Margaret Willey

Angie Johnson spent time with me both in and out of the JDC, talking about what it's like to teach art to kids who are in juvenile detention. And so I had to put an art teacher in FOUR SECRETS, someone who knew just how much all the kids needed her, not just the artistic kids, like Renata, but all the kids, with their nightmares and strife and stories without words.  Read More 

It was so wonderful to celebrate the publication of my book, which is officially "available" October 1, at my local indie bookstore. I am happily signing away in the background at the BOOKMAN in Grand Haven, Michigan, a charming and lively bookstore that has supported me for over 30 years! I gave away many books to the many people who helped me make this book happen--some are mentioned in the acknowledgement pages at the end of FOUR SECRETS, but there were others, and it was such a pleasure to hand these helpful people a real book and say: "See? All those questions and phone calls and note-taking--and now a book really happened!"

Wonderful evening! Read More 

I am delirious with excitement about the trailer for FOUR SECRETS. It was created by my stepson, Jeff Joanisse, an accomplished director and filmmaker, from a script I wrote using quotes from the characters. The kids in the trailer are friends of my grandson, Isaac Joanisse--Maya Denslow (Renata), Cam Lund (Nate) and Kylee Kowalksi (Katie). They did an amazing job and I loved using all local (Grand Haven & Spring Lake) talent. We shot it at an empty room in the Piano Factory building in downtown Grand Haven. The piano music is courtesy of the fantastic local musician Garrett Born. Very very proud of the effort put into this bleak little gem of a book trailer. View it here
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Back when I published my first novel--an event which has been on my mind, perhaps because my daughter is now the age I was when I had her and when my first novel was published--it was completely unnecessary to do the sort of self-promotion and self-generated publicity that is now an integral part of the profession. In fact, there was a supposition that my job was to WRITE, a private and solitary act, and that all of the other aspects of having a book published were assigned to the experts--my first editor, Laura Geringer; my first publicist, Bill Morris, my first agent, whose name escapes me. I did nothing, NOTHING, to promote, or sell, or publicize my own books, and nothing was expected of me. My work was sent out into the wide world by others and everything was carefully filtered for me, filtered and fluffed, so that nothing would discourage or confuse me--the new writer, she-who-must-be-protected, exposed to the marketplace gently.

How lucky I was, to have published at all during that era, certainly an easier time for writers who are shy and love their privacy. I never even made a phone call on my own behalf--I just waited for others to promote me, knowing that the rewards of writing a good book would come. And rewards did come--strong sales, invitations to speak, citations and awards--all without any effort from me beyond doing my best to write the books I was meant to write.

Well...I have just spent the past month, getting my book and my name out, out, out into the marketplace, with the invaluable help of a seasoned publicist, but I am experiencing up close and personal, the changing role of the writer in our overly-interconnected world where buzz and speed and promotion is everything! Read More 

Today I realized something that brought a smile to my face. The very first novel I ever wrote, way back in the eighties, THE BIGGER BOOK OF LYDIA, had a crucial journal in it, a survival manifesto. Lydia's journal was about not fading away, not disappearing. In FOUR SECRETS, Renata also has a journal and it helps her to survive in Juvie. They are both artists and they both survive the trauma of their situations via their precious journals. It felt like a kind of full circle, an accidental one. I felt happy about this coincidence all day.

And also a little nostalgic for the early days of my chosen profession, before the internet, a time of innocence, a time of confidence.  Read More 

Excerpt from Petrucelli Picks Review:

"In FOUR SECRETS, award-winning author Margaret Willey explores this hot-button topic (bullying) from a fresh perspective. Told through a series of journal entries by three outsider teens while locked up in juvenile detention and using graphic illustrations to depict key scenes, the relatable characters with their not-so-ordinary secrets will engage readers from the first page."

read the whole post here Read More 

Very happy about this. Especially love this part:

"Each of the four major characters is hiding a secret (hence the title, obviously) and my favorite part is that I didn't guess any of the secrets. That's pretty rare and when a book can completely blindside me, I fall a little bit in love with it. There's a lot to love with this novel, too."

Highly recommended. --Kelly Hager

Read the review here

Kelly Hager's Blog

Illustration by Bill Hauser Read More 

Katie's Journal: "I like Mrs. Sheild, Journal. I like that she doesn't seem upset or shocked that I'm actually in juvie. She doesn't treat me like a criminal, she just talks to me really straight, no feeling sorry for me, no tears."

Nate's Journal: "I am lost, Great She. I don't know how much longer I can last in here. I wish I could tell you everything, but there is danger all around me and it will be worse when I get out if I do not keep my promises."

(NOTE: Many thanks to editor Andrew Karre for helping me to remember that 4 Secrets is not about Greta Shield's secrets, not her story at all; the quest belongs to the three young "prisoners," despite her devotion to them.)

My dear friend Virginia Gordon, to whom FOUR SECRETS is dedicated, made me promise that I would not redeem the cruel and desperate bully, Chase Dobson, who is responsible for the chain of events that lead his 3 victims to juvenile detention. She knew me well, to make me promise that. She knew that I have an ongoing impulse in my work to transform/reform my characters, as I did with Nora in SUMMER OF SILK MOTHS. She was right on this one. Thank you, Ginny. I miss you.

Illustration by Bill Hauser Read More