Booklover of the Week presents… Harlequin Teen senior editor Natashya Wilson!

This week, I’m delighted to be hosting another industry pro in the Booklover of the Week series. I was fortunate to meet this charming and super savvy editor at the RWA national conference the year I was a Golden Heart winner. My chat with her was one of the highlights of my conference. Please help me welcome the wonderful…

Natashya Wilson
Senior Editor, Harlequin Teen

Thanks so much for being here, Natashya!

Booklover Basics

Name:   Natashya “Tashya” Wilson

Title:   Senior Editor

Publisher:   Harlequin Teen

Short Bio:

I’m a California girl who moved east for grad school and then landed an editorial assistant position with Harlequin in 1996. I’ve been a voracious reader all my life, having discovered romance at age 9 with Love’s Tender Fury by Jennifer Wilde. Becoming an editor seemed natural after completing an animal science major in college (huh?!). When I realized I wasn’t interested in a science-related job, I completed an M.A. in magazine journalism. Harlequin then opened their doors to me and my lifelong reader’s knowledge of their books, and it’s been love ever since. Currently I live in New Jersey with my husband, daughter, and one on the way.


Questions About You 2.0

The You 2.0 blog is about becoming everything you’re meant to be. It’s about pursuing your dreams, changing your world, showing gratitude, and paying it forward. Here’s a chance for our Booklovers to share what You 2.0 means to them.

1.   PURSUING YOUR DREAMS: Everyone has the ability to be extraordinary, they just have to embrace what makes them unique and special and pursue their dreams with passion and confidence! Tell us a little about a dream you’ve achieved or are pursuing right now. If you’ve achieved it already, how does it feel to know you’ve made your dream a reality?

Becoming an editor is the dream I never knew I had until I was in grad school for magazine journalism and happened to read two editor profiles in Romantic Times Magazine. I thought, wow, I don’t really like the writing aspect of working in magazines; I’m much better at editing other people’s work—I wonder if I could be a book editor? The possibility made my heart race with yearning. I’d never thought of it before, I don’t know why.

I wrote letters to the two Harlequin editors featured in the issue, telling them how their stories inspired me and asking if they could spare the time to let me know how they became editors for Harlequin. One of them called me—then, after listening to me ramble on about how much I love series romance and how many of their books I read each month, she told me I should submit a resume, as they had a newly opened assistant’s position. I did, and landed the job. It was like a fairy tale! I still can’t believe I get paid to read and edit. I probably take it too much for granted most of the time, but, every once in a while I look around my office and think, I am the luckiest person ever. I really do. Taking a chance and reaching out to someone for advice helped my dream come true.

2.   CHANGING YOUR WORLD: Changing the world doesn’t have to mean finding a cure for cancer or creating lasting world peace (though it definitely can!). It just means finding a way that you can make the world a little better off for having lived here, whether it’s making a difference to one person or a million, to the earth, to animals… whatever is important to you. What is one way you would personally like to make the world a better place?

Here are some of the little things I do all the time to do my part: When I’m out walking or hiking, I often pick up some garbage and throw it away. Imagine if every single person picked up and disposed of one piece of garbage a day? I recycle. I donate my old clothes. I pay attention when children talk to me. I’ve donated to the Carter Foundation, the ASPCA, the North Shore Animal League, and my college. I take the high road when another driver tailgates me, honks at me, or cuts me off—it just isn’t worth the energy to get mad. Maybe if I calm down and don’t overreact, someone else in the world will be a little less angry and we can all calm down.

What would I like to do? That’s a hard one—because, if I really want to do something, why am I not doing it? Helping to create world peace and tolerance for everyone would be one of my ultimate goals. Finding loving homes for every orphaned and foster child and abandoned animal would be another. I did adopt all four of my house pets from pet rescue operations, for a start, rather than buying kittens and puppies. And they are all—okay, three of them are fabulous! The other one is on notice for peeing on the couch…! And I would like to do more to stop the pollution of the planet.

3.   GRATITUDE: Gratitude is a huge part of the You 2.0 life. Taking a moment to count our blessings is the best way to remember what’s truly important (especially when life is hectic and crazy!). What are you grateful for?

Wow, I could go on and on about this one with all the personal stuff—family, friends, job, pets, health…but let me think outside of me. On the large scale, I’m grateful for the oceans, the mountains, the redwoods and all of the beauties of nature. I hope we’ll always have them, and that we’ll work to make them cleaner than they are now.

4.   PAYING IT FORWARD: If everyone took a moment to pay it forward, even just once, the world would be changed in ways we can’t even imagine. What is one thing you’ve done (or plan to do) to “pay it forward” in some way?

I’ll tell you one thing someone did for me that I would like to pay forward. One night in college, I went out for dinner with a boyfriend. The restaurant was crowded, and a single diner indicated that we could share his table. My boyfriend and I looked over the menu and, realizing that together we didn’t have a lot of money, made some choices about what to have and share and what to bypass. Our neighbor soon left, smiling on his way out. We enjoyed the dinner thoroughly—and when we were ready to go, the waiter told us that the man who’d dined next to us had added our bill to his! That was so nice, and if I ever have the opportunity, I will sure do it for someone else. I’m just waiting to overhear the right conversation. I’ll never forget that feeling of being moved by someone else’s simple kindness.

Things I have had the opportunity to do are: give someone the extra change they need to make a purchase/buy a train ticket if they’re a little short. Let someone desperate or with a child go ahead of me in the bathroom line (and that is a sacrifice for me—I have a very small bladder! Sorry, TMI, TMI…) Do informational interviews with people looking for jobs or knowledge of the publishing industry, and try to connect them with people who might help them. Edit books/resumes/Web sites and other things for family and friends.


Questions About You, The Industry Pro

5.   Why did you choose a book-related career?

Probably for the same reason as most other people in our biz—I love to read!

6.   Tell us a little bit about what you do in your job.

I’m the senior editor for the new Harlequin Teen imprint. That means I oversee the publishing schedule, work with the editorial team to acquire books, assist marketing and art with whatever they need to create book packages and promotion plans, and read a ton of submissions. For the imprint launch, we put together signings for our launch authors, Rachel Vincent and Gena Showalter, for BEA, got our ARCs out to as many reviewers as we could (and still can), and we’re in the midst of organizing a blog tour to get the word out to teens and all readers who love YA fiction.

7.   What do you love most (and least) about your job?

My favorite thing is finding a new author and making the call to say I want to buy his or her book. My least favorite is falling in love with a project only to lose it to another publishing house. Grrr.

8.   What do you think would surprise people about your job?

I really don’t know. It all seems so normal and natural to me that I’m sure whatever surprises others would surprise me!

9.   What do you love most about the YA and middle grades genres?

The sense of discovery, the feeling that everything is new again. There’s an earnestness, an honesty in many of these titles that makes me feel young again, reminds me of the basics of what we all go through in life. Not that I’m oh, so ancient, but, you know what I mean!

10.   What books inspired you as a teen/tween?

Black Beauty, the Nancy Drew books, the Silver Brumby books, Copper’s Chance, A Wrinkle in Time, The Outsiders, Judy Blume’s books, the Anne of Green Gables stories, Love’s Tender Fury, Johanna Lindsey’s books, Harlequin’s first 200 Superromances, Shel Silverstein, The Little Prince, Ballet Shoes, Where the Red Fern Grows, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and so, so many more.

11.   What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

If you truly love and want to write, do it.

On the professional side, learn the craft and write in your own style as only you can; don’t try to emulate someone else. Listen to the way your story sounds in your head. Find your voice.


Will the Real You 2.0 Please Stand Up?

12.   I love the game Three Truths and a Lie because there are so many unexpected and interesting things about people that we never get a chance to learn about them. What are three truths and a lie that our blog readers can guess about you?

– I have a black belt.
– I play piano.
– I own a horse.
– I’ve completed a YA novel.  **UPDATE: Here’s the lie!**


Special Giveaway!!!

Natashya has graciously offered to give away not one but TWO books from Harlequin Teen’s awesome Fall 2009 launch list! Be sure to comment for your chance to win either My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent or Intertwined by Gena Showalter plus a matching t-shirt for the book!

(Readers: Your comment today gets you an entry into today’s special giveaway PLUS an entry into the You 2.0 monthly contest for an ARC of The Cinderella Society or a prize dive in the awesome You 2.0 Prize Basket. Guess correctly and you get a bonus entry! I’ll update the post tomorrow to spill the big lie, so get guessing and have fun!)

Thanks, Natashya, for a fabulous interview and generous giveaway offer!

Entry Filed under: Booklover - Industry Pros,Gratitude