Pitch Wars Team Interview with Steph Mignon and her mentor, Laura Heffernan

 

Our mentors are editing, our mentees are revising, and we hope you’re making progress on your own manuscript! While we’re all working toward the Agent Showcase on November 3rd-9th, we hope you’ll take a moment during your writing breaks and get to know our 2016 Pitch Wars Teams.

And now, we have . . .

Steph Mignon – Mentee

Twitter | Website

Laura Heffernan – Mentor

Twitter | Website

 

Steph: Why did you choose Laura?

I chose Laura because I loved the premise of her book, America’s Next Reality Star. I’m obsessed with unscripted television and all of the fabulous hair and make-up that come with it. Laura’s book is the kind I like to read and hope to write – stories that involve women trying to figure out their lives, even if doing so lands them on national television. When I was researching mentors, I immediately noticed how engaged Laura is on Twitter about everything from the writing community to chocolate. She’s clever. She’s quick. She’s pretty freaking entertaining. She seems like a nice person too.

Laura: Why did you choose Steph’s manuscript?

Because it’s freaking amazing! When I read the query, all I could think was “please let the pages be good.” Then I fell hard for the voice on page one. When I asked for the full, I just kept refreshing my inbox. Once I got it, I was afraid to read it in case I didn’t love the whole thing. But then, when I started reading other manuscripts, my mind kept wandering to this one. I kept putting other entries aside to make notes. Not because those manuscripts weren’t good – they were – but because Steph’s writing grabbed me hard and wouldn’t let go.

More importantly, as I was reading, I found myself with a very clear picture of how to take this manuscript to the next level. GHOSTS OF RODEO DRIVE has a similar tone to my book, and I know I can help Steph make it really shine. Plus, I really like her. And, she was actually ON a reality show, so it’s like we were destined to work together.

Steph: Summarize your book in three words.

Gold digger seeking.

Laura: Summarize Steph’s book in three words.

Heart of gold

Steph: Tell us about yourself. What makes you and your MS unique?

I like the sweet smell of a barn in the morning, Raisinettes mixed in my popcorn, and kids who go to bed by 7 PM (one can dream). I hold a hardly used law degree because someone said lawyers get to write, I’ve taken several masters level psychology courses, and I won a few awards for fiction and editorial pieces in college a billion years ago. In my professional life, I’ve done everything from slinging energy drinks via giant can adorned Mini Cooper to investigating defendants in a law suit via dark windowed surveillance van. One of my jobs – file clerk at a long time entertainment law firm in Beverly Hills – inspired the setting of my novel, Ghosts of Rodeo Drive. When I’m not writing fiction, I blog about life and motherhood from a beach community in Southern California that’s entirely too close to the LAX flight path.

Laura: Tell us about yourself. Something we might not already know.

My favorite things include goat cheese, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Battlestar Galactica, the Oxford comma, and ice cream. Not all together. The best place to find me is usually on Twitter, where I spend far too much time tweeting about writing, Canadian chocolate, and reality TV.

AMERICA’S NEXT REALITY STAR (3/2017) may be my first completed manuscript, but the sequel, SWEET REALITY (Fall 2017), is my ninth.

Check out Laura Heffernan’s latest release …

 

Thank you for supporting our Pitch Wars Teams! And remember, there’s a #PitMad Twitter pitch party on September 8th.

 

 

Save

Save

Save