Interview With Ainslie Hogarth (W/ GIVEAWAY!)

Ainslie Hogarth is a Windsorite whose writing career catapulted with the publication of her first novel The Lonely (being re-issued in 2026 with The Boy Meets Girl Massacre (Annotated)). Since then, she’s switched agents, landed one of the Big Five publishers, and is on her fifth publication, forthcoming in 2026.

I stalked met Ainslie after I read her book, Mother Thing, looked her up on Instagram, and sent a blabbering-fan message to her. She so kindly responded and we met up at a local coffee shop…and thus began our love affair.

PSSSST. There’s a giveaway at the end of this blog post…

In this just-over-an-hour conversation, we get a deep-dive into Ainslie’s career, including the mega-importance of the query letter…examples to follow!

So, if you’re interested in a) writing horror/women’s fiction but also your stories slide between genres, or b) how to get an agent, or c) how to switch agents, or d) how to write a kick-ass query letter, or e) wanna just witness a really cool woman writer talking about writing…then listen/watch up!

The Video InterviewThe Interview Audio OnlyThe Query Letter

So, I’m the guinea pig here. I drafted a query letter to submit to an agent at a workshop I’m taking this September. Ainslie so graciously agreed to edit it using the chopping block she put her own query letters through (on?).

The First Draft

Based on Ainslie’s suggestion to research the agent, parts of this letter are meant to be ‘personal’, including points of reference based on said research…

Total word count: 571

“…remember to believe in the magic and seek and spread the love with vigour…”

Beks Reid hears her dead mother’s voice. It’s a daily reminder of the by-the-one-year-death-iversay promise Beks made to her: meet Essy Beau – world-famous, award-winning powerhouse novelist who lives in the same condo building. Fifteen-year-old Beks is caught in The Great Numbness, yet conjures what’s left of her wobbly courage to meet Essy. She breaks the ‘Don’t Bother Beau’ rules of the condo, and makes a connection. Turns out, Essy has been waiting for Beks, and they set up a weekly writing mentorship, establishing an extraordinary bond built on a love of reading, writing, and the magic of storytelling.
But meeting Essy disrupts grief’s power in Beks’ body and mind, and she can’t hear her mother’s voice anymore. Not to mention, it causes increasing tension at home with her weepy father who seems determined to flip his life upside down, and her basketball-obsessed, pun-prone, older brother. When a Monster voice slimes in, Beks feels pressed to return to her faithful role as disappearing-sad-girl-grieving-her-mother. Slipping inside the shifts between broken-hearted and bravery-bursting, Beks begins to navigate best-friendship (with Jilly, a BFF with sassitude), a first job (at the local indie bookshop, of course, complete with a passionate owner and a curmudgeon bookseller), and first love (with Uni, a 1980s film loving, convenience store clerk with John Cusak-quirky-hotness) – in hopes of rediscovering the magical voice of her dead mother. But why does it seem like the more alive Beks feels, the further away her mother becomes?
When Beau doesn’t show up for a scheduled mentorship session, Beks’ burgeoning intuition and tempestuous imagination lead her actions into a sleuth-savvy sojourn to solve the mystery of her curious disappearance. One mystery uncovers another, and the abracadabra of Beks’ determination to believe in the magic and seek and spread the love with vigour forces her to face grief’s gargantuan goal: acceptance. Can Beks truly be herself – reader, writer, best friend, sister, daughter, girlfriend – inside the impossible, magical grief?
INSIDE THE IMPOSSIBLE, MAGICAL GRIEF is a 90,000-word, contemporary, young adult, magic-infused, mystery-tinged debut novel about an adolescent awakening navigating love’s myriad explosions in body, mind and heart tangled inside the confusing grips of grief.
Infused with candid conversations about creativity, screenplay-style flashbacks and hilariously vulnerable texts, INSIDE THE IMPOSSIBLE, MAGICAL GRIEF echoes the metaphorical playfulness of A.S. King’s Pick the Lock, and the sage yet daring wisdom of Anne Lamot’s Bird by Bird, with a heroine that is a confluence of modern archetypes like Kody Keplinger’s Bianca Piper in The DUFF, and Ashley Poston’s Florence Day in The Dead Romantics…definitely silver-screen bound!
I currently work as an editor, a film and television producer (Suede Productions), and a creative writing teacher. My experience as a book publicist for an award-winning Canadian press enhanced my social media, author communication, and marketing skills. My memoir, Laughing Through A Second Pregnancy (Black Moss Press, 2011) went into a third printing, and my third, traditionally published poetry book, Thimbles (Palimpsest Press, 2021), was named one of CBC’s Spring Poetry Books To Read.
I look forward to friendly further discussion – you bring the swiss chocolate, I’ll bring the Oh Henry’s!
Yours truly,
PS. I too felt forever changed when I visited the British Library in London and saw the handwritten works of geniuses like Kipling, Bronte, Joyce and Austen! I bet we could talk for hours about this…!

The Edited Draft

Sorry, I had to take a photo because the edits wouldn’t copy and paste! You can see all the read, though…all the crossed out lines…

The Submitted Draft

This is the draft that I sent in for the workshop, in (dire!) hopes that it gets chosen and I get to read it and receive feedback from the agent. (Here’s the workshop I’m attending on Sun. Sept. 7 if you wanna come too! It’s virtual!)

Total word count: 489 (82 words edited out)

Dear ,

If grief can be covered over with some kind of blanket, to paraphrase author Anne Tyler, I’ve lifted the quilt, gathered the sharpest edges, and used them to write THE IMPOSSIBLE, MAGICAL GRIEF.
Beks Reid’s mother died one year ago, but she still hears her voice every day: “Today’s the day to meet her!” She’s talking about Essy Beau—world-famous, award-winning powerhouse novelist who just happens to live right in their building. It feels impossible for Beks to approach her idol in the throes of The Great Numbness which took root the day her mother died, but Beks manages to summon what wobbly courage she has left and makes a connection. Turns out, Essy is the best.They set up a weekly writing mentorship and establish an extraordinary bond built on the magic of storytelling.
But meeting Essy disrupts The Great Numbness. Beks can’t hear her mother’s voice anymore, and her burgeoning happiness only increases tensions at home with her weepy father and basketball obsessed brother. Worst of all is that a Monster voice slimes in where her mother’s voice used to be, urging Beks to cut her connection to Essy, and return to her role as disappearing sad girl. All this plus navigating an altering best-friendship, scoring her first job at an indie bookstore (complete with curmudgeonly employee) and falling head-over-heels for Uni, the super hot, film geek who she’s convinced was pulled directly from a John Hughes movie.
And then one day, Essy Beau doesn’t show up for their scheduled session, and Beks, on top of walking the fine line between honouring her mother’s memory and rebuilding her life, has to solve the mystery of her mentor’s mysterious disappearance. One mystery uncovers another, and Beks finds herself forced to face grief’s gargantuan goal: acceptance.
A.S. King’s Pick the Lock meets Anne Lamot’s Bird by Bird, in THE IMPOSSIBLE, MAGICAL GRIEF, a 90,000-word, contemporary, magic-infused, young adult mystery about love’s myriad explosions in body, mind and heart; about the confusing, tangly grips of grief; about creativity and self-acceptance, and the bonds of love that make us who we are.
I currently work as an editor, a film and television producer (Suede Productions), and a creative writing teacher. My experience as a book publicist for an award-winning Canadian press enhanced my social media, communication, and marketing skills. My traditionally published memoir, Laughing Through A Second Pregnancy (Black Moss Press, 2011) went into a third printing, and my third, traditionally published poetry book, Thimbles (Palimpsest Press, 2021), was named one of CBC’s Spring Poetry Books To Read.
I look forward to friendly further discussion – you bring the Swiss chocolate, I’ll bring the Oh Henry (currently, my fav chocolate treat)!
Yours truly,

Vanessa Shields
PS. I too felt forever changed when I visited the British Library in London and saw the handwritten works of geniuses like Bronte, Joyce and Austen! I bet we could talk for hours about this…!
Instagram: @shieldsvanessa
http://www.vanessashields.com

Major changes include: 1) getting the story pitch down to three paragraphs from five, 2) changing the title, and 3) shortening my ‘comps’ (the books I compare my book to, which is an extremely important part of the query!).

The word count over all is still high. The goal for the entire query should be 300-350 words max, however, I took some liberties in the open line and in the PS in an attempt to personally connect with the agent. I think Ainslie edited my story pitch super well, and tightened everything up in a way I just couldn’t on my own! Thanks, Ainslie! (And no, she’s not for hire to help you with your query! Sorry!) (Also, I’ll let you know how the workshop goes, and if I get feedback from the agent!)

THE GIVEAWAY!

FIRST PERSON TO WRITE A COMMENT GETS A FREE, SIGNED COPY OF NORMAL WOMEN! Please don’t put your mailing address in the comment! Just your comment and your email – and I’ll connect with you to get the book in your hands!

As always, thank you for listening/reading! I’m really enjoying doing interviews with local writers and sharing them with you!

Stay connected with Ainslie HERE on INSTAGRAM!