When working on Agnes everything felt like a whirlwind, which also is a good descriptor of the year that just flew by. So, HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY TO AGNES! So, let’s jump right into how the fourth wall breaking, sassy, Agnes came to be.
Anyone who knows me, knows I have a WIP list that would rival the length of the NYT best sellers list. The opportunity knocked one spring morning when my publisher, Zara, had been looking for a middle grade that was ready to go, and I happened to have an idea bubblin’, and was looking for a reason to really dive into it. So I proposed what later became FROM THE DIARY OF AGNES JAEGER AND THE SECRETS OF SILVERLEAF ACADEMY.
The reason Zara had been on the search for a middle grade was because fae was launching Figment, the middle grade imprint under Inimitable. Agnes would be the first. So, with this in mind my ass got to work. Afterall, we only had five months. Yes you read that right Dear Reader, we had five months to completely draft, revise, and format this book.
The story was inspired by a thread that was originally posted on Tumblr, that then got cross posted to Pinterest, where I saw it. The thread was about a dragon who hoarded librarians and I thought the idea was really cute. So, I put my own spin on this and that’s how we got a dark academia with a lead that was an Outsider to high society life behind the walls of Silver Leaf Academy. As if writing this book, polishing the story, I wanted to really amp up the reader experience. While the book itself was already written in a diary format, where the main character often stops to talk to the reader, I thought it was missing something still. I was correct as I reminisced back onto my girlhood. I recalled drawing in my journals, and so I brought the idea to Zara that Agnes would not only be writing her experiences down, but she’d also be drawing what she saw. I knew I made the right choice for my publishing path, because Zara’s response was “if you draw it, I’ll format it.” So while the five months were filled with pressure, and something Zara and I said we would definitely never do again. I am also very grateful for the opportunity and like to believe I met the moment as best I could
As someone who grew up in the backwoods of Ohio’s rural river valley, it felt healing to write about a stubborn girl, with Appalachian grit, who also liked girls even if she didn’t quite know it herself. Behind the scenes Agnes is becoming much more than I ever believed her story was going to be(originally her book was meant to be a stand alone), and while the second book has been officially announced, I will have more exciting news in the future. To those who have read Agnes’s story, thank you so much, to those who leave a review a BIG BIG thank you, and to those who have yet to meet the spitfire, I hope you like art on the page, and fourth wall breaks cause Agnes has a lot to say.
Veronica King 