We are thrilled to reveal the cover for ‘Wave 2: The Sequel’. After a wait of twenty years, this book will follow Wil’s hit 2005 novel ‘Wave’. In spite of a bankrupt distributor and no marketing budget, ‘Wave’ sold through its first printing in less than six weeks, making it the subject of a national news article that ran on Yahoo! and Bloomberg Newswire. It then won the New Jersey Notable Book Award, after which NYC powerhouse publisher Macmillan purchased the rights to both the softcover and eBook.
Interestingly, the sequel’s cover design is based on that of the first book, with some minor differences symbolic to the story. The photo of the Barnegat Lighthouse with scaffolding, for example, was inspired by a photo taken by Wil during an a repainting of the lighthouse several years ago. The actual lighthouse photo used on the cover was taken by Lori Nichols for NJ Advance Media for an article that ran on NJ.com (and has been used with permission, of course). And the quote at the top of the cover comes from Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter Robbie Dupree, a longtime friend of Wil’s known for such classic radio hits as ‘Steal Away’ and ‘Hot Rod Hearts’.
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ: It was announced late yesterday that Wil Mara has been appointed the new Chairman of the New Jersey Center for the Book, with Sharon Rawlins, of the New Jersey State Library, to serve as Vice Chair. The Center is affiliated with both the United States Library of Congress and Rutgers University, in particular their celebrated School of Communication and Information.
For more than two decades, the New Jersey Center for the
Book has “…advanced a dynamic literacy agenda, championing its definition as
the ability to read and write while extending it to include literacies emerging
in the 21st century.” It has focused particularly on the rich and ongoing
literary heritage of the Garden State, in particular its students and
educators, its talented authors and illustrators, and its many literary
landmarks. The Center’s founder, Renee Swartz, had an inestimable impact during
her tenure, initiating countless programs that sustain to this day, along with
a supporting Board of Directors who have given selflessly of their time and
considerable talents to ensure that the Center’s mandate was faithfully
fulfilled. In the years ahead, the Center’s new leadership will carry Renee’s remarkable
legacy forward with new initiatives designed to further the organization’s
reach and influence.
Wil Mara has served on the Center’s Board for many years. He has also been an author since the mid 1980s and has more than 340 books to his credit. His 2013 novel Frame 232 was a bestseller that won the Lime Award for Excellence in Fiction. His 2006 novel The Draft became the hit movie Draft Day starring Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner. And his 2005 novel Wave won the New Jersey Notable Book Award. In 2019, he launched the supernatural series ‘Twisted’ for middle-grade readers through West 44 Books (a division of Rosen Publishing), which has earned high praise from Booklist, School Library Journal, and librarians from around the country, as well as the Gold Standard Award from the Junior Library Guild. He was also an editor and production executive inside the publishing business for over twenty years (Prentice Hall, Scholastic, Harcourt Brace) and the creator and facilitator of the ‘Myth of the Reluctant Reader’ lecture series. His awards include the Literary Lion Award in 2019 and, from the New Jersey Association of School Librarians, the New Jersey Author of the Year in 2020.
Sharon Rawlins, also a longtime Board member for the Center,
has been the New Jersey State Library’s Youth Services Coordinator for over
fifteen years. She has supported other librarians statewide through her work
with the annual Summer Reading Program, the Collaborative Summer Library
Program national initiative, and the fall Youth Service Forum. She has also
forged critically beneficial alliances with a diverse collection of
organizations—from the Franklin Institute Science Museum to the National Girls
Collaborative Project. She also serves as the State Library’s representative to
the New Jersey Association of School Librarians, attending both their meetings
and their annual conference. She has been a steadfast presence at the annual National
Book Festival in support of the New Jersey Center for the Book, and she plays
an active role on the Garden State Book Awards committee. In 2019, she was
recognized for her tremendous contributions to the state when she received the
New Jersey’s Librarian of the Year Award.
The
2023 fall conference for the New Jersey Association of School Librarians, which
will follow the wonderful theme of ‘A World of Stories: A Celebration of
Diversity in School Libraries,’ will feature numerous authors and illustrators
from around the state, Wil among them. Wil is the author of more than 300
books, both fiction and non, and a past NJASL Author of the Year. The
conference will take place at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City,
New Jersey, from December 3rd to 5th. If you haven’t yet
signed up, you are strongly encouraged to do so, for the sessions and
networking opportunities are always fantastic. The main portal page for this
event is here—
As
a featured participant in ‘Authors and Illustrators Alley,’ Wil is going have
copies of his ‘Twisted’, ‘Izzy Jeen the Big-Mouth Queen’, and ‘Kid from Planet
27’ books on hand, along with varied offering of FREE posters, bookmarks, and
informational flyers (including new ones for his ‘Best Bang for Your Budget’
author visits!). So if you attend, please make a point of stopping by to see
him and say hello!
To
visit Wil’s main site, which has further information about all of his books,
please go to—
We are thrilled to announce that Wil Mara has been chosen by the New Jersey Association of School Librarians as the 2020 New Jersey Author of the Year! Wil is a 35-year veteran of the publishing industry with more than 300 books to his credit. He has penned both fiction and nonfiction for all ages, written over a span of more than thirty years and released through some of the biggest houses in the world, including Rosen, Macmillan, Dorling Kindersley, Scholastic, St. Martin’s Press, Tor, and others. Most recently, his ‘Twisted’ series has become a hit with parents, teachers, librarians, and middle-grade students, including those in the challenging reluctant and hi-lo categories.
Wil also served inside the industry as an
editor, production manager, and executive for twenty years, with tenures at
Prentice Hall, McGraw-Hill, and Harcourt Brace. He has since entered the realm
of Hollywood, now developing his ‘Twisted’ series for television with one of
the leading LA-based production companies, as well as three other projects
based on his published works. Peripherally, he does numerous appearances to
teach writing skills for schools and other institutions, is an executive
committee member on the board of directors for the New Jersey Center for the
Book, the host of the ‘Voice of American Libraries’ podcast, and was the 2019
recipient of the Literary Lion of New Jersey Award, whose past winners include
Gus Friedrich, Dean Emeritus of Rutgers University, and Joyce Carol Oates,
National Book Award winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist.
For contact, please use general@wilmara.com. All emails are answered within 24 hours.
Mark your calendars—on Thursday, October 29th at 3:00 PM EST, the Junior Library Guild will be hosting a live discussion about paranormal and horror elements in modern children’s literature, and Wil is going to be one of their featured guests to talk about his bestselling ‘Twisted’ series. This is one you don’t want to miss!
The JLG webcasts spotlight prominent figures from all around
the publishing industry, including authors, illustrators, editors, librarians, and
many others. One of their recent guests was Jason Reynolds, the current Library
of Congress Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.
The Guild has been wonderfully supportive of the ‘Twisted’
books, which have proven particularly popular with hi-lo and reluctant readers
(a topic that will likely be included in the discussion). The second title in
the series, ‘House of a Million Rooms’, was chosen as one of the Guild’s Main
Selection picks in 2019 and received the Gold Standard Award later that year.
More information about the JLG webcasts can be found here—
