Sheboygan author inspired by son’s pet
Wagner self-publishes ‘Finnigan the Circus Cat’
Sheboygan — Sheboygan author and attorney Mary T. Wagner cannot pinpoint the exact moment she decided to pursue children’s literature, but it was her daughter’s work as a circus aerialist that inspired imagery of the big top life, and then she found the perfect protagonist after striking up a bond with her son’s cat, Finnigan.
“I just couldn’t get Finnigan out of my head!” Wagner said, noting that she took up cat-sitting duties for a few months while her son and daughter-inlaw were studying abroad. “His brash and inquisitive personality totally drove the character in the book.”
The setting and character turned out to be an awardwinning combination when Wagner’s book, “Finnigan the Circus Cat,” took home first place in the genre “Unpublished Children’s Chapter Book” this fall in the Royal Palm Literary Awards hosted by the Florida Writers Association.
While Wagner has worked as a part-time assistant district attorney in Sheboygan since 2000, she is also a “team blogger” for the Florida-based Growing Bolder media company. She took home another first-place award in creative nonfiction for her essay “R.I.P. The Meatball,” which is about a different cat her son adopted.
After the contest had closed for entries, Wagner self-published “Finnigan the Circus Cat.” Set in Wisconsin, the story focuses on two circus mice who strike up an unlikely friendship with a cat, Finnigan, and navigate adventures together at a circus museum.
Self-publishing the book was not Wagner’s original plan this time around, but she has learned that the journey of a writer rarely goes as planned.
Before publishing “Finnigan,” she had asked a friend, who works with young children as a speech therapist, to read it and share her thoughts.
“Her enthusiasm and encouragement really carried me along,” Wagner said. “I went ahead and self-published ‘Finnigan the Circus Cat’ after striking out in my first few queries for agents and small publishers in the spring.”
Wagner describes herself as “impatient by nature,” which has contributed to all her books being selfpublished and her studying “how to draw” books at the library and ultimately creating her own illustrations for “Finnigan,” which was a first for her.
Nevertheless, as familiar as the route may be, it doesn’t necessarily lessen the sense of risk that comes with self-publishing.
“(My books) all won some nice awards along the way — but it’s a scary shelf to be sitting alone on, saying, ‘I believe in this even though I don’t have a traditional publisher at my back,’ ” Wagner said.
But, the three contest judges’ praises of “Finnigan” proved to be one of the extra boosts she needed along the way, solidifying her commitment to writing at least two more books in the series.
“It really meant a lot,” she said of the positive reviews and first-place award. “I have to say it was both humbling and really validating at the same time. I always felt like I had come up with a good story that both kids and the adults who read to them could enjoy. But it can feel a bit lonesome when you’re beating your own drum.”
When asked what advice she has for writers trying to break into the children’s genre, Wagner is quick to point out that she still feels in the process of “breaking” and certainly continues to learn.
But one piece of advice that she has for all writers is to read as vigorously as one crafts.
“One thing I’d suggest is to figure out what kind of book you want to write, and then read a bunch of them with an eye for detail,” she said. “It’s really the same advice any writer needs — to keep reading, and figuring out what works and what doesn’t.”