Prize excites teens about reading.

Author LK Griffie specializes in teen literature and Nowhere Feels Like Home continues the story of rebellious Katie. Stuck in bed with a broken ankle and reeling from the loss of her father, her home, and life as she knew it, Katie must deal with her anger toward the town bully and a world that’s fallen apart. Teens identify with Katie’s emotional journey to fit into a new school, a new home, and a new family.

The Pearson Prize Teen Choice Award started in 2008 as a way to engage Montreal teenagers in reading books. The brain child of Michael Earnest Sweet, the prize also serves as a way to bring in books for teens to read on a limited budget. Authors donate books as their entrance fee to the contest, the teens get books to read, and the authors get recognition.

LK Griffie says, “I am thrilled to have my work selected as a winner in the 2010 Pearson Prize Teen Choice awards and overjoyed that the students continue to enjoy my work and can connect with Katie.” For more information on Nowhere Feels Like Home and LK Griffie, visit www.lkgriffie.com. The Misfit McCabe series is available on Amazon.com. For more information about the Person Prize, visit www.pearsonprize.org.

Pearson Prize Teen Choice Award contest is held annually in Montreal, QC to help promote reading and obtain books for the schools. Nowhere Feels Like Home is a young adult novel and one of the 2010 Pearson Prize winners.

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