The Story is About   +  history

Anastasia Hopcus

Books:

• Shadow Hills

Once there, Phe quickly realizes that something is deeply amiss in her new town. Not only does Shadow Hills' history boast an unexplained epidemic that decimated hundreds of its citizens in the 1700s, but its modern townies also seem eerily psychic, with the bizarre ability to bend metal. Even Zach -- the gorgeous stranger Phe meets and immediately begins to lust after -- seems as if he is hiding something serious. Phe is determined to get to the bottom of it. The longer she stays there, the more she suspects that her sister's untimely death and her own destiny are intricately linked to those who reside in Shadow Hills.

Atmospheric paranormal mystery.

What was your road to publication like?

I wrote Shadow Hills in a little under three months and began submitting it to agents after doing a small, mainly stylistic revision. However, I soon realized from the responses I was getting, that I needed to do a major rewrite. That took another two months or so. But after I was done with that, I found my amazing agent, Meredith Kaffel, pretty quickly.

When Meredith told me she was sending my book to Egmont USA, I was very excited. Egmont had just started establishing their presence at that time, and I was already loving their focus on social networking and online promotion. Once I saw the gorgeous covers they’d done for their early books, it sealed it for me. So I was thrilled to learn that Egmont USA was interested in Shadow Hills---but there was still an agonizing wait during the offer and negotiations process.

But once Egmont bought the book, everything went fast! They wanted to bring it out in the summer of 2010, so I went into revisions immediately. It seemed like there was something new every few weeks, and the year just sped by. It's strange to think my book’s now been in stores for almost two months.

What had been the greatest moment as a debut author?

I think it would have to be my recent reading and autographing with Phoebe Kitanidis (author of Whisper) at BookPeople in Austin. Several readers drove from Houston and even Ft. Worth to come to it. I was thrilled---and amazed---that they would drive that far just for our event. Though it didn’t really end up being just for that, because we hung out for three hours afterward in the coffee shop. It was a really awesome experience.

When you were writing Shadow Hills did you write for an intended audience?

I wrote it for me and readers like me who wanted a strong female protagonist. I really love developing characters, and I wanted my characters to be interested in things that I was interested in as a teen, like music and clothes and hanging out with their friends. But I also wanted to have a story that would hold the reader's interest, so I threw in some mystery and excitement, as well. Finally, I love paranormal stories, so that was definitely a component I wanted to incorporate. Luckily, teens seem to like paranormal too. ;)

What were you like as a teen, did it have any influence over your characters in Shadow Hills?

I wasn't someone who liked to conform, and I didn't like the cliques that formed in school. My main character, Phe, identifies herself as an 'indie' type of person, but she doesn't let that decide what kind of friends she's going to have. Phe is interested in many things, so she gets along with a wide range of people. In that way we’re definitely alike; I often had friends who were pretty different---and a few that couldn’t stand each other.

Like Phe, the things I loved were fairly diverse---music, photography, film, reading, and going to live shows at Emo's. I never really liked school, though. I had this anti-authority issue that sometimes got me into trouble. In fact, I think I probably got into more trouble as a teen than Phe does---which is funny because the things that Phe does are way more impulsive and crazy than anything I ever did. My main problem was that I always got caught. Like when I skipped first period because I started writing a story while sitting in my truck and I ‘forgot’ to go to class. Or like the time I got a ticket for trespassing when swimming with my friends at a pool in an apartment complex we didn’t live in. (It was a really cool pool, though, with a fake waterfall.) Or like the night I stayed at a friend’s house where I wasn’t supposed to because we were left unsupervised for long periods of time there. I was really close to my mom (as I still am) and I wasn’t a very good liar, so she got suspicious and ordered caller ID. She busted me when I called to check in later that night. While I did some other, crazier stuff, I’m not going to mention it here. I don’t want to be blamed for giving anyone ideas. ;)

I remember all too well what it’s like to be a teen, and I think that’s the main way my experiences---good and bad---affect my characters. I made stupid decisions, I went through terrible break ups, and I had friendships that fell apart. When I was in school I had a huge fight with a friend and everyone in our group took her side. That feeling of my friends turning against me was awful---eating in the library because I couldn’t stand to be in the lunch room with them sitting across from me, whispering. I think that's why stories with great friendships are so important to me. It’s a group you can always count on. I hope I’ve created that kind of group in Shadow Hills.

If you could travel back in time for one year, where would you go and what three things would you take with you?

I would go to Lake Geneva in the summer of 1816 to visit Mary Shelley. She and Percy Shelley and Lord Byron were all there then, and they decided to each write a scary story. I don't know what the two famous poets wrote, but Mary wrote Frankenstein.

I would take along a newly published book of Frankenstein to show Mary that it was still enormously popular. I'd take a digital camera to take pictures to prove I was there. And I'd have to have my boyfriend Brent with me because what fun would it be without him?

What are you working on now, can you tell us anything about it?

I'm interested in continuing the story of Shadow Hills, but right now I'm taking a break and working on an idea for a YA paranormal which is actually set not long after the period I mentioned above. It takes place in the 1830's in London.

ANNNNND! I also have a poster to give away to one lucky winner!

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