Heeeeeeeeeeeeere's Wiggy!

Alright, so that's me... Wiggy aka Bethany Wiggins. And in spite of the fact that I have been writing for many years, I am so nervous to blog! I mean, I have FOLLOWERS! Yikes. Just nobody drink the Koolaid unless I try it first. Anyhow, it is awesome to be here and I can't wait to get to know everyone a little better.

By the way, go to the QueryTracker blog to check out Suzette's interview with the amazing YA author Sara Zarr.

The Best Things

Blogging is fun. Really, really fun. I love connecting with all of you people out there in the blogosphere.

There is one thing I like better. Srsly, it is more fun than blogging. What is it? Meeting fellow bloggers in real life.

I'm on the left. I got to hang with, from left to right:

• Michelle Argyle, also known as Lady Glamis whose blog is The Innocent Flower.
• Elana Johnson. We met online in the QueryTracker forum about a year and a half ago and have hung out in RL several times since. Seriously, this gal is a laugh a minute - and one of my best friends. Her blog is Mindless Musings.
• Tess Hilmo was gracious to host us all in her beautiful home. The kiddles ran through sprinklers and Tess had a barrel full of iced drinks. (How cool is that?) Her blog is here.
• And the cute-as-a-button Natalie Whipple. Though I'm sure her kids are cute as buttons, I didn't get to meet them. Her blog is Between Fact and Fiction.

Have you ever had the chance to meet up with people you've met online? How did it go?

Crazy-cakes!

Par-tay! Thanks to you, our wonderful followers, we've just hit the 200 mark! Cake for everyone. Thanks for following!

Big News!!!

At last, the long-awaited news!

Some of you may know that my sister, Bethany Wiggins, writes YA fiction, urban fantasy in particular. She and I started our writing journey together after I heard the most inspiring bit of advice imaginable from Louis Sachar on the bonus features of the Holes DVD.

This is a picture of Bethany and I (she's on the left) at our little sister's wedding reception a few weeks ago. Our brothers-in-law are on the right. My wonderful husband took the picture.

And now, we've decided to join forces and take on another journey together. Blogging. That's right, Bethany has graciously agreed to co-author this blog with me. And who knows - you may see a co-authored book from us before too long!

I've told Bethany of all the wonderful friends I've made while blogging, and she's excited to get to know all of you. Let's extend a warm welcome to her.

And for those of you who don't know, I write books for children of all ages. To see what I write, come visit my website: www.suzettesaxton.us

What Do You Love?

Little-known Gems
(pssst... stay tuned, at the end of this post I'll reveal something little-known about me!)

Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them all. ~Henry David Thoreau

Have you ever happened upon a book, one that nobody's heard of, or one you would never had heard of if someone hadn't recommended it to you, and then found it to be the loveliest little treasure? I want to know about it. Let's give these books the recognition they deserve!

Any genre will do. Let me know (in the comments) your obscure favorite and I will post it here and see if we can't get some word of mouth going for these amazing authors and/or illustrators. (I'll also be linking back to your blog!)

Homeplace by Anne Shelby. I was stunned to learn that this book is out of print! Without doubt, the story and illustrations make this the coziest, most beautiful children's book I have ever read. This one I'm passing down to my children... and grandchildren!











What do you Love? By Jonathan London, author of the popular Froggy series, this book is often overlooked though it is still in print. The illustrations by Karen Lee Schmidt are stunning and truly capture love in print.









The Black Rose by Thomas Costain. On a vacation to my grandmother's house in Whittier California as a teen, I found this in her guest house; an original version first published in 1945, and could not put it down.














Stephanie Haefner:

I saw the kids book you listed and immediately thought of a book called 'Someday' by Alison McGhee. I saw it on the shelf in Walmart and began reading it. I knew I had to get it when I couldn't control my tears right there in the store! Bought it as a gift for a friend who had a baby girl right around that time.



Suzy
I thought of another one myself. This dystopian YA will stick with you! The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick is one my family happened to listen to on tape while on a road trip. We found ourselves driving extra hours at the end of our trip just to keep listening.









Yunaleska

The one which springs to mind for me is The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge. Recently made into a film, this book is my mother's. I must have been leafing through her bookcase (I can't remember...I've had it on my shelf for years now!) and started reading it. It's a lovely, historical fantasy (that's how i place it) Written in...possibly 1940's, it's a sweet tale. Might re-read and review at some point. A rich girl gets sent to the country with her companion/governess, to live with her uncle. It turns out she's not just a guest, she's The One to bring joy and safety back to the village.




Eileen Astels Watson

Childrens books are always so wonderful to look back on. Max Lucado wrote one, I believe it was called "I Love You This Much" that read over and over again to my girls. I need to go on a hunt for that one, not that you've reminded me of it.




Andrea Robertson Cremer

Hooray for The Black Rose and The Little White Horse, both amazing.

I also loved, Birth of the Firebringer. A YA fantasy about unicorns that is amazing and I think little known.










LADY GLAMIS

I LOVE Annie Dillard. She doesn't write fiction, per se, but it's kind of like fiction. She is poetic, too. Her love of nature, and the way she writes about God and our world really helps me with writing. Pilgrim At Tinker Creek is my favorite.





BLOOMING EVENTUALITY

I recently rediscovered a little book published in 1950 called Mr. Snitzel's Cookies. It was in my grandmother's house when I was a kid and I remember sitting on her lap, being read to. Somehow it survived, though it's rather tattered, and I read it to my daughters the other day. It's a great little story about generosity.

NOTE: I was unable to obtain a picture - sorry!



RHAPSODY B.

Namaste....
Yes....Beauty by Susan Wilson. I enjoyed it throughly and past it on to my daughter who fell in love with it as well. Its about love and how it cuts through all things.









DAVID WEST

I am going to read the Black Rose very soon. A fav from my youth in the YA fantasy area would be any of the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander.







BETHANY WIGGINS

When I was a teenager, my older sister worked in a book store. In the early mornings before school started and she was still asleep, I'd slip into her room and sneak whatever new book she had just finished reading. That is how I discovered Patricia McKillip's "The Changeling Sea." I don't know why, but that book has stuck with me for nearly two decades. I have read it several times since (my sister keeps it in her guest bedroom so I read it every time I visit her) and it still holds the same magic for me.

LITTLE-KNOWN FACT: Bethany Wiggins is... MY SISTER! It's true, and I am the owner of The Changeling Sea. Bethany is a writer just like me, and in fact, we started our journey out together. Stay tuned, in the near future I'll have an exciting announcement to make regarding this blog - - - and Bethany! *wink*

A Trick to Get Your Writing Noticed

I'm about to let you in on a little-known secret. Contests are a great way to get your work noticed! And if you place in a contest, you can mention it in a query to an agent or editor.

How do you find a contest? Google, of course!

The first thing to do is look for contests is in your local area. Most states have a league of writers, and most leagues have one or more contests per year. Annual membership fees are nominal, and more often than not, you don't even need to be a member to enter! (Though you will get a discounted entry fee if you are a member.) Also, Art Councils usually hold annual contests in every state.

The next step is to look for contests on a national level. The resource I use most often is Stephanie Smith's Contest Chart for Writers. Though your chances of winning are slimmer because there are more entrants, it is still worth a shot. Often, national contests are free.

Some trivia. Without doubt, the romance genre has the most contests. Rumor has it that in order for an author to be successful writing romance, he/she must win a contest. Romance readers look for it! The genre with the fewest contests is, most unfortunately, Childrens. (With the exception of YA.)

Thank you Liana for bringing up sci-fi! WRITERS OF THE FUTRE has an acclaimed contest that is free to enter, and winners are published in an anthology. The judges are well known sci-fi authors. Entries can be up to 17,000 words, and the contest runs quarterly. Check out this LINK for contest rules.

A good friend of mine entered a YA contest. One of the judges was an editor for a rather large publishing imprint. Though my friend did not win (she placed in the top 3) the editor offered detailed revision suggestions and asked to see her full manuscript, which she recently submitted.

Another kind of contest is one held on a blog with an agent as a judge, and submissions to that agent as prizes. These contests are super easy to enter, as everything is done online. As I write this, agent Mollie Glick with Foundry Literary+Media (who is, by the way, an absolute delight to correspond with) is accepting elevator pitch entries in the third QueryTracker blog contest, which ends at midnight PST June 16th. Here are her genres:

• adult fiction
• YA fiction
• narrative non-fiction

I would love to know if any of you have entered contests. And if you've won, let's celebrate!

CONGRATULATIONS TO MY READERS WHO HAVE WON VARIOUS CONTESTS!

• KATIE who placed in Inspiration for Writers
• STINA LINDENBLATT who placed in Miss Snark's First Victim
• LORI CALABRESE recently won 1st place in Dragonfly Publishing Inc.'s 2009 Picture Book contest and will have her first picture book published next year
• LORI CALABRESE also came in 2nd place in the Children's Writer nonfiction sports contest!
• LACI SMITH for placing runner-up in the QTblog one-sentence pitch contest with Brendan Deneen
• ANA RIOS for finaling in a poetry contest (and thanks for the great link in the comments!)
  
• BARMAID for winning the National Writers Association scholarship contest

WAY TO GO!

The Call

The other evening I was on the phone for an hour. The conversation started like this:

Hello, this is ***** with the ******* ******* Literary Agency. How are you this evening?

I'm fine, just fine. How are you?

Can't complain. Do you mind if we talk about your book?

Not at all.

I am looking for a few special manuscripts to represent, in both middle grade and Children's. I have strong contacts in the publishing industry, and have a good sense of what the Children's book market is looking for. That's why your book caught my eye. Can you tell me a bit about what inspired you to write it? I'd also like to know who your favorite character is and why.

Before you start sending me congratulatory messages, you need to know:

This was a test. This writer was conducting a test of the Emergency Agency System. This was only a test.

Tis true. It was a practice of "The Call" and I had a lot of fun "playing" the agent. A dear friend of mine was expecting The Real Call the following day, and needless to say, she was a bit jittery. (Okay - panicked!) She had never talked to an agent before. And while she found it strange that my sister Wiggy (also a writer) and I often surprised each other with out-of-the-blue-pretend-agent-calls-just-in-case-a-real-agent-ever-calls-one-of-us, my friend agreed to a practice run.

The next day she aced The Call, talking coherently and even intelligently with a dream agent.

Is it a good idea to call a friend up and pretend to be an agent? Yes! If they know in advance you are going to do so. (It's always a good idea to use your real name when calling.) Just as with a pitch you plan on sharing with an agent at a conference, practice is a good thing!

I'm lucky enough to have fielded a call or two myself, and am always surprised by how down to earth agents are - I think sometimes we tend to forget that agents are people too!

Have a fantastic June.

Suzy