Hilary Wagner is the author of NIGHTSHADE CITY (Oct. 2010, Holiday House) & KINGS OF TRILLIUM, Book II of the Nightshade Chronicles (Oct. 2011, Holiday House). She writes middle grade and YA fantasy and lives in the Chicagoland area. Her list of presentations are below, but she's always up for something new!
                                  
For Kids:
Presentation 1: Writing about Animals! Kids will learn how to make an animal come to life on paper. Presentation will include group writing exercise (each breakout group is assigned an animal to write about) and a fun slide show! This presentation is geared to help children with characterization.

Presentation 2: Create Your Own World! Hilary will show kids how to create their own unique world where they get to make the rules! Is your perfect world under the ground like the world of Hilary Wagner's rats? Is it up in the sky, under water--on the moon? This will include a group writing exercise (each breakout group is assigned a unique location) and slideshow.

For Writing Conferences:
Presentation 1: Query letter breakdown, get that agent to ask for more! Figure out how to make your query letter successful and special.  Writers are encouraged to bring their query letters for critique. Learn how to deal with rejection and use it to your advantage.

Presentation 2: If Hilary can do it, you can too! Hear her road to publishing and realize you can do it! Hilary entered the publishing world knowing nothing. She wrote what she loved and it paid off! Her road to landing an agent was a wild one, but when all was said and done her dream came true! She'll discuss the Agent/Writer relationship, the process of working with a professional editor and doing your part to make your debut successful.

Presentation 3: Make Your Characters Jump off the Page! You can have a genius plotline, but if your characters don't stand out, neither will your story.  Hilary will discuss character building and how to create multi-layered characters. Writing exercise--how to make an intriguing character, simply by answering some simple questions.

Contact Information:

Email: h.wagner@nightshadecity.com
Websites:
http://www.nightshadecity.com
http://www.hilarywagner.blogspot.com