Posted By Vonna on January 25, 2010

This past Friday night, I had an opportunity to hear Becca Fitzpatrick talk about her NYT Bestseller, HUSH HUSH. A standing-room-only crowd filled Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston to get a chance to hear Becca and have her sign their books.

I saw a few writers from Houston’s SCBWI chapter, and Becca recognized some of her Twitter and Facebook fans in the audience. She brought candy to bribe questions from the crowd, but this group didn’t need prompting. Her young fans were starry-eyed and eager to chat. Many of them wanted to know the backstory of  the secretive Patch, but Becca wasn’t telling. She hinted that they won’t find out more about this fallen angel in book 2, Crescendo, but there might be a book 3 and perhaps she’ll reveal more of his past then.

Becca let us all in on some of the trials and tribulations of bringing Hush, Hush into being. She said it took five years to write. At first she just knew that Patch had a big secret, but she didn’t know what his secret would be. At that time, she says she was a “pantser”, someone who writes without a plan. The book wasn’t going any where, so she shelved it.

Sometime later, she went to a writers’ workshop where she was introduced to outlining. With these new ideas, Becca went to work constructing her new plan for the novel. She brought along her stack of color-coded index cards (shown in the images to the left) to show us how much outlining she ultimately did for Hush Hush.

Another thing she shared with us that gave heart to the aspiring writers in the audience was the number of rejections she got from agents and publishers; almost 100! Most of the rejections were nondescript, but a few were harsh, such as “no one would want to read about a character as unlikable as Vee.” This caused several audience members to declare their love for Vee. Some one asked if she had ever met any of the agents who rejected her. Becca said she had never met any of them, but after the sale of her book was announced in Publishers Marketplace, a few emailed her asking, “Hey are you that girl who queried me…”

In addition to debuting at #10 on the NYT Bestsellers list, Hush Hush has garnered other awards and recognition, such as:

Included in the 2009 Association of Booksellers for Children Best Books for Children Catalog

Winter 2009 Kids’ Indie Next List Top Ten pick

CBC Favourite Children’s Books Top Ten Pick

Becca also brought her computer with her to show us some of the cover photo shots that did not get used. Fans of the cover will be happy to know about these awards from the Urban Fantasy Cover Art Awards, hosted by All Things Urban Fantasy:

Best YA Cover

Best Male Only Cover

Most Unique Cover

Best Debut Cover

I’m fortunate to live near an indie book store which hosts so many great Young Adult and Middle Grade authors. Next month I’m looking forward to their visit from one of my son’s favorite authors, Heather Brewer, who will be here promoting the latest adventure from the Chronicles of Vladimir Tod.

Congratulations to Becca Fitzpatrick on her success, and best wishes for a long and exciting career!

Categories: Authors, Reading, Writing
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