Forever Waiting Writers Series: Jill Hathaway

Today we have the pleasure of spending time with Jill Hathaway, author of SLIDE, which debuts March 27th from Balzer & Bray for Harper Collins!

Here's a little bit about SLIDE:

Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth—her sister's friend Sophie didn't kill herself. She was murdered.

Vee knows this because she was there. Everyone believes Vee is narcoleptic, but she doesn't actually fall asleep during these episodes: When she passes out, she slides into somebody else's mind and experiences the world through that person's eyes. She's slid into her sister as she cheated on a math test, into a teacher sneaking a drink before class. She learned the worst about a supposed "friend" when she slid into her during a school dance. But nothing could have prepared Vee for what happens one October night when she slides into the mind of someone holding a bloody knife, standing over Sophie's slashed body.

 
So I went back and read some of your earlier blog posts. It seems you've been on the ship Forever Waiting since 2008.  You set writing goals, participated in contests, worked on different manuscripts...
Can you tell us what key things you did that helped you get your agent, Sarah Davies, and an eventual book deal?

I think the main thing is that I never gave up. If a manuscript wasn't working, I started something new. If a manuscript was turned down by a million agents, I figured it was time to start something new. But never was I like, "Oh noes, I didn't write the perfect book/get an agent/sell my book on the first try! I'm finished forever!" I took breaks, for sure, but I always came back.

SLIDE comes out next week. Can you tell us what your journey was like from the day you signed with your agent to your book debut? 

It involved a lot of rewriting again and again and again. I'm not someone who gets it right on the first try. I have to experiment and fail a little (or a lot) to figure out the story. 

I know you love burritos and World of Warcraft, any other indulgences you care to share with us? 

Hmmm... I'm a big fan of Veruca Salt and Liz Phair. Also, I'm obsessed with Vampire Diaries and Once Upon a Time at the moment. And I like anything with chocolate and peanut butter in it. 


In a blog post you mentioned how crucial pre-sale orders and first week sales are for a debut book. Would you care to expand on this a bit?

I think pre-orders and first week sales just show the publisher that the public is excited about a title. If no one orders it, they might just think, "Oh, well, we don't want any more books from THAT author." Ha, just kidding. But not really. ;) Also, keep in mind, this is my first time out and I might be just a weeeee bit paranoid.

If you could have any superhuman ability, what would it be?

Um, my superhuman ability would be to burn calories like crazy while being lazy on the couch.  

Thank you for spending time with us today Jill! If you are interested in pre-ordering SLIDE, you can purchase it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or at any local bookstore.