Hilary Wagner's Blog, page 7

My REAL Rejection Letters & Why You Should Never Give Up!

This is not some random picture I pulled off Google, these are the actual rejection letters I received from literary agencies from 2008-2009. There are about 75 letters in all, not to mention 100+ email rejections. I'm sure you can do the math. I wanted to toss these into the trash as even now they're a bit hard to look at, but my husband forced me to keep them. He said I'd be happy I did later on, and he was right. Since my first book, Nightshade City, was published, it's won the Westchester Fiction Award for 2011, it's been named a CBC Best Book of 2011, and is a Goodreads Choice Award and SCBWI Crystal Kite Finalist for 2010. I'm invited to speak to kids and other writers on a regular basis and they actually are interested in what I have to say, which is pretty darn cool for a girl who four years ago decided to write a random book about rats--of all things. Nightshade City also resulted in my job with National Geographic, as a Nat Geo editor read it and then contacted me to see if I'd be interested in writing for them. I guess what I'm trying to tell you guys is it's darn hard to get published, but my story is one of the many examples that it is entirely possible and there are many good things to come if you can weather the storm.
Around this time of year we all wonder about our goals in life and if we'll ever reach them. I cannot say I didn't get defeated back then, with my ever growing pile of rejection letters, but I can say, I didn't give up...so don't you do it either.
I mean it. Don't give up or I will hunt you down and slap you around a bit! Me holding my first copy of Book II
of the Nightshade Chronicles,
The White Assassin
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ONE AND ALL!
Hilary

And the Winner is.... :)

Sheri Larsen!!!  Congrats, Sheri! So happy for you and I hope these books bring you a lot of joy this holiday season! They all look so great! Please email me your address! 

HOLIDAY BOOK BLAST GIVEAWAY!!

Pretty, pretty books!!!


HOLIDAY BOOK BLAST!!
Happy holidays everyone! In honor of these merry days of giving, I'm super excited to give away ten (did she say ten?) brand spanking new books! Most of these are either newly released or soon to be released! Yes, you'll have a stack of beautiful YA & middle-grade books that few have read! Now that's a gift!
Here's what the winner will get!1.       IRISES by Francisco X. Stork - ARC2.       THE BOOK OF BLOOD AND SHADOW by Robin Wasserman - ARC3.       THE INTERNATIONAL KISSING CLUB by Ivy Adams - ARC4.       DANGEROUS WATERS by Gregory Mone - ARC5.       BEFORE YOU GO by James Presser - ARC6.       THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST by Emily M. Danforth - ARC7.       STEAMPUNK! by various bestselling authors - ARC8.       ROCK ON by Denise Vega - ARC9.       THE WHITE ASSASSIN by me - Signed ARC10.   NIGHTSHADE CITY by me - Signed Paperback
To enter:1.       Follow my blog2.       Share the love! Not necessary, but spreading the word about this giveaway is darn good karma! 3.       Leave a comment about your favorite holiday tradition!4.       Contest open until Wednesday, December 14th. Winner will be announced Thursday the 15th!
Good luck to everyone and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
xoxo -- Hilary

Writer A-HA Moments!

What is the finest piece of writing advice you ever received? It can be something exclusively concerning the craft of writing itself, something that motivated you to keep moving forward, or something that changed everything in relation to you as a writer. It can be from a famous author, a critique partner, your spouse, your dog (my dog gives great advice)! What was YOUR "A-HA Moment" and how did it help you improve as a writer?

My A-HA moment: Never buying into trends and sticking to my gut. Before I started writing, I didn't realize how competitive the markets were for certain types of books. I believed we should write what moves us--as that will be our best writing. I got nervous about that for a while, thinking maybe I should think more about the market, but then I realized if I'm not fully invested in what I'm writing, my readers won't be either.

What was you're A-HA moment??

NCTE/ALAN This Weekend in Chicago!

Just after my talk at the NCTE last year. You
can tell by my daughters face she did NOT approve of
my performance!! ;)
Last year I had the pleasure and honor of speaking at the NCTE in Disney World. Great location, huh? This year, it's in Chicago! Woohoo, no travel hassles for me, but much colder! I'm so excited because I will finally get to meet my Holiday House editor, the amazing Julie Amper! I've been working with her on the Nightshade Chronicles and Goblin Shark Rising for over two years now and I finally get to see her in the flesh!
I'll be speaking on a panel Friday morning, discussing with other authors and our editor how we read our personal pasts in order to create possible futures in writing. Should be pretty interesting, as my segment is on how my past has impacted my fantasy writing. I blame Generation X! :)
I was so nervous last year. Andrea Cremer was on my panel and was so sweet. She gives class lectures all the time so she had no fear! If you told me last year how comfortable I'd be speaking in front of a crowd now I'd think someone spiked your spice chai latte. For any of you who feel public speaking is a terrifying proposition you just have to force yourself to do it. You will be amazed at how much easier it gets. I actually enjoy public speaking now and hope to do many more events. That last sentence falls under "Things I Never Thought I'd Say EVER!" 
Please let me know if any of you educators and/or writers will be in town for the event. I have some hello's to give after my panel and then I'm free to stalk the booths! Can't wait to see my bookish buddies! 
xoxo -- Hilary

LENNY LEE'S SURPRISE FOR ME!

FOR LENNY LEE!Have you ever had one of those friends who always makes you smile? Well, I do. I think most of you know him. He just had a birthday. He's got a huge heart and can write like no kid his age I've ever met! 
LENNY LEE! The Nightshade Knight, by Lenny LeeThat's right, our very own Lenny Lee! I know lots of you sent Lenny cards and gifts for his birthday and wished him well on his blog, but did you know Lenny sent a birthday present to me??? You see, it was my birthday a few days after his and Lenny remembered it. Not only did he send me the coolest writer's care package a writer could ever get, but he also sent me a book....and not just any book, a book HE wrote--for ME!! 
I was so honored, touched, and surprised by such a thoughtful and priceless gift. It's about a sweet Jamaican rat named Bart who goes in search of Nightshade City. He wants to help rid the Nightshade Rats of Billycan. After a long journey he ends up finding me! I'm in the book! Bart comes to Chicago and ends up getting trapped in my house with my dog growling at him. I rescue him and help get him back home, but also promise Bart, that he may end up in my next book! :) Well, that's not a bad idea! 
I was floored by this story. It really captured my interest from page one and not because it was about my book--but because it was just that good! Bart is a character you care about right away and Lenny's descriptions were perfect--not too much, not too little--just right. :) Click her to read an excerpt from Lenny's book! Thanks to the lovely Sharon Mayhew and Lenny's
brother, Sebastian, who helped him with the story and editing!
 
Rats and Reese's from Lenny!So, after all that book goodness, Lenny ended up sending me a whole box of writer's treats!! He sent me a bag of Lindt chocolate truffles, my absolute favorite chocolate in the whole world, and yes, they're all gone!! He sent me a bag of yummy trail mix and a huge bag of Reese's goodies too. He also sent me an adorable rat mug and matching pin and lots of lovely notes!! :) I haven't got a gift that made me cry in a long time, but Lenny had me all weepy with thanks and surprise! 
Of note: Lenny told me his book was going to be a picture book, but ended up turning into a sixty page novel. That's how Nightshade City started too--as a picture book! Must be an October birthday thing! ;) I have NO doubt after reading this that Lenny is going to be a star writer one day. I mean that with all my heart!
Lenny, thank you so very, very much...you are ONE GOOD RAT! 
Big Hugs -- Hilary

Zombie Lincoln Stay Away!!!

Please be aware and beware, that this is real--very real!! Please click on the map and get whatever safeguards, holy water, silver bullets, wooden stakes, poisons, elixirs, etc, for the threat in your area!

Oh, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Why Omar Rayyan is Awesome!

Click Me
Need I say more??? ;)

The Very First Page of a Novel

The first page EVER of GOBLIN SHARK RISING
I just found this in one of my many notebooks. It is the very first "page" of Goblin Shark Rising. I wrote this just about a year ago. I thought it would fun to share, if you can read it, that is! I even doodled that little shark at the top, which looks more like an old sock.

Below is the first page of the finished product. My publisher will have the first chapter of the novel on their website soon, which is so exciting! What do your first pages look like? Hopefully, they are MUCH neater than mine!

Have a great weekend, everyone! ;)


Chapter One -- The Federation


            Susur cut through the water--seething. Shaking with rage, he tore after the fleeing shark. He was positive it was a Frill. Its snaky tail snapped around a turn as he pursued it. Maybe it was fate that he'd stormed out of the Federation Summit when he did, now he could prove to his father and the Federation once and for all that the Frills were cold blooded murderers. Plunging after it, he even smelled the rotting flesh in the Frill's teeth--shark flesh. He soared around a rock column, dead-set on catching the creature.Growling furiously, Susur sped through the gloom. Where did it go? Eyes darting, he hurled his body to the right, just seconds before his snout would have smashed into a stone outcropping. He grunted in pain as his gills slapped the rock. A Frill had eluded him once more! It almost felt good--the pain. Lately, all he heard from everyone around him was 'no'. No, you cannot hunt alone. No, you cannot leave Federation borders. And finally, no, you're wrong about the Frills--in fact completely off the mark. At least the stinging pain was something other than a no. The Frill was nowhere to be seen. Gills throbbing, Susur slowed his pace. He descended deeper into the canyon. Perhaps he could sniff out a trail.The Goblin Sharks had concealed themselves deep within Tokyo Canyon for centuries. Secreted away for so long, many of his kind had grown lazy, allowing themselves to be captured--a great discovery for the human scientists--the elusive Goblin Shark. 'Living Fossils' of the sea, the humans called them. A prehistoric species touted to be over one hundred million years old. He'd heard from the Great Whites and others what the scientists did to sharks, poking and prodding them--dismembering their bodies--dissecting them. Then there were the fishermen, to be fair, a far simpler sort than the scientists, but just as deadly, eying the Goblins as a whole new source of revenue--greedy fishmongers. Collectors would pay hundreds of thousands of yen to possess the retractable jaw of a dead Goblin shark dragged up by a fisherman's net. And if a fisherman ever managed to a catch a live Goblin...well...what human wouldn't want to try the fresh flesh of this unknown shark--this ancient, exotic species? Humans seemed to rip hungrily into any sea creature set in front of them, the more out of the ordinary the better. Susur's concerns with the Frill Sharks started months back. The slippery serpent like creatures, who looked more like eels than sharks, had honed in on Federation territory with grisly intent. At first, he thought they were just another nuisance, scavenger sharks looking for scraps, but soon, the body count rose. Susur knew they were a lethal threat--even if the elders refused to believe him. Several dead Federation sharks had been found around the outskirts of the canyon. He easily recognized the unmistakable bite marks from their endless rows of jagged teeth. His father told him many species could make those marks, but Susur knew better. If slain sharks weren't enough to make his father take action then what was?  

How would you stop a demon cat who wants to eat your soul?

Cute, ain't he?So, I'm wrapping up my latest novel, GOBLIN SHARK RISING, and it got me to thinking about bad guys and creative ways/solutions authors have "done them in" in children's literature. Sometimes, it's a very complex solution and other times the solution is so simple it doesn't even occur to the reader as an answer until it happens. And then you think, why didn't I think of that? And yet another baddie falls to his untimely demise! What are some of the most creative "get rid of the bad guy" solutions you've read? What have you seen far too many times? For me, I've seen the "falling off a cliff to their death scene" far too many times!