INDIE LIMELIGHT -- Old Towne Books in Oswego, IL!

I was honored and thrilled when Old Towne Books & Tea in Oswego, IL (western suburb of Chicago) offered to host the Nightshade City book launch party (this Saturday)! My husband and I stopped by a couple weeks back to drop off a few things (like my ginormous Nightshade City poster!) and of course check the place out!

Well, it did NOT disappoint! It's a lovely house converted into a store in the downtown area of Oswego. The two owners we met, Joe and Mary, couldn't have been more gracious. Joe took me around the store and his eyes lit up as soon as he started talking about his love of books and how happy we was to be able to share them with others! He's also a huge fan of Redwall, so it was pretty cool to see all the rodents already lining Old Towne's shelves! ;)


Old Towne Books & Tea

 Old Towne has a fantastic kid's section, which I know my daughter could spend hours in! They made the store exceptionally cozy and welcoming. Along with their vast selection of new books, they also have a huge used books section at amazing prices--my husband might have attacked these while we were there!

Old Towne has hosted some amazing authors, among them, Kristen Walker, author of A Match Made in High School, and I know you all know her!

So, if you live in the Chicagoland area, I highly suggest you check out Old Towne Books. Not only do they have a great selection, but they know their stuff! They are bookavores, like the rest of us and absolutely love what they do!

I will be at Old Towne Books & Tea this Saturday, October 9th, from 2-6pm! I will be signing copies of Nightshade City (of course!!) and will also be passing out fun book swag and Halloween treats for the kids! If you live in the area, please come say "hi!" and grab some rice crispy treats and candy corn!!! See how I lure you in with my tasty wares?? ;)

xoxo -- Hilary

Signed Nightshade City winner is JM Need!!!!!!!!!!

JM, YOU WON!! Please email me your name and address and a signed copy of NIGHTSHADE CITY will be on its way to you next week!!!! w00t!!! Thanks to all who took part in the fun!!!! ;)



xoxo -- Hilary

HAPPY BOOK B-DAY, NIGHTSHADE CITY!!! GIVEAWAY!

Finally!!! The rats have arrived!!! In honor of their arrival, I'm giving out 2 signed copies of NIGHTSHADE CITY! One here and one on the PROJECT MAYHEM blog! So, you have 2 brilliant chances to win! To enter, follow each blog if you don't already and leave a comment telling me your favorite book of all time!!! That's it!! Contest ends at midnight tonight!
I love you guys and thanks so much for
your support!!! I can finally relax now--NOT!!! ;)

xoxo -- Hilary

Win a hardcover on Market My Words Blog!!! Hilary Wagner and Nightshade City!

Please visit Shelli's awesome blog, Market My Words, for a chance to win a hardcover of Nightshade City!!

Contest ends at midnight tonight, so go, go, go!!!!!!!

Market My Words: The Rats are Back - Hilary Wagner and Nightshade City!

Also, check back here on Friday!!! The rats and I will be giving away a signed copy for my book birthday!!! HOORAY!!!!!!!

Juniper from Nightshade City

The Bookinistas: NIGHTSHADE CITY by Hilary Wagner (comment and win!)

Illustration Copyright Omar Rayyan for Nightshade City

Please check out my interview from Lisa and Laura Roecker today! These fabtastic Bookinistas are hilarious and asked me some great questions! Oh, and win a copy of my book too!

YaY fOr fReE kIDs BoOks!!!

The Bookinistas: NIGHTSHADE CITY by Hilary Wagner (comment and win!)

Rat Blackjack Anyone?

I'm going to Vegas, baby! ;)

Two nights ago I was updating my blog with those fancy new pages you see at the top. I scrolled down to change something and there was my cute little NIGHTSHADE CITY debut countdown widget staring me in the face. It read, 21 days, 21 hours, 21 minutes and 23 seconds! So right quick I hit the 'PrtSc' button and captured the moment!

Hmmm...Blackjack times four for my rats??? I'll take it! ;)

xoxo -- Hilary

NIGHTSHADE CITY -- IN STOCK at Barnes & Noble Nationwide!

At my local B&N store!
My rats are right next to the Magic Thief!!

There is a day in everyone's life when you just can't help but flush with happiness and say to yourself, "I did it!" Well...today is my day! On Monday, Nightshade City got a fab review from Kirkus AND NIGHTSHADE CITY is now in stock at all Barnes & Noble retail stores nationwide, even Alaska and Hawaii! I needed an excuse to go to Hawaii and I think this qualifies! My book does not officially debut until October 1st, but it's not uncommon for retail stores to sell a first time author's book up to a month in advance! Once it hits their doorstep, it hits the shelves and mine got printed early (specifically for stores like B&N) so there ya go!

A bunch of my favorite Indie stores will carry it too (including my agent's!) and I'm just so amazed that my book is sitting on shelves across the country!

My 2 year old, Nomi, with Nightshade City!
She calls the book Juniper since he's on the cover!
Guess what she'll be for Halloween! ;)

You know, a nice iced Americano sounds good for lunch today...guess where I'll be going! ;)


xoxo -- Hilary

How Do You Handle a Critique? OR Here, Take My Bunny!

I only want to help! Here, take my bunny!

So, today, on the Adventures in Children's Publishing blog, I'm a Mentoring Author giving my take on five queries. All of these queries are good in their own right. It's so hard for me to give advice! I know my own query wasn't perfect, that's for sure! I want to be helpful, but I always worry what if my advice or critique puts someone on the wrong path?? Gah! I'd feel so bad! I suppose that's the risk you take though and I have mad respect (yes, I wrote "mad respect", sad, I know) for those who do!

I've never been a member of a critique group. I'm hard enough on myself! Errr...what is a Beta anyway? Still don't know, other than it's the second letter in the Greek alphabet. For those of you who are or have been in a critique group how do you handle the critiques? What do you do if someone is really rough on you--shreds your work into itty bitty throbbing pieces of pulp or what if everyone in the group has the same opinion of your MS and you completely don't agree with it? How do you respond?

xoxo -- Hilary

Win a signed copy of Dee Garretson's WILDFIRE RUN!! w00t!

Win a signed hardcover of Dee's debut!!!

Show a debut author some love today and maybe get a little something for yourself! Hop over to the PROJECT MAYHEM blog and win a signed copy of my friend Dee Garretson's debut  middle-grade novel, WILDFIRE RUN (Aug. 31st, HarperCollins)!! Read about her crazy road to middle-grade publishing and see the Wildfire Run trailer!!!! Go Dee!!!!

WILDFIRE RUN GIVEAWAY!!!!

Project Mayhem is coming!! MIDDLE GRADE WRITERS...You have been warned.

PROJECT MAYHEM

The Manic Minds of Middle Grade Writers

So, a group of us manic middle grade authors have come together to form PROJECT MAYHEM! Think Fight Club with way less blood and little to no swearing! We wanted to create a fun blog where both writers and readers of middle-grade books can gather and maybe learn something or at the very least have a good laugh! We are asking you all to give us a follow or even stalk us, whatever works, so when we have our first official post, we'll be rockin' and a rollin' with a great group of middle-grade enthusiasts!

Project Mayhem Team Members will be talking about writing for middle-graders, reviewing (you guessed it) middle grade books, giving away signed copies of said books, spotlighting some killer indie bookstores and hoping you'll all join us as our books debut one by one! Our blog is all about being positive and helping ALL writers succeed in this nutty publishing world of middle-grade mayhem!

Our first "official" post will go up this Monday and will feature Dee Garretson, whose debut middle-grade novel, WILDFIRE RUN, releases on August 31st!!! She will be talking about the book and her writing AND give away a signed hardcover of her fantastic novel!

TEAM MAYHEM (in order of release):
Dawn Lairamore, IVY'S EVER AFTER, 5.15.2010
Dee Garretson, WILDFIRE RUN, 8.31.2010
Adam Jay Epstein, THE FAMILIARS, 9.7.2010
Andrew Jacobson, THE FAMILIARS, 9.7.2010
Hilary Wagner, NIGHTSHADE CITY, 10.01.2010
Tim Power, THE BOY WHO HOWLED, 10.26.2010
Rose Cooper, GOSSIP FROM THE GIRLS’ ROOM, 1.01.11
Jen K Blom, POSSUM SUMMER, 10.2011
Marissa Burt, THE TALE OF UNA FAIRCHILD, 01.2012

Please share this post and the PROJECT MAYHEM link and follow are blog!!! We need your support to get this blog going! ;)

xoxo -- Hilary

Ten Things to Consider AFTER Your First Book Deal...

1. Don't be scared of working with your editor! You'll do fine!

2. Be prepared to take what you consider the most special parts of your book...OUT!

3. Concerns? TALK TO YOUR AGENT! He/she knows the business and they will tell you if you're concerns are justified or you're freaking out for no reason. (I would fit into the freaking out for no reason category).

4. Don't be afraid to ask your publisher LOTS of questions-- if you don't ask, you won't get.

5. Your publisher may change your release date several times--this is totally normal, especially for a debut.

6. Know that you have NO control over the cover art...but be happy when your publisher does ask for your input and gives your book a fabulous illustrator (Omar Rayyan!) and if they don't, have a nice piece of cake (preferably chocolate) and tell yourself, they know what they're doing.

7. Bear in mind that Barnes & Noble, along with Indie stores, do NOT pick up every book, even from big publishers! There is nothing you can do if they decide not to carry your book in their brick and mortar stores, so don't worry about it--it does not mean your book won't be successful at all, but be joyous when they say, YES, we want this debut author's novel hanging out by our Starbucks counters!!

8. Don't fret if you start on a one book deal (becoming the norm these days), but be merry when they buy the sequel six months later--off a proposal no less! That means they like you, they really, really like you!

9. There are a lot of things out of your control in publishing--in fact--most things. Before giving yourself a facial tick, take a step back, inhale a deep solid breath, and realize no matter what's in store for you, you made it...you did it...you're a first-rate writer--YOU!

10. Now write another book. ;)

Kirkus Fall Supplement! My Rats and others get a Shout-out!

My rats are fat and happy today!
Illustration copyright Omar Rayyan

So, just when you think it's a hum-drum day, something really nice happens! Today, Kirkus Reviews released their Fall Preview Supplement! Nightshade City was mentioned in the Debut Fiction Kids & YA Section, along with other great books, such as The Duff (Kody Keplinger), MATCHED (Allie Condie), Zora and Me (Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon) and some other fantastic kid's titles, that I'm just dying to read!!!

From the Kirkus Fall Supplement:
Nightshade City, Hilary Wagner
Holiday House / October / 9780823422852 / $17.95
The smell of a rat, who’d have thought it would be so sweet? “Why rats?” says Hilary Wagner of her debut. “Well, I’ve always loved animals, especially the strange and creepy ones. When doing research for Nightshade City, I discovered how misunderstood rats are. They are quite intelligent, able to come when called by their names and even lick their owners like dogs to show they love them. They can laugh in ultrasound when tickled, and they dream, too.” Of course, there are also dastardly rats, depraved and sadistic rats, like Killdeer and Billycan, who stage a bloody coup to gain control of the Catacombs, once a democratic, thriving rat metropolis. But better rats will have their day, a growing band of revolutionaries sharply drawn with rich histories and adventurous, vivid characters, all in a fully imagined fantasy world with some important dangling threads that promise good things to come. (Ages 10-14)
 
Okay, so what fall debuts titles are you looking forward to?