In light of the recent spike in interest in Wil’s 2012 thriller The Gemini Virus, we’d like to remind you again of the supplemental publication The Gemini Virus Readers’ Companion—a free download that has a whole slew of behind-the-scenes anecdotes, deleted scenes with explanatory notes, rare interviews Wil granted at the time, and the full text of his lecture on pandemic preparedness that he gave along with Dr. Marty Hewlett at the University of New Mexico that September (and offers some eerie foreshadowing toward the coronavirus outbreak).
And further information about The Gemini Virus, including podcasts, audiobook samples, reviews, endorsements, promotional videos, and more can be found HERE.
For contact, please use general@wilmara.com.
All emails are answered within 24 hours.
The new Jason Hammond novella, Covid Patient Zero, which was previously offered as an online serial in ten weekly installments, is now available in its entirety through Amazon. It tells the story of Jason’s mission to trace the first person to be infected with Covid-19, aka the coronavirus. Jason Hammond has been a popular recurring character of Wil’s, featured in past bestsellers Frame 232 and The Nevada Testament, plus the upcoming novel The Diana Directive.
Wil received technical assistance on Covid Patient Zero from Dr. Martinez J. Hewlett, virologist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Arizona, who acted in the same capacity for Wil’s 2012 medical thriller The Gemini Virus.
Covid Patient Zero is available in both eBook (Kindle) and paperback formats, and with discount pricing. To order, use the links below.
A new promotional video has been produced for Wil’s ‘Twisted’ series with the help of various librarians around the country, and early reaction to it has been amazing! Check it out via the following link—
Please share this with your friends,
family, colleagues, and anyone else you can think of!
The ‘Twisted’ stories, released just last
year, have rapidly grown in popularity among school and public librarians, due
in part to the series’ appeal among reluctant readers. The second book in the
group, ‘House of a Million Rooms’, was a featured pick of the Junior Library
Guild, and also earned the Guild’s Gold Standard Award. And in the wake of the
success of the series, Wil was recently honored with the Literary Lion Award
via the New Jersey Center for the Book, an affiliate of the United States
Library of Congress.
To order any of the ‘Twisted’ books direct from the publisher—
NEW YORK, NY: West 44 Books is very
pleased to announce that it will release two exciting new chapter-book series
from bestselling author Wil Mara this summer!
IZZY JEEN THE BIG-MOUTH QUEEN
Isabella Jean Marino—or ‘Izzy Jeen the
Big-Mouth Queen,’ as she is known among her classmates—has issues. Mostly,
she is at the age where she’s just trying to get a grip, usually with little to
no success. All her life, she’s let her emotions run wild, driving her friends,
family, and pretty much everyone else to the edge of their patience. But
there’s a new factor in the equation now—a budding sense that perhaps there’s
a better way to handle things. Each story in this laugh-out-loud series brings
Izzy face to face with a new challenge familiar to all kids her age. From
there—and usually with a little help from those closest to her (and know that
her heart, at least, is always in the right place)—Izzy has to decide which
part of her nature will lead to the best solution…or, at the very least, the
one that will keep her from totally losing it.
THE KID FROM PLANET 27
Logan Lewis seems like an ordinary American
kid in every way. He lives with his parents in a nice neighborhood. He tries
his best in school. He rides his bike, plays video games, and watches TV. He
also has a best friend, the street-smart Abby Parker, who lives next door. And
Abby is the only person who knows Logan’s biggest secret—that he and his
family are not from Earth. In fact, they’re from Kepri, the 27th planet from
the sun. Their leaders have determined that the people of Earth are going to
discover their world pretty soon. So they’ve sent Keprians here to study us. In
the stories that follow, Logan encounters human behavior in all its many colors
as he tries to figure out what makes us tick. And even with Abby’s help, he
quickly realizes that understanding Earthlings both young and old is a lot more
complicated than he ever imagined.
West 44 is also unveiling today the
covers for the first story in each series. Further details will be announced
soon!
The Izzy Jeen and Planet 27 books are
intended for a 2nd thru 4th-grade reading level. As with Wil’s popular
‘Twisted’ series, they will be readily enjoyed by enthusiastic readers—but
particular attention has also been given to the requirements of reluctants,
hi-los, and other challenged students.
Wil Mara is the author of more than 275
books, both fiction and nonfiction, for children and adults. His work for
children includes more than 150 other educational titles for the school
libraries. He has also ghostwritten five of the popular ‘Boxcar Children’
mysteries. His 2013 novel ‘Frame 232’ reached the # 1 spot in its category on
Amazon. The hit 2014 feature film ‘Draft Day,’ starring Kevin Costner and
Jennifer Garner, was based on his 2006 novel ‘The Draft.’ More recently, he
released the new supernatural series known as ‘Twisted’, which has proven
tremendously popular with midde-grade readers. And he was recently given the
Literary Lion Award of New Jersey from the United States Library of Congress.
Wil is going to be presenting at this
year’s spring meeting of the New Jersey Association of School Librarians, which
takes place in Hightstown, NJ, on Saturday, March 7th. His talk will provide an
overview of his ongoing ‘Myth of the Reluctant Reader’ lecture series. The
latest installment, ‘Part IV: Root Causes,’ was unveiled at the NJASL Fall
Conference last December. For attendees who aren’t yet familiar with the
‘Myth…’ series, this will be a good chance to become acquainted, so please
stop by. Copies of Wil’s new middle-grade series ‘Twisted’ will also be
available.
More details about the spring meeting can
be found here—
