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 Team Chimera . . .
Hetal Avanee – Mentee
Jami Nord – Mentor
K.T. Hanna – Mentor
Hetal: Why did you choose KT and Jami?
It was the Buffy gifs. All the Buffy gifs. 😀 Oh, you want more? Well, okay. I submitted to KT and Jami because their tag-team, three pass editing style spoke to me. Their warning of “the novel will end up different” didn’t scare me at all; in fact it reeled me in! I wanted a change, a new direction; I needed to know why my story wasn’t working as it was and how to make it better. They (and my few twitter followers 😉 ) know I’ve queried my piece as an Urban Fantasy to death, so major changes were needed in order for my story to have a second chance. Jami and KT were offering to do exactly what I hoped for with my story; and having just binge-watched the entire Buffy series, I figured the gif usage was, in fact, a very pointed sign.
Mentors: Why did you choose Hetal?
KT: I loved the setting in Mumbai, and the premise of the story was extremely intriguing. In PitchWars we have a limited window to complete everything in. The manuscript was something I knew we could work with and have ready in time. Other than that, Hetal was so open to the suggestions we were considering, it was going to be great.
Jami: I also loved the setting, and of all the full MSs we requested, this one was the stickiest. I knew, with the market the way it is, I wanted something that had something fresh with familiar elements. This fit the bill perfectly.
Hetal: Summarize your book in three words.
Hope. Shifters. Rescue.
Mentors: Summarize Hetal’s book in three words:
KT: Inner-strength, Revenge, Family
Jami: Love, Secrets, Spirited.
Hetal: Tell us about yourself. What makes you and your MS unique?
Well *I* think an interesting fact about me is that I have a degree in English but work in Information Technology. A part of me once thought I’d leverage my degree into PR, but now I can’t imagine being anything besides a Business Analyst championing your new best application/website/system experience. My friends, however, would rather hear stories about me living with my in-laws and how “don’t I want to kill them” every day. Yes, being first-generation Indian-American and raising my second-generation Indian-American kids with my not-so-fresh-off-the-boat extended household can be trying at times, but for the most part, our system works. And the little lessons of balancing culture, the challenges I experienced as the first non-Caucasian in my childhood public school system, are integral to every story I write; including the one I’m revising for PitchWars. About two years ago it became important to me to start portraying my culture. It was also about that time that I started rereading Hindu myths; and the idea of re-engineering those myths-not unlike how I re-engineer requirements in my day job-has become my MO since.
Mentors: Tell us about yourself. Something we might not already know:
KT: I have a ridiculous love for White chocolate. Like not even kidding. It’s the most beautiful thing in the world. I adore it. Drizzled, solid, on every dessert you can think of.
White chocolate, it’s where it’s at. Also caramel – on everything, in everything. OMG! Caramel filled white chocolate! INEED THIS.
Jami: I block out Friday nights for relaxing. Lately, that’s meant playing Obduction while watching shows like The Good Place (It’s like a Nanowrimo Dare novel in TV show form!) and Speechless (Actually great disability representation!).
Check out K.T. Hanna’s latest release . . .
![Parasite (The Domino Project Book 3) by [Hanna, K.T.]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51yD5Lx9gtL.jpg)
Parasite (The Domino Project Book 3)
With the Damascus closing in on the Exiled, Sai and Dom must put their grief and inner demons aside as they rush to free the people of the Protected Conglomerate from the influence of the psionic grid.
Chipped and placed under house arrest with a guard, Bastian’s only hope lies in reaching his core to disrupt Deign’s ruthless plan.
Intent on putting a stop to the Damascus and the GNW’s reign, Dom discovers the true extent of the parasite within. Just when Sai thinks the Exiled have a chance, their greatest weapon turns on them.