Hilary Wagner's Blog, page 11

The White Assassin (Nightshade Chronicles Book II) Pre-order up! wOOt!!

The Star of THE WHITE ASSASSIN
Billycan
Illustration by Omar RayyanHow exciting! Just saw the Pre-order link for THE WHITE ASSASSIN, Nightshade Chronicles Book II (Oct 2011) Go Billycan! Can't wait to see the cover!
xoxo -- Hilary

Is Your Book's Hero as Special as this Cat??

My magic violin will save da world, I tell you, da world!!!!Okay, so generally when we are writing about children's fantasy middle-grade or YA, we see a lot of the same storyline over again.

By and large, it goes something like this:
Step 1. Our Hero is called to adventure.
Step 2. He/she has a road of trials and tribulations they must face.
Step 3. He/she must complete a mission.
Step 4. He/she must go back where hence they came. (That's in hero language)
Step 5. He/she uses their newly learned skill, power, etc. to save or better the world.

Sure, we could say this is a formula. I'm positive you could all name several books in which you've seen this, but what, in your opinion, makes any of those books break through the above formula and elevate to a truly fantastic book? What did that writer do differently? Was it the hero? The plot? The creativity? The world saving magic violin played by a hairless kitty? What made that book rock out the hero theme?

xoxo -- Hilary

What Would You Spend Your Advance On?

See this silver beauty of a necklace? Well, it's mine! I'm not the only one in the world that has one, mind you, but it was the one thing I promised I'd get myself if and when I ever got published. I wear it everywhere I go--everywhere. I'm not your typical jewelry girl. I like funky stuff and this little rocket just sang to me. Symbolic, you ask? Maybe, but it just screamed me. I didn't want anything else, not even a fancy dinner.

I told my husband about it when he asked me what I'd want to get with my first advance (the part that wasn't going to pay bills!) and I told him this was all I wanted. I showed him the picture of it on-line, getting onto the website of the store in NZ, because it was no longer available in the states. From what I recall only 2 stores sold it in the whole country to begin with (yes, that's how long I stalked this necklace)! And of course, my husband, being the super cool guy that is, ordered it for me the minute I sold my first book! He must have really been paying attention too, because my husband and the internet don't play nice together. :)

So, I guess I'd like to know, what would you get? Something super extravagant or a nice little keepsake like I got? Would you pay down bills? Start a college fund? Eat lobster and caviar in bed? Go on vacation to Aruba? Blow it in Vegas?

What would be the one thing you'd spoil yourself with?

xoxo -- Hilary

A Nightshade City rat tattoo??? Yes, indeedy!


This beautiful little rat is an interior illustration by Omar Rayyan from Nightshade City. The tattoo was done by Zoe Thorne! Omar Ryyan, the illustrator of Nightshade City, who you've all heard me rave about before, was sent a picture of some serious fan art! One of Nightshade City's rats is now a permanent piece of someone! This tattoo is possibly the coolest thing ever! I just had to share.

If you have some time, please check out Omar's site, Studio Rayyan, which features his and his wife's work. They are both amazing!

xoxo -- Hilary

THE BIG SHIFT: Middle-grade VS. YA Covers

On twitter's kidlitchat last night (every Tuesday, 8-9 CST #kidlitchat) a discussion got started on covers in children's literature. It seems in middle-grade there are a lot of "boy" based covers. Not that that these books are only for boys, but there happens to be scores of covers that have a lot more "boy appeal"--like the Percy Jackson series, the Artemis Fowl series, etc. Then there are more unisex middle-grade covers like the Clockwork Three,  A Tale Dark and Grimm, The Invisible Order, etc.  

After that, we hit the YA category and everything seems to change--drastically. Covers shift from adventure and mystery that any girl or boy would love, to heaps of covers with an attractive, thin, and let's be honest, alluring girl on the cover. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule (Hunger Games, Twilight, etc) and this is by no means a blanket statement, but what is your take on the typical YA cover? I'm not saying I don't like them, because some of them are pretty darn awesome and these girls look like they could kick some major arse!! I bought these books as a teen because I wanted to be these girls, so is this merely a selling tool by publishers?  Do publishers do this because boy YA readership slows down compared to girls or is this why boy readership slows down--because all the covers are so darn--well--girlie?

Even the books with a guy on the cover, it's always a super-buff hot guy. What teen guy out with his buddies would stop at the local mall's B&N and buy that novel? What do you think???

xoxo -- Hilary

NEWS! NEWS! NEWS! GOBLINS LIVE!

I can finally announce! My middle-grade fantasy novel, CITY OF GOBLINS, will be published!!! WooHoo! Remember when I told you I was working on a super-secret book proposal?? Well, that was it!! Back in April, I had lunch with Mary Cash, the VP and Editor-in-Chief at Holiday House, and told her my idea I had for a new book. She told me to quit blabbing and start writing! So, back in the September, that's exactly what I did!

CITY OF GOBLINS is a middle-grade adventure fantasy that takes place in modern-day Tokyo. It combines the legend of the Japanese Tengu, an ancient winged goblin and patron of martial arts, with the mystery of what lies in the murky fathoms of Tokyo Bay. Fulfilling an ancient prophecy, a thirteen-year-old boy, Yuji, must join forces with creatures of the deep in a battle to save Tokyo and the sea itself.

Release proposed for Spring of 2012! So excited! Major thanks to Marietta, my uber agent and of course everyone at Holiday House! Tokyo Disney here I come!

xoxo -- Hilary

Pay It Forward Contest from Shelli Johannes-Wells!!

Hey all! Wanted to let you know about a great contest hosted by my friend, YA Writer & Marketer Shelli Johannes-Wells! She'll be taking queries staring Monday (tomorrow!!) for her Pay It Forward Contest and the winner gets a referral to her agent! A real live referral!!! How awesome (and super generous) is that?  


http://faeriality.blogspot.com/2011/0... Click on the Pay It Forward pic for deets...
Happy writing & GOOD LUCK TO ALL!!!!

xoxo -- Hilary

What Writers Should Worry About...

Whether or not we're querying or published, agented or un-agented, we've all received some good advice at one time or another on the long and laborious road to publishing, sometimes bad advice too, but let's stick to the good stuff.

I think the most important piece of advice I've received to date is that writing trumps all. It doesn't matter how often you social network, post on your blog, join new forums or market yourself, if the writing is not there, it's simply not there. In other words, stop dwelling on everything else and worry only about the writing. If you are throwing yourself into your work, making it as compelling and captivating as it can be, working out the plot holes, uplifting your characters, the other things have a way of working themselves out. My agent told me this about six months back and she is so right. She says she's seen careers tank because a writer is worrying about everything but their writing. Now, whenever those nasty voices creep in, telling me I'm not doing enough, those significant words she said talk well over them, "Only worry about your writing. The rest will come."

And That's What Little Girls Are Made Of!

My adorable niece Olivia Wagner & her friend, MaggieJust last Saturday, I was lucky enough to be invited to speak at the Beverly Arts Center in Chicago! Usually I talk to adults so it was a great treat for me to be speaking to such a bright group of girls, most of which have read or are reading NIGHTSHADE CITY! These girls were a riot and honestly asked some thoughtful and brilliant questions! I'm still getting used to the whole public speaking thing (at least in terms of not making a fool out of myself!) and these little girls made my day easy! What fun! Thanks to Dave, Terrie and Olivia Wagner who hooked me up with Penny Golden, the facilitator of the event. The Wagner family ROCKS!!

How cute is this little girl?? ;)
This is Elizabeth. She's a Chicago writer who follows my blog and came to see me speak!
How cool is that! You can follow her blog here! Okay, I have no idea why I'm making such a weird face in this shot, but here is my niece again, at least she looks cute! My husband would tell me that's a face made for radio!
But if we can't laugh at ourselves... :)

Speaking of husbands, here is Eric, Nomi, Vincent & me! 
This girl is Penny Golden's daughter, she's super cute, even though you can't see her face!
You see my girl in the background? She stole the show!

More book reading cuties! :)All in all, a perfect day!!!

xoxo -- Hilary

If You're in Chicago this week...

I will be reading about our favorite bad rat!!...and are not working this Wednesday the 29th, well then, come see me! Starting at 2pm, I'll be at the Beverly Arts Center in Chicago for an Author Afternoon. Penny Golden will be interviewing me about NIGHTSHADE CITY and I'll be reading an excerpt from the book and signing copies thereafter. It should be a lot of fun and I'm super excited to be at the BAC. I was in several plays there as a child, being a Morgan Park Academy alum (and a drama nerd), so it will be great being on the same stage again! I'll have some copies of the book available and it's also available at Barnes & Noble everywhere, if you'd like to get one beforehand. I have no idea if they'll be 10 people or 100, so it will be interesting to find out! Just decided what excerpt I'm going to read...may or may not involve the bad guy above! ;)

Hope to see you there!!!!

xoxo -- Hilary