Pitch Wars Team Interview with Brianna Lespinasse and her mentor, Marie Meyer

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 #TeamSassyUnicorns . . .

Brianna Lespinasse – Mentee

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Marie Meyer – Mentor

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Brianna: Why did you choose Marie as your mentor?

I was really drawn to what I read in Marie’s bio and wishlist. As a Pitch Wars alum and published New Adult author, she has extensive knowledge of this process and the publishing industry. I can learn a great deal from her successes and trials along the way. Her strengths in voice, pacing, and character development will also help to tighten up my work. I’m not afraid of constructive criticism and I knew she would help push me to make my manuscript shine. Her Pitch Wars wishlist also closely aligned with my work. She specifically wanted FEELS and my novel has them. Lastly, she and I share a lot of the same interests so I figured we would work well together.

Marie: Why did you choose Brianna Lespinasse and her manuscript, THE KEY TO MY SCARS?

After reading all of my submissions, Brianna’s submission was the story I couldn’t stop thinking about. It hit all of my wishlist criteria, and in the end, was the story I felt I could help the most. Not to mention, I was intrigued by the Scheherazade/One Thousand and One Nights twist that Brianna’s story parallels.

I also really liked that Brianna seemed open to constructive criticism. So much of the success of Pitch Wars comes down to how much the mentee is willing to be open to really digging in and doing what needs to be done for the betterment of their story. I feel that Brianna is willing to put in the hard work and make sacrifices in order to take KEY TO MY SCARS to the next level! I’m excited to get to work!

Brianna: Summarize your book in three words.

Anti-suicide bucket list

Marie: Summarize your mentee’s book in three words.

Gutsy. Heart wrenching.

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

I write NA Contemporary and YA SF/F and enjoy reading in pretty much every genre. Most of my life has been spent in my home state of New Jersey, but I attended college in Delaware. I’ve both worked and studied abroad, and hope to fill my passport before it expires. My love of travel also led to my current day job as a Corporate Travel Consultant. When I’m not writing, reading, or exploring the world, I enjoy running in Tough Mudder events. I’m also biracial. My father is a Haitian immigrant who most people mistake for Morgan Freeman.

My Pitch Wars manuscript, The Key to My Scars, is a NA Contemporary Romance that deals with suicide and self-harm. The main character is ready to end her life when an act of kindness by a new acquaintance makes her put her plan on hold. Through their developing relationship, she opens up about the scars that mar her body while he tries to make her see the beauty in the world.

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

I’m a multi-published romance author with Grand Central Publishing/Forever Yours. Through Pitch Wars, I landed my wonderful agent, Louise Fury, which led to my Pitch Wars 2013 submission, THROUGH THE STORM, becoming my debut novel, ACROSS THE DISTANCE, in 2015.

Outside of publishing, I spend my days teaching middle school science and Spanish, and playing taxi for my two darling daughters, carting them to gymnastics practices, meets and soccer games.

And something you might not know about me…I’m a linguiphile. I LOVE languages. If I had a superpower, it would be to speak any language! I think words in every language are beautiful. I can’t wait to see one of my novels translated into another language, that would be a dream come true! J

Check out Marie Meyer’s latest book . . .