Today I’d like to welcome author Katie Hines, who ahs dropped by to talk about her new YA book, Guardian, soon to be released by 4RV Publishing. Welcome Katie.

1. Tell us a little about Guardian.
Guardian is a great story about a boy (Drew) who has promised him dying mom that he’ll find the journal, search for a lost treasure, and in the process, discover his destiny. The Oak Island treasure story, a true-to-life treasure story, set in Nova Scotia Canada, provides the backdrop of this boy’s search. He and two friends travel from Maine to his grandfather’s house in Nova Scotia to fulfill that promise. Along the way, he meets the mysterious Brotherhood of the Holy Chalice, is kidnapped and barely escapes with his life. Finally, after a tension filled night, Drew and his companions come to Oak Island, find the treasure and uncover a destiny worth living for.

2. There have been many books written about the Holy Grail. Was it hard to come up with a new angle?
It was not hard to come up with a new angle because I didn’t set out to write a Grail story–I planned on writing about a boy, his promise to his mom, and an adventure to Oak Island. I began with the Oak Island treasure and the Grail sorta wrote its way into the story.

3. How does your book differ from other Grail stories?
One prime difference is that it is an urban fantasy, which means that the story is set in today’s time, with contemporary characters, and not the Middle Ages, or some other point in history. There is the fantasy element in it, but more from the angle of the magic surrounding the Grail rather than magic being inherent within the characters, except, of course, the Guardian.

I have read a couple of Grail stories that deal specifically with Oak Island, and the idea of the strange treasure there being the lost treasure of the Knights Templar, and that was very interesting, but again, it was taken from a historical perspective, rather than contemporary.

4. Tell us about the path to publication for Guardian –the process from writing to finding a publisher to editing and so on. What was the hardest part of the process?
I worked on Guardian for three years. During that time, I took a break from the story for about six months a couple three times. I got heartily sick of it! Finally, after editing and editing and more editing, I realized that I could change the story for eternity, and that I finally needed to put a period and end it. I had been keeping track of publishing houses that published Grail stories, but they were usually the big ones that you have to have an agent to get into.
However, I also had a file of nothing but smaller publishing houses that published children’s works. I originally chose three publishing houses. I got a polite rejection from the first, but the second put me in touch with 4RV Publishing, who accepted my work, and I signed a contract with them October, 2008.
Since that time, I have received requested edits from the publisher, and done those. Now the book is in the layout part of the publishing process, and I believe it is to come out sometime in late June or July.
Definitely the hardest part of the process was deciding to go ahead and submit it.

5. What are you doing to promote the book before its release – and what will you do after it is released? What promotion is your publisher doing?
The lion’s share of the promoting and marketing are done by the authors these days, big publishing houses or small. My publisher is great – she attends book festivals, as do other 4RV published authors, and our work is promoted that way.
Also, I have created a blog, have a media kit, am working on a web site, and have joined a ton of social networking sites. I’ve had to scale back on the social networking some because it was too time consuming.
I also have a book trailer that a friend created, and I have been interviewed on some blogs. I plan to do more of that, hopefully closer to the release date of the book. I am also getting some shirts silkscreened with the book cover, and will be getting book marks, post cards, etc.
In August, I will be joining another 4RV author at the South Carolina Welcome Center. We can’t sell our books, but we can promote the heck out of them!

6. What is your next project? Are you working on another book?
I have several projects going, but haven’t “lit” on one particularly, although I’m leaning in the direction of a young adult story called, “My Name is Bib.” I used a chapter of that to get a scholarship to the Highlights Foundation conference at Chautauqua, NY.

The book, once released, can be ordered directly from http://www.4rvpublishingllc.com/ and at some point, Amazon. One can also request it from their local bookstore, or ask their local libraries to order it. I don’t have a scheduled release date at this time. Interested parties can also contact me personally at katiebug1957@gmail.com, and I will respond to all inquiries.
Thanks, Sally, for having me today.