Pay It Forward Author Interviews - Kiki Hamilton

If you've been here already this week, you know the drill. But you new people, listen up! This week is an Official Week of Awesomeness, because I'm participating in Pay It Forward Week! This little baby is the brainchild of Elana Johnson, she of the awesomesauce e-book, and LiLa Roecker, my future partners in the Midwest Writing and Armwrestling Awesomeness Tour. The concept is simple: all this week, 15 of us pre-pubbed author types are interviewing fellow debuts about Issues of Importance. I'm talking things like "Do you ever feel like giving up?" and "Do you like M&Ms?" That's right, baby, these are things that will help YOU in your writing.

Today's interview is with my lovely agent-sister and critique group member, Kiki Hamilton! Kiki's uber awesome book, The Faerie Ring, will be published with Tor Books in Spring 2011. I've already read it, neiner neiner neiner. Um... anyway, you will love Kiki. For one thing, she's always had a great sense of humor about the fact that there's a girl in my manuscript named Kiki, and my MC makes fun of the name. I felt like a total tool when she joined the crit group, let me tell you.

On with the interviewey awesomeness!

1. Tell us about your book. (And somebody fan me with a palm frond too. I AM royalty, after all.)
My YA novel is called THE FAERIE RING and will be published by Tor Books / Macmillan in Spring 2011.

London 1871

Orphaned and living in an abandoned clockmaker's shop adjoining Charing Cross railway station, sixteen year-old Tiki picks the pockets of passing travelers to survive. Her efforts support not only herself, but her 'family' of orphans, including fragile five year-old Clara.

When Tiki steals the Queen's ring, she thinks she's solved their problems. That is until Rieker, a tough from the west side, shows up in Charing Cross and informs her that the ring is really a reservoir that holds an age-old truce between the world of faerie and man. Unless guarded, faeries will search for the ring and destroy it, as well as anyone who has knowledge of the ring's location...

2. Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publication (finding an agent)?
THE FAERIE RING was not my first book. I had written (what is now called) THE GETHEAS STONE and queried Kate Schafer Testerman. While she read that, I wrote THE FAERIE RING. Kate came back and asked for revisions, which I was happy to do. I completely re-wrote TGS and mentioned to Kate I had a second book as well. She said send it along and she signed me for both books. We ended up going out on submission with THE FAERIE RING first and after several close calls I am thrilled to say we sold it to Susan Chang of Tor Books last August. (We will be going out with TGS this spring.)

3. Was there ever a time you felt like giving up? Why didn't you?
Sure, there were times when getting published seemed an unreachable dream. I very clearly remember receiving a letter from a gal I had paid to critique one of my first versions of THE GETHEAS STONE. It was three years ago almost to this day. I read that letter and realized I didn’t have a clue how to write! Seriously. So I took some online writing classes and really dug into the craft and so far, things are working out okay, but still lots to learn!

Why didn’t I give up? Because I love to write. Because there are stories in my head I want to tell. Because when I write, it’s almost like reading… I meet characters I love, with stories that intrigue me and I’m always wondering…what’s going to happen next?

*****

Thanks, dahlink, for always humoring me. You = awesome.

Visit Kiki on the web at:
http://www.kikihamilton.com
http://www.kikihamilton.blogspot.com

And you should totally check out the other interviewers this week. MORE questions! MORE awesomeness! MORE royal 'we'! How can you resist? Well, you can't.

Elana Johnson
LiLa Roecker
Beth Revis
Leah Clifford
Victoria Schwab
Kirsten Hubbard
Kim Harrington
Suzette Saxton/Bethany Wiggins
Amy HolderTiffany Schmidt
Susan Adrian
Dawn Metcalf
Kathy McCullough
Gretchen McNeil