Pitch Wars Team Interview with Sabina Khan and her mentor, Natasha Neagle

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 . . .

Sabina Khan – Mentee

Twitter | Website

Natasha Neagle – Mentor

Twitter | Website

Sabina: Why did you choose Natasha?

While I was trying to decide on which mentors to sub to, I was lucky enough to win a free query critique from Natasha. When she sent me her ideas for polishing my query, I knew right away that she’d be the perfect mentor for me. Her suggestions and feedback were incredibly helpful and clear. The teacher in her presented them in a way that made it very easy to implement them. I also think the fact that we’re both in the teaching business as well as writers would allow us to work well with each other. I feel very fortunate to have her as my mentor and I look forward to learning a great deal from her.

Natasha: Why did you choose Sabina?

From page one, I fell in love with Sabina’s main character. I read through the first chapter and was mad that was all I had in front of me. After requesting it, I read the manuscript in one sitting. The whole time I read, ideas kept popping in my head of ways to take the story being told to the next level. Sabina put so much into the characters and I was beyond thrilled when she told me she was open to my suggestions.

Sabina: Summarize your book in three words.

Muslim teen lesbian.

Natasha: Summarize Sabina’s book in three words.

Traditions forbidding love

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

I think what makes me unique is that I don’t fit into any neat boxes. I grew up learning about prejudice at a very young age, growing up South Asian in small-town Germany in the early 70’s. When we moved to Bangladesh, my father’s homeland, there was a different sort of discrimination since my mother is Pakistani. I was raised in a Muslim family but I married a Hindu man. I learned that using labels to define a person only drive people apart. In my story, I explore some of the prejudices that I have experienced as a woman, as a Muslim & as a South Asian. However, I have always managed to find a place for myself, no matter where I lived, surrounded by friends and like-minded people. I want my novel to show readers that while it can be a real struggle to live in a world where you are different from most, support can come from unexpected sources and the way to truly belong is to remain true to yourself.

I am an educational consultant by day, which means that I torture high school kids until their Math and Science grades improve. I’ve lived in Germany, Bangladesh, Macao, Texas and finally settled in beautiful British Columbia with my husband, two daughters and our furbaby. I love Karaoke and dance like a fool.

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

I’m a middle school teacher by day, mom to two amazing kids, and married to my college sweetheart. When I’m not doing something with my family, I’m either writing or marathoning TV. Something most people don’t know about me is that after breaking up with my boyfriend senior year, I decided to ditch the prom and hopped a bus to NYC for 24 hours. While I was there, I hung out with a friend I met online. (I know it sounds like a crazy YA book and I hope to write it one day LOL).

Check out Sabina Khan’s book . . .

Would you put your trust in strangers to save the ones you loved?

Would you allow an ancient prophecy to change your life?

Seventeen year old Callie discovers she is an avatar of the powerful Hindu Goddess Kali and she has to save the world from Mahisha, the King of Demons. Now Callie has to accept her fate and control her powers. Before she can face Mahisha, she must find the Sword of Knowledge that the Immortalshad given Kali five thousand years ago.
As Callie embarks upon the dangerous quest to find this weapon, she must travel deep into the jungles of India to find a temple only spoken of in legends. The Rakshakari, who are sworn to protect the Goddess, guide her on this treacherous journey, fraught with demons and mortal conspiracies.
She is accompanied by the gorgeous, enigmatic Shiv for whom she feels an inexplicable but undeniable attraction. Can she trust Shiv with her life or are there dark forces at work that will divide loyalties and leave Callie at the mercy of Mahisha and his army of demons?
In a timeless tale of good versus evil, travel across the world to a place that time has forgotten. Here lies the answer to an ancient riddle. Here lies the fate of humanity.
This young adult paranormal fantasy has all the ingredients for an exciting read: ancient religion, mystery, action, adventure, romance and deities and demons galore.

Amazon | Kobo | Apple ibook

Thank you for supporting our Pitch Wars Teams! And don’t forget to stop by the Agent Showcase starting November 3rd to see how our teams do in the final round.