Jessica F. Simmons

With the first due date for her second book already extended twice, the debut author of “How to find a Missing Girl,” Victoria Wlosok, is grappling with the demands from her dual life as student and now, author.

“I love that she’s written a book,” said junior Alexandra Dirks, an English major and one of Wlosok’s best friends. “But now she’s learning how to become an adult and be in college, but also still keep up that love of writing and that passion for writing.”

Wlosok is a 20-year-old junior from Sylva studying English and business administration at UNC Chapel Hill. Her young-adult thriller, “How to find a Missing Girl,” hit bookstores’ shelves on Sept 19. 

The novel fulfilled a dream she had since she was five years old. She wrote it during her senior year at Smoky Mountain High School during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the lockdowns, writing the book was easier since drafting, editing and re-editing was all she could do, she said.

Pitching the novel to several literary agencies, Wlosok received offers from five literary agents in 35 days. A year later, the Hachette Book Group chose to publish her book under Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Wlosok’s literary agent, Jessica Errera, UNC alumna from The Jane Rotrosen Agency, was impressed with Wlosok’s intimate understanding of the target age group for her book. 

What stuck out to her was Wlosok’s voice in writing, Errera said.

“For someone to be so good, so young is really just astounding,” Errera said. “The voice of her storytelling was so propulsive and felt different to anything I had read before, but still in a really accessible way.”

Wlosok sold the novel to get a two-book deal during the second semester of her freshman year at UNC.

“It’s still pretty crazy though,” Wlosok said. “I walk into bookstores and see my book. I definitely don’t think I would’ve had the same outreach or influence if I decided to self-publish.”

“How to find a Missing Girl” follows the life of high-schooler Iris Blackthorn, a 17-year-old amateur private investigator who races against time to find out what happened to her missing ex-girlfriend a year after Blackthorn’s sister disappeared.

At its core, the book includes characters from the LGBTQ+ community because as a pansexual herself, Wlosok wanted to show young readers that it is OK to be themselves just as they are.

Following positive reviews on Goodreads and social media, book signing events and literary conferences, Wlosok feels she has found herself, she said.

“I feel so lucky to have found what I truly love to do so early,” she said. “I’m hoping everything else will kind of fall into place.”

But beginning her junior year, serving as a resident assistant, and being an author with her second book due in mid-November has proven to be hard, she said. The pushbacks have become a challenge, testing her resolve, flexibility of creative composition and ability to keep going. 

Elijah Metcalf, Wlosok’s boyfriend from Sylva, said that Wlosok sometimes finds herself struggling to get the words on the page and doubts herself and writing capabilities. 

But despite the negative thoughts, Metcalf said that the only way Wlosok gets out of her head is to continue writing.

“I understand that the stakes are higher, and that she didn’t know that the first book was going to be published. But with the second book, she knows it will and that’s a lot of pressure for anybody,” Errera said. “She’s a perfectionist and a hard worker, but we keep telling her she doesn’t have to work too hard because she’s already won us over. But hopefully, it just gets a little bit easier every time she writes.”

Wlosok said that her second novel also follows the same young adult thriller genre, set in an escape room with a group of ex-friends.

“I think ‘How to find a Missing Girl’ was a good starting point for me,” Wlosok said. “But I want to keep improving, I want to keep getting better. I want to keep delivering. And I hope I can keep the momentum going.”

*Note: This article sits as the original version. Shortened version was uploaded to The Sylva Herald as “Local artist chases big dream” on November 15, 2023: https://www.thesylvaherald.com/arts_and_entertainment/article_5a21907e-83d9-11ee-b0df-87c940e08a2c.html