What do you hope your readers – especially the young ones – take away from HIDE AND SEEKER? I’m excited for everyone to read Hide and Seeker and I hope it more than satisfies the need for all things creepy and terrifying. He enjoys those heart-stopping moments, the ups and downs and eventually seeing the monster defeated. I asked one of my young nephews and he explained that it’s all about the adrenaline rush scary stories give you. What do you think it is about kids and scary stories? Why are so many of them attracted to being terrified in their reading? So many young readers gravitate toward scary stories, and even crave them. I’m still surprised these ideas flowed out of me, but I’m also excited I can embrace all things scary in this way. Once I started revising, the creepier the story became. In my mind, it was an action-adventure, but as more people read it, they explained it was a Horror novel. I do enjoy spooky novels, but I didn’t set out to write one.
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I’m the person who has to watch a scary movie during the day so I have time to recover before I go to sleep. It’s funny because my friends will tell you I’m afraid of my own shadow. Have you always been a fan of scary stories? Did you set out to write one? They are taken to another world, called Nowhere, where they not only have to face their greatest fears, but also the Seeker, an evil monster who is determined to keep them imprisoned forever. A mark appears on the wrist of every person who played the game and one by one they begin to vanish. After playing a game of Hide and Seek, strange things begin to occur. Justin and his friends attend the welcome home party for a kid who mysteriously disappeared a year earlier and recently returned home. I’m tearing up just thinking about it now. There were lots of tears, screams and chocolate involved on my part. We went through a few rounds of revisions and in November of 2018 Scholastic officially acquired my novel. In March of 2018, we submitted the manuscript to Matt Ringler at Scholastic. After a R&R, I signed with Emily and she’s the best! We work really well together. Will also referred me to agent Emily Keyes from Fuse Literary. During the contest, I received several requests from agents to read Hide & Seeker. In March of 2017, I entered a #DVpit contest giveaway and won a query and first pages critique from author Will Taylor He was amazing and I can’t thank him enough for his support and feedback. There were many rejections, but also some positive feedback from agents. Once I was ready, I started submitting my manuscript. I met some very talented writers who encouraged and supported me. I joined SCBWI in 2008 and began to attend the workshops and conferences. I decided to put aside all my other ideas and only focus on this story. I think it’s because it’s based off one of my favorite childhood memories-playing Hide and Seek with my sisters, cousins and the kids in my neighborhood. I worked on several other projects, but always seemed to come back to this story. It’s been a very, very long journey, with a lot of starting, stopping and some moments of doubt. Can you tell us about your journey to the printed page? When I’m not writing, I’m adding to my growing toy collection, reading, exercising, hanging out with friends and family or searching for the best chocolate cupcake. I majored in English Literature/Creative Writing at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia and I currently work in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, California. I spent most of my childhood in bookstores and libraries, imagining the day when I could share my stories with the world, so Hide and Seeker is a dream come true. I wrote stories for my classmates and family members, and loved when I was able to make them laugh or surprise them in some way. Sure! I was born in Chattanooga, TN, and growing up in the South greatly influenced my writing and love of food! I could live off sweet tea, buttermilk cornbread and peach cobbler. Before we get to the book and the reveal, would you care to share a bit about yourself? Hi there, Daka! Thank you so much for stopping by the MG Book Village to chat about HIDE AND SEEKER and reveal the book’s cover.
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