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 . . .
Rosanne Rivers – Mentee
Sharon M. Johnston – Mentor
Rosanne, why did you choose Sharon?
Sharon’s mentor blog post had me so excited from the start! Her favourite stories were the same as alot of my own and made me want to read the ones I hadn’t already. I realised my MS matched a lot of the aspects she had listed in her wish list, and she was offering so much as a mentor. Sharon mentioned that she offers solutions, not just problems, in her edits, and I’ve already realised how much that is true.
Sharon, why did you choose Rosanne and her manuscript?
Rosanne’s writing is pretty gorgeous, so I knew I didn’t need to push her too much in the mechanics of her craft. Her fantasy story had so many elements that would appeal to readers. The relationship been the MC and the love interest was nicely developed, and it was the love interest’s secrets that had me sold. I didn’t see the twists and turns in the book coming, and I loved that.
Rosanne, summarize your book in three words.
“Leverage is everything.”
Sharon, summarize Rosanne’s book in three words.
Swoonworthy Courtly Romance
Rosanne, tell us about yourself. What makes you and your MS unique?
I’ve always loved writing and spent a lot of my teenage years writing Harry Potter fanfiction (usually involving Snape.) I mainly write YA standalones in pretty much any speculative genre, though I read lots of adult fiction too. I’m generally drawn to reading about a new world or a great concept. If the blurb has me wondering how something’s going to play out, I’ll read the book. My favourite authors include: Kristen Cashore, Maria V Snyder, Keira Cass, Liane Moriarty, Ruth Ware and George RR Martin. My debut novel, AFTER THE FEAR was released in 2013 by Immortal Ink Publishing.
I think that my MS’s strength is in the romance. The MC and the love interest are both flawed and I like how they find something truthful with each other over time.
Sharon, tell us about yourself. Something we might not already know.
I’m a YA/NA writer and PR professional. My favourite genre to write is Science Fiction, but I love mashing genres together. My first novel, DIVIDED is out now with City Owl Press, with the sequel SHATTERED out in late September. Audiobooks are a bit of an obsession for me and they keep me company on my long drives to work. And thanks to fellow mentors I’ve recently discovered an app where that converts text to talk in an Aussie accent. I have a thing for fluffy animals, particularly cats, and used to breed long-haired guinea pigs.
Check out Rosanne River’s novel After the Fear. . .
You have not attended a Demonstration this month.
In Sola’s city, everyone obeys the rules. Stay away from the trigger cameras and regularly update your Debtbook, and you just might survive. But having to watch the way criminals are dealt with—murdered by Demonstrators in the Stadium—is a law Sola tries to avoid. When a charming Demonstrator kisses her at a party, however, she’s thrust into the Stadium and forced into the very role she despises.
Armed with only natural resourcefulness and a caring nature, Sola narrowly survives her first bout. Her small success means she’s whisked off to a training camp, where she discovers a world beyond the trigger cameras and monitoring—a world where falling in love with a killer doesn’t seem so terrible.
Yet life as a Demonstrator has no peace. Sola must train her way through twenty-five more Demonstrations before she can return home to her father. At the end of each battle, only one survivor remains.
Sola could face anyone in the Stadium . . . even a loved one.
Find out more about Sharon M. Johnston’s Open Heart Series . . .
A new heart should mean new life, instead it’s a living nightmare.
Mishca Richardson’s life is at an all-time high after her heart transplant. With new boyfriend, Ryder, she has the perfect summer romance. Even the nightmares plaguing her sleep since her operation can’t dull her new dream world.
Yet, life starts to unravel when Mishca develops superhuman abilities. She does her best to hide them so as not to end up a science experiment in a lab, but she can’t ignore the strange instant attraction she experiences when she meets her university professor, Colin Read.
Torn between love and obsession, Mishca must unite her divided heart and decide between the two men. But when the truth about her weird powers comes to light, she’ll have a lot more to worry about than romance.
The sequel Shattered will be coming out soon! City Owl Press | Goodreads