Guest Post: Agent Adria Goetz and Author G.Z. Schmidt and No Ordinary Thing and Query Critique Giveaway

 Happy Monday Everyone! Today I'm excited to have debut author G.Z. Schmidt and her agent Adria Goetz here to share about G.Z.'s MG time travel No Ordinary Thing. It sounds like a fun time travel story, and I'm looking forward to reading it.

Here's a blurb from Goodreads:

Twelve-year-old Adam is whisked away from his imperfect but quiet life with the arrival of a stranger and a magical promise in this time travel mystery.

Time traveling is no ordinary thing, but that’s what awaits 12-year-old Adam when he finds a snow globe that allows him to journey into the past. The snow globe whisks Adam from his home and introduces him to a succession of unusual characters along the way. Strangely, each individual seems to have a past that is interwoven with Adam’s own.

100 years ago in the streets of New York City, the famous magician and candlemaker extraordinaire Elbert the Excellent hopes to dazzle the world with his magic, but instead stumbles upon a mysterious entity known as “the time touch.”

As the two storylines unravel, they reveal a single thread that ties Adam and Elbert’s pasts together. At the center of their histories lies an abandoned candle factory, a factory that claimed multiple lives in a tragic fire years ago… one that Adam might be able to prevent.

Follower News

Before I get to my guest post, I have some follower news to share.

A. Kidd has released a MG fantasy The Healing Star. Here's a blurb and few links: 

Stars with healing powers are falling from the sky. Feisty fourth-grader Julia’s best friend in the entire universe is her grandmother, but then Grammu catches the disappearing disease and little by little, she’s turning invisible. If Julia can catch a falling star, then her wish to save Grammu will come true. All Julia needs to do now is find the legendary ladder to the stars…

To purchase: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1733899200

For signed copies, email A.Kiddwrites@gmail.com

Author page: https://www.facebook.com/A.Kiddwrites/

Lisa Richman has a MG contemporary Tavi Tails The Diary of a Dog. Here is a blurb and a few links:

Tavi Tails - The Diary of a Dog explores the world through the eyes of a dog. Tavi’s mom, a teacher, comes home from school, distraught over a student’s suicide. Tavi knew then that his job was to share everything he learned, hoping that no matter how sad they might be, humans will pick to stay. He helps people laugh and think, and offers a unique perspective on family, loyalty, and love.

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Tavi-Tails-Through-Master-Trainer/dp/057866822X/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=tavi+tails&qid=1587485535&sr=8-4

G.Z. Schmidt and Adria Goetz Guest Post

Now here's G.Z. and Adria!

Agent: Adria Goetz Answers

1. What draws you to a manuscript in the query inbox? For me, I need to fall in love with the
   
   concept first, in order to make it to the pages. The concept needs to feel exciting and distinctive to me. When I read your query, for example, I saw "time traveling snow globe", and a "dual timeline", and I was instantly hooked. And then I opened up the pages and was drawn in by the mysterious tone and atmosphere of your writing, and the fluid sentence-level writing that is so gripping as a reader. So in order for me to make it to the pages, I really need to see a strong concept that feels exciting and irresistible.  
   
2. What's your turnaround time for submissions? I try to respond to all initial queries within two weeks. If I request a full manuscipt or additional submission materials, it will take me longer, but I typically give the writer a timeframe so they can anticipate when they'll receive a response from me, and when they can follow up if they haven't heard back. 
3. Is there anything (story, genre, trope) you're particularly hungry for these days? I'm particularly looking to build up my adult fiction list right now, in the following categories: thrillers, romantic comedies, and women's fiction. On the kid lit side of things, I'm hungry for more submissions from picture book author/illustrators, and graphic novelists. 
   
4. I noticed you recently ventured into the world of adult books. What are the key differences you look for in adult fiction vs children's fiction? Yes! I'm excited. I think the main difference is that I'm much more picky about the adult books I work on. With kid lit, I'm open to a lot of different types of genres and formats, but with adult fiction, I'm very narrowly looking to represent thrillers, romantic comedies, and book club-type women's fiction. 
5. Lastly, if you were in the book No Ordinary Thing, which piece of the time touch would you have: the snow globe, the pendulum, or the music box? Am I boring if I say the snow globe? Who *wouldn't* want a time-traveling snow globe? Have you noticed that so many time travel movies and shows go back to the same historical events? It seems that every time travel show explores the JFK assasination, for example. I think that's part of the reason that No Ordinary Thing stuck out to me so much—because it felt so unique.  I  love history, and I have an active imagination, so I love imagining where and when I would go if I could time travel. Just for fun, I keep a list of very specific times and places I would want to travel back in time to if I could, and what I would want to do. For example: I live in the Pacific Northwest, and I'd love to go back to the 1800s and see how densely covered in trees it was. I'd also want to see the tall ships coming into our local port, and I'd want to ride on a train! I live in an old Victorian farmhouse that was built in 1890—I'd love to see the land it sits on before it was built, and maybe befriend the people who built the house.

Author: G.Z. Schmidt Answers

1. Can you tell us more about the inspiration behind NO ORDINARY THING?

No Ordinary Thing was inspired partly from Louis Sachar's book Holes, which I loved as a kid. I enjoy books with multiple viewpoints, mixed timelines, flashbacks, and other detailed things that you can only really capture in text, as opposed to other media like TV shows and movies. As a result, the book has two main characters, set 100 years apart, and you get to see how their stories unravel and intertwine together.

2. Do you have a favorite time travel book, movie, or show?

I'd say Umbrella Academy is my currently favorite time travel show. It's different from your standard time travel in the sense there are multiple parallel universes, and going back in time CAN change things, as opposed to the Grandfather Paradox. I think TV/film captures the essence of time travel particularly well, because you see visually all the little changes: fonts, hairstyles, dresses. 

3. If you could travel back in time, where and when would you go?

This is a hard question. Probably the 1920s and meet F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Gertrude Stein in Paris, where I have them critique my latest manuscript. (Yes, just like Midnight in Paris!)

4. What has been your favorite part of the publication process so far?

My favorite is the cover reveal. Middle grade covers can be especially whimsical and detailed, and I love seeing the book come to life through the art.  

Thanks for all your advice G.Z. and Adria! You can find G.Z. at:

Author Website: https://gzwrites.com

Buy Links for NO ORDINARY THING: Amazon, IndieBound, Barnes & Noble

Giveaway Details

G.Z. has generously offered a hardback of No Ordinary Thing and Adra has offered a query critique for

a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by October 31st. If you do not want to be included in the critique giveaway, please let me know in the comments. If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog and/or follow me on Twitter, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. The book giveaway is U.S. only and the critique query is international.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is hosted by Greg Pattridge. You can find the participating blogs on his blog.

Upcoming Interviews and Giveaways

Wednesday, October 21st I have an agent spotlight interview with Melanie Castillo and a query critique giveaway

Monday, October 26th I have an interview with debut author Lily LaMotte and a giveaway of her MG graphic novel Measuring Up

Wednesday, November 3rd I have an interview with debut author Chole Gong and a giveaway of her YA fantasy These Violent Delights and my IWSG post

Monday, November 9th I have an interview with debut author Sheila Averbuch and a giveaway of her MG contemporary Friend Me

Tuesday, November 10th I'm participating in the Super Stocking Giveaway Hop

Hope to see you on Wednesday!