Kirkus!

So...Kirkus Reviews, the highly respected (and often difficult to please) trade journal, gave I'LL BE SEEING YOU a starred review! Suzy and I are thrilled! Here's what they wrote:

Two World War II soldiers’ wives begin a pen-pal correspondence and help each other through the emotional upheaval of war.

Rita is a middle-aged professor’s wife in Iowa, and Glory is a young mother in Massachusetts. Through a pen-pal program, the two become fast friends in 1943 and share their fears, temptations, trials and triumphs as they move through the war years. Rita’s husband and son are both in uniform, her husband in Europe and her son on a ship in the South Pacific. Glory’s husband is overseas, too, but her life is complicated by the shadow of a past romance with her husband’s best friend, who is medically unable to serve in the war. Glory has two children under 5, and Rita’s son is apparently in love with the least acceptable girl in town; Rita is a German-American married to a second-generation Italian, while Glory hails from New England money. The two establish a solid friendship that grows ever more devoted, and through their letters and the occasional correspondence to and from secondary characters, we get a powerful, fascinating look at the war years and at the interesting choices and tragic consequences of a nation enduring an overseas war. 

Engaging, charming and moving, a beautifully rendered exploration of WWII on the homefront and the type of friendship that helps us survive all manner of battles.

YAY!!! I'LL BE SEEING YOU can be pre-ordered at all the usual suspects, Amazon, B&N, etc., or order through your neighborhood indie!

Newsy Stuff!

THE WITCH COLLECTOR comes out April 2, which is a little over ONE WEEK away. I can't wait!

In anticipation of the release, Hypable did a fun interview with me. Read it here: http://www.hypable.com/2013/03/25/hypable-exclusive-author-interview-loretta-nyhan/

Also coming soon:  thewitchcollector.com !!!!  Visit for info about the book, spells, and other fun stuff!

Find me at epicreads.com ! I'm LorettaNyhan.

Thanks, all!

Season of the Witch

Hey, everyone!

It's October, the month of my favorite holiday, Halloween! I love all that is witchy--spells, talismans, tarot cards, so it thrills me to announce the sale of my latest book, to HarperTeen. From PM:

Loretta Nyhan's THE WITCH COLLECTOR, about an unmarked witch on the run from a supposed serial killer as she desperately searches for her missing parents, to Sarah Barley at Harper Teen, by Joanna Volpe at New Leaf Literary & Media (world English).



Part 1 is up on Amazon for pre-order for Kindle-owning folks, for the "such a deal" price of $1.99!

I'd like to give big thanks to Joanna Volpe of New Leaf Literary and Media, to my gracious editor Sarah Barley, and to my critique partner extraordinaire, Erica O'Rourke. Thanks, ladies!!!

Okay, in honor of the sale, I'm linking to my favorite rocker-witch. Enjoy!

Our First Interview!

Hey, everyone! Suzy and I were interviewed by Publishers Weekly about how our growing friendship resulted in our first novel, I'LL BE SEEING YOU. Check it out here.

Amo l'Italia!!!!

 

Suzy and I are happy to announce...

 

Italian rights to Suzanne Hayes and Loretta Nyhan's I'LL BE SEEING YOU, to Garzanti, by Luigi Bernabo Associates, in association with Kathleen Ortiz at New Leaf Literary & Media, on behalf of Anne Bohner at Pen and Ink Literary and Joanna Volpe at New Leaf Literary & Media.

 

AND...my agent, Joanna Volpe, recently announced the opening of her new literary agency, New Leaf Literary & Media. Congrats, Jo! So much excitement!

Printers Row Lit Fest 2012

(We're going to pretend that it hasn't been a whole eight months since I posted, okay? I've been writing like crazy, and I hope someday soon you'll think it was time well spent...thanks for sticking with me.)

Yesterday I attended Chicago's Printers Row Literary Festival. Half outdoor flea market/half literary conference, the festival draws some pretty big name writers AND a ton of people who simply love to read. It's eccentric and informative and completely fabulous. I was lucky enough to attend a few panel discussions, and I'd like to share my impressions here. I love listening to writers talk about writing, but to be honest I was also hoping to learn something about how to be effective on a panel. In June `13 Suzy and I will be promoting our book, and I wanted to see how it's done. The ladies I saw yesterday really knew what they were doing--the audiences were seriously engaged.

Women's Fiction:

Panel 1: Starting Fresh with Stacey Ballis, Sarah Pekkanen, Lauren Fox, and Ann Bauer.

Stacey writes "Foodie Lit" which sounds completely awesome. She was funny and practical and could be heard in the back of the room. This is important. Sarah Pekkanen looks like a super model and has a smooth, rich TV voice, kind of like Jane Pauley when she was young. She talked about overarching themes, balancing motherhood and writing, and working well with editors. Her topics were so relatable and presented with humor and grace. I think everyone was charmed.

Lauren Fox was the only author who read from her book. She did this, in part, because she is naturally shy. I think she actually said many writers are "socially inept." (Um...yeah. I think a lot of us are better with the written word.) The excerpt she chose was funny and briskly paced. She read slowly enough so we understood but not so slow as to make us feel uncomfortable. Even though I got the feeling public speaking isn't on her list of favorite things to do, Lauren's quick wit and self-deprecating manner made her nervousness endearing. 

Ann Bauer told the story of how she came up with the idea for her book, The Forever Marriage. It felt prepared, but not scripted. We were riveted. I think every member of that audience thought, if she writes that story as well as she tells it, I am buying that book TODAY.

What I took away from this panel: Work to your strengths. If you know you aren't a good off-the-cuff speaker, let the writing speak. Pick topics your audience can relate to. Every audience loves a story, well-told.

Young Adult Fiction

Panel 2: Dark Days with Veronica Roth, Elizabeth Norris, Bethany Griffin, and Aprilynne Pike.

The room was packed with fans of these ladies--an interesting mix of teens and adults. The moderator asked lots of questions about the process of writing and pumped the writers for "behind the scenes" stories. These writers had four very different personalities, but I could clearly see one commonality--they all had the utmost respect for their readers. Aprilynne discussed fighting to include an epilogue at the end of her Wings series, because she felt readers needed closure. Veronica Roth discussed plotting a trilogy, and Liz Norris talked about the all-important first line (She writes it last, because if it wasn't perfect, she'd have never been able to write on.).

Bethany Griffin has the amazing ability to pause and think after being asked a question. This is not part of my skill set. If there is any amount of silence in a conversation, I fill it. With anything. Bethany took a minute to think about her answers, and when she spoke, her comments were thoughtful and offered a good deal of insight.

What I took away from this panel: Be genuine and honest without being gossipy. It's okay to discuss the writing process--no need to shroud it in mystery. And...uh...don't be a nervous talker. A few seconds of radio silence is okay.

So...check out these writers' books! Happy summer reading season!

Big News

From today's Publishers Marketplace:

Suzanne Hayes and Loretta Nyhan's I'LL BE SEEING YOU, a story of unexpected friendship told through letters shared between two American women on the home front during World War II, to Erika Imranyi at Mira, in a two-book deal, by Anne Bohner at Pen & Ink Literary and Joanna Volpe at Nancy Coffey Literary & Media Representation.

So...how did this happen?

Magic? Happenstance? Accidentally?

I fell in love with Suzy's words on her lovely blog. She read mine, too. We connected. We emailed. We discovered.

Both of us had projects on sub and waiting is hard and lonely. We became friends.

One day Suzy said, in her charming and enthusiastic way, "Let's write a book together while we wait." I said, in my best Spicoli voice, "Uh...okay."

We're both history geeks, the World War II era in particular. When Suzy suggested we write letters to each other as women waiting for their men to come home from the war, I was all over it.

When I got that first letter, my character came to me, fully formed, and started talking. It sounds crazy, but Rita became real, as did Suzy's character, Glory. I found myself refreshing my inbox, hoping a new letter would pop up. I had no idea when this would happen---sometimes days would go by.

When a letter did come, I'd take one look at the Dear Rita subject line and my heart would shake. The computer couldn't bring it up fast enough. My fingers couldn't type a reply fast enough.

We ached for these characters, laughed with them, cried for them. And when the last letter was written, we cried for ourselves. Because it was over.

But then, it wasn't. Our agents, Joanna Volpe and Anne Bohner, loved the book. Later, a wonderful editor, Erika Imranyi at MIRA, loved it as well.

We couldn't be happier. And we couldn't be luckier. How can we adequately thank the people who are making our dreams possible?

And, Suzy, how can I thank you enough? My crazy East Coast twin? Someday we will meet face to face, and you'll take one look at me and know what this has all meant. Love you.

L