WRITERS: It's All About YOU Day!

So, last week I got to have my "Big Fat Contest" and it was loads of fun! I met some new writers and hopefully connected you guys with some new ones too! In that same spirit, this post is all about YOU!

The concept is simple: Tell the blogging world who YOU are! Name, rank and serial number, soldier! All you have to do is leave a comment with your name, or pen name, whichever you prefer, a link to your blog and/or twitter and facebook, and last but not least something cool, funny or weird thing about you! Your mission, should you so choose to take it: Follow one fellow blogger who comments on this post, that's it!

Example: Clearly, you all know my blog link or you wouldn't be here! My name is Hilary Wagner (pretty sure you caught on to that too!). I'm HilaryWagner1 on twitter and HilaryWagner1 on Facebook as well. Hmmm...something cool, funny or weird about me...I have a habit of dismembering Twix bars when I eat them. I gobble the layer of chocolate on the sides first, and then I go for the layer of chocolate and caramel on top, with a goal of keeping the bottom cookie portion intact, saving it for last. I get instantly bummed if I break said cookie, while extracting the top layer, ruins my candy bar eating mojo! Okay, so that's not really cool, but clearly weird, you get the drift! Ha, ha! Here's something that I think is pretty cool. When I was little I got to present an award with Minnie Pearl. You know, the cute little granny with the tag on her hat? Her real name is Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon and she was a big star of the Grand Ole Opry and Hee Haw! She was just the sweetest lady ever and calmed my little girl nerves about presenting an award in front of a few thousand people! I think that's pretty cool.

So, in summary:
Your Name:
Your Blog/Twitter/Facebook link(s):
Something cool, funny or weird about YOU!!!

And lastly: Follow one fellow blogger who comments on this post!

Oh, and keep writing!

xoxo -- Hilary

We Haz Some Good Looking Winners!!!!

Okay, it's been a crazy week, with 100+ entries for my Big Fat Contest! If I could, I'd have you ALL win, but alas, I think Marietta would drop me as a client! *sniff*

All winners were chosen at random, via the Randomizer website! So NO nepotism!

So, without further ado, our winners are...rock star drum roll please:

A 30 page critique, a query critique or 30 minute phone call from fabtastic Agent Marietta Zacker:

1. The charming, Harley May

2. The mysterious, Matthew Rush

3. The exquisite, Faith E. Hough

Winners please consider what works best for you and what stage of your writing you're in. Do you really need help with your query or are you more concerned with your writing or do you really want to get on the phone with a real live agent and get some insider info about the business and maybe some awesome writing tips? I'm excited for all of you and Marietta is too! You will love, love, love her! She is a wiz at this business, witty and just as nice as can be!

A $25.00 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble or the ABA, whichever works best for you:

1. The mystifying, Ebyss

2. The darling, Margo Dill

A signed ARC of NIGHTSHADE CITY (my favorite prize):

1. The inspiring Christine Forsenca

Congrats to all the winners! Please email me off my profile with your contact info for Marietta or your address for the gift card or ARC of Nightshade City!

Marietta will contact the three critique winners and you can go from there!

This was a lot of fun and giving out prizes is a wonderful feeling, but most importantly, it's about us all getting to know each other a little better and helping each other out a little bit. I've met some amazing writers and made some great friends, just by following blogs and doing all that social networking stuff (whatever that means)! Ha, ha! Speaking of which, I try to follow everyone, so please shoot me your link if for some reason I'm NOT following you or ping me on FB and/or Twitter! We all lead busy lives, most of us with full-time jobs or families to look after or both! It's nice to have these "places" where you can stop by and give yourself a little break from the world of reality! Seriously, I don't know what I'd do without you guys!

In short, please keep blogging, writing and just being yourselves!

xoxo -- Hilary

My Big Fat 300 Follower Contest with Agent Marietta Zacker! w00t!

Contest closes at midnight on Thursday, April 8th. Winners announced on Friday the 9th!

The day has finally come! 300 brilliant, electrifying and I must say, quite fetching followers of my blog! It's been an amazing week for me and hitting the 300 follower mark is the icing on the cake! On Tuesday I received the first half of my advance for BILLYCAN: Book II of the Nightshade Chronicles! Wednesday I spoke with my editor and found out some really surprising things they're going to do to market Nightshade City! Yesterday I received the 1st pass galley, which included some of the new chapter illustrations, which are completely full of awesomeness, thanks to the astonishing illustrator Omar Ryyan! Just wait until you see the cover, which also has a special surprise on it...but can say!!! Argghh!

So, in honor of all these remarkable events my fabulous and overworked agent, Marietta Zacker of the Nancy Gallt Literary Agency has graciously offered up her services to three lucky winners!!! The three winners will have their choice of how they'd like their prize doled out. Please note: This is open to all writers and illustrators!

Choices: (1) 30 page critique of your MS, (2) a query critique, (3) a 30 minute phone call to talk about your writing or illustrations!!! Yes, a real live phone call!

If you don't win one of the above prizes or you already have an agent, don't despair! I'm giving away three more prizes! Two lucky winners will each receive a $25.00 gift card to Barnes & Noble or an American Booksellers Association gift card if you have an Indie store you love dearly, choice is yours! Last but not least, one winner will receive a signed copy of the NIGHTSHADE CITY ARC! They are printing this month and hitting the streets on April 26th!! Gah!

To recap the five prizes:
3 winners will receive a critique or phone call with the inimitable Marietta Zacker!
2 winners will receive a $25.00 gift card to B&N or the ABA!
1 winner will receive a signed (by me of course) ARC of NIGHTSHADE CITY!

My rules are easy, nothing wonky:
1. If you are already a follower, simply leave a comment!
2. If you are not a follower of my blog become one through the google followers link, (you won't be disappointed, scout's honor!) and leave a comment on this post.
4. If you already have an agent, please put "Agented" in the comment, so I know to only enter you in the last 3 prizes!
5. Please enter only once!
6. The contest will run until next Friday and I will announce the lucky winners, all chosen randomly!

So, follow, comment and conquer, my pretties!

Happy Writing and Illustrating to you all!

xoxo -- Hilary

WRITERS: How do you turn Writer's Block into Writer's Breakthrough?

I received an email a month or so back, from a writer working on her first manuscript. She was stuck firmly in the middle of her manuscript and was unable to move forward. Her question: What do I do when I get writer's block? How do I work through it and could I give her any advice? My answer: Sadly, I didn't have one!

I never really thought about "writer's block" until now. When I come to a point in a story where I don't know where the story is going next, I set it aside for a day or two and the answer comes to me, usually at some weird time, like the middle of the night, or when I'm doing some mundane task--either way, it always seems to come. But now that I am thinking about writer's block, I'm wondering is there a good way to overcome it other than nearly tripping over myself on the treadmill when I have that 'eureka moment'?

How do YOU deal with the infamous writer's block? Do you use an exercise or a method to work through it? Do you beat your head in despair for weeks, until the answer finally comes, just when you're about to trash what you've written? What are your tips and tricks to turn your writer's block into a writer's breakthrough?

Hit me!

xoxo -- Hilary

WRITERS: What are YOUR Great Expectations?

For me, Charles Dickens made me want to be a writer. In the first chapter of GREAT EXPECTATIONS, Dickens describes how Pip makes up images of his dead parents in his head, by nothing more than the shape of the letters on their tombstones.

In every book, Dickens always manages to capture my attention from page one, something I find wonderful and vital. There is nothing worse than having to struggle through the first chapter of a book.  We've all done it. When I read a shiny new book and see the images in my head right away, I know I'm hooked--immediate connection. I want to connect with readers like that!

I've told you my "road to publication" tragedies and triumphs. What are yours and what are YOUR great expectations?

1. What book and/or author inspired you to write?

2. Why did you feel so inspired?

3. What is the hardest and/or best part about your road to publication? Where do you see your writing future going?

xoxo -- Hilary

WRITERS: Can Fantasy turn into Farce? Toot Your Horn Friday!

As you know, my debut novel is an animal fantasy about rats. For the most part, my rats have kept their rattiness, but Nightshade City rats are very special creatures.  They have super intelligence and a lifespan parallel to humans, not the 3-4 years a normal rat lives, they're quite strong and sizeable compared to your typical rat, not to mention--they talk! There are reasons behind these humanlike qualities my brilliant rats' posses, but you'll have to wait to find out what they are!

So, my question to you is, can a fantasy novel go too far? When does a fantasy novel become, well, too fantastic? When does a book become so far-fetched even though you know it's a made up world or creature or a combination of the both, that the fantasy turns into farce? Can even a well written story fumble if the fantasy aspect it too extreme or does a well written story trump all?

Hit me!

xoxo -- Hilary

WRITERS: What's YOUR Good NEWS????

What's your good news?

Thanks so much everyone for sharing in my recent excitement over my book! It's a lot of fun to share my good news, but it's also inspiring to hear yours!

So, what's new with YOU??? It can be anything! Did you get a request from an agent? Did you get the best rejection ever that actually helped you with your query or manuscript? I got a few of those along the way! Did you finally finish a beloved WIP or write the best scene ever? Or is your news totally unrelated to writing, like my good friend Jen K Blom, who just gave birth to her darling Izzy in Berlin (and got a book deal two weeks earlier, the little brat!)

What the heck is going on with YOU???

Hit me!!

xoxo -- Hilary

NIGHTSHADE CITY available for PRE-ORDER already! Wah?

So, I edited like a crazed editing maniac this weekend, making sure I had my copy edits done so I could FedEx them back to Holiday House today. I was up to the wee hours of the morning Saturday night, when an author friend of mine, Jill Myles, let me know she spotted NIGHTSHADE CITY on Amazon! Gah!!! How exciting! On top of that, I actually have a sales ranking which means people are buying it! Wuh, already???? Don't stop! Please don't stop! One more thing to make me nuts I suppose! Right now, there is no cover image yet, as the fantabulous Omar Ryyan (Illustrator of Mistmantle covers and way more) is putting on the final touches. Amazon is putting together my "Author Central Page" which I can't wait to see, little ol' me on the big, fat Amazon website! 

I already had a reader email me and ask if Nightshade City was like Redwall or Mistmantle. I'm happy to say it stands on it's own, but if you enjoyed the Redwall or Mistmantle series, I'm also happy to say in a hopeful little whisper, I think you'll enjoy mine too!  

Now I have to finish the second book!!! Back to work for me! Ack!

xoxo -- Hilary

WRITERS: You really can do it!!! You can get published!

So, come tomorrow morning I have a FedEx arriving!  Once I get it I need to buckle down with my shiny new colored pencil and get to work on Nightshade City's copy edits! I have to FedEx them back to my editor for arrival on Monday! Yeah, no pressure there! At least it's the good kind of pressure! My ARC is going to print next month!!! I can't believe I'll get to hold MY book in my hands.

I guess I want to inspire you if I can to keep writing and working and doing what we all LOVE so much! If you told me one year ago I would land an agent and sell my first two novels, I would have thought you were crazy or pretty drunk! It's amazing what can happen in just one year!  Look at my stats!!!

February 2008 - March 2009: Racked up 175+ rejections (staggering, I know) from agents...cried a lot!

April 2009: Landed my agent

June 2009: Offer on NIGHTSHADE CITY

September 2009: NIGHTSHADE CITY sold to Holiday House

February 2010: BILLYCAN: Book II of Nightshade City sold to Holiday House

April 2010: ARC for Nightshade City

October 2010: NIGHTSHADE CITY HITS THE SHELVES!!!!

Long story short, dreams happen every day! Our hard work counts for something!! It really, really does!

xoxo -- Hilary

Now go write!!!

WRITERS: Who knows you write? Are you secretive or a jabber mouth?

I vowed to myself that only my husband (my free freelance editor) would know of my writing until I had an agent. It was just something I needed to accomplish on my own. I didn't want family members always asking me, "So, how's the writing going? Are you the next JK Rowling yet?" or have them whisper behind my back, "Yes, that's her, poor dear thinks she can get published." Insecure on my part--DEFINITELY! I just didn't want to put myself out there. It's scary sharing your innermost wants and wishes with others. What if they secretly think you can't hack it? What if they talk behind your back? Okay, there's that ugly insecurity again! Ugh, hate that!


So, how about you? Do you scream your writerly ways to the rooftops?  Does everyone know YOU are the writer in the family, working your fingers to the bone on your latest manuscript or are you like I was, secretly hiding your talent away until the time is right to reveal to the world?  

Hit me!

xoxo -- Hilary

WRITERS: RATS VS POSSUMS...The Throw Down is ON!!!

WRITERS: FOLLOW JEN K BLOM & HER POSSUMS!

Jen K Blom

(Someone needs to update their picture, e'hem!)

For months now there has been a RAT VS. POSSUMS throw down brewing between me and writer, Jen K Blom! And now that my good buddy has announced the sale of her debut, the throw down can officially begin!


Have you ever met one of those glittery people you just immediately take a shine to (despite their possum obsession)? Well, my good friend and fellow writer, Jen K Blom, is one of those special people!


As luck would have it, my buddy Jen's debut middle grade novel, Possum Summer, has been sold to Holiday House Books, coming out fall of 2011, right along with Nightshade City's sequel, Billycan! Now you all know how I rave about Holiday House, so it was crazy to me when my very best German bound bud, received an offer from them to buy her debut just last week! Even more providential, her shiny, new editor turns out to be my amazing editor, Julie Amper! What are the odds? Jen loves her agent, Marlene Stringer, as much as I love Marietta, so we have to plug her too!


So, long story short, follow this girls blog if you don't already! Jen is not only an amazing author, but hysterical and insightful! She has a cool husband named Soren and a there is an 80% chance her cat is plotting to kill her (jealous of possums perhaps?)! Jen not only just got her first book deal, but she has a baby coming any day now! So please shoot over to her blog with some warm congrats to her and the possums and little Izzy who is about to make her debut soon and follow, follow, follow her blog (mine too)! :)


The moral of this story: Rats rule, possums drool!


xoxo -- Hilary

No Animals (or Teachers) Were Hurt During the Making of this Workshop. Ha!

So, the day finally came! I gave my workshops today! It went really well and no one threw rotten heads of lettuce or old shoes at me, so that was a success in and of itself!

I met some wonderful teachers, who really added to the workshop with great questions and a little humor of their own! I think if you can take even one thing new back from a workshop or presentation, one thing that gives you a little light bulb moment, it was worth it! Hopefully, I gave these wonderful folks one little tidbit they didn't know before. If not, at least they got the day off, right?

I want to thank EVERYONE who gave me advice and virtual cheerleading! Public speaking can be a scary thing, so it really helped! You guys gave some great tips! Next time will be so much easier (and organized)!

Now I'm off to dreamy town with teddy...

xoxo -- Hilary