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 1st-7th, we hope you’ll take a moment during your writing breaks and get to know our 2017 Pitch Wars Teams.
And now, we have . . .
Audra E. Atoche — Mentee
E. Latimer – Mentor
Audra, why did you choose to submit to Erin?
When I read Erin’s mentor profile it sang to me. Operatic Aria type singing. We have such a similar aesthetic when it comes to stories we love to read and stories we love to write. Everything she was looking for I just kept ticking off my list – My manuscript had it all! I felt like I’d practically written my book for her. I saw myself as a reader in Erin and knew that if she was a part of my team, she’d understand what I was trying to do with my story (I was right!). In the most simple terms, I felt like Erin would “get” me and my work and she does.
Erin, why did you choose Audra’s manuscript?
I chose Audra because as soon as I started reading Penelope I was drawn into the voice. And because it had that special quality I’d been so desperately looking for. I wanted something dark, yet whimsical. Something I could see Tim Burton directing if it made it to the screen. And The Peculiar Predicament of Penelope Pendragon was all of those things.
Audra, summarize your book in 3 words.
Creepy, quirky, magical
Erin, summarize Audra’s book in 3 words.
Whimsical. Magical.Tim-Burtonesque
Audra, tell us about yourself! What makes you and The Peculiar Predicament of Penelope Pendragon unique?
I’m sort of a Jack of All trades type, I’ve done a lot of different things in my life from teaching ESL overseas, to making all-natural beauty products, to fitness studio manager, to children’s book seller. Officially I’m a Librarian with experience both as a Reference and Research Librarian at a University and a Youth Librarian at a Public Library. Through all of that, I’ve been a book lover. I’ve been blogging about books since 2012 over at AuggieTalk. My go to books? MG and YA – The creepier the better. I’m a new mom too and that has made everything else sparkle all the more.
So, about my MS. I was just as voracious a reader as a kid as I am now, and my favorites were the scary stories. I ran my local Children’s librarian up a wall with all of my requests for scary/spooky titles. Eventually the Juvenile section ran dry for me, there just weren’t that many dark tales for young readers at the time. I wanted to write something like that for the kid I once was (and still am, really) and all of the other children out there who may be seeking like I was, including my own. Kids have a dynamic and clear perspective when it comes to life, something I think we lose as adults. They experience all of the same darkness that adults do, but their outlooks seem to give a lot more room for hope and courage than we allow ourselves to have as we grow. I wanted to write a story that took all of those dark things, a conglomeration of the fear that kids can sometimes feel so acutely, and turn it into a real villain, one that can be looked in the eye by this brave kid who’s lost so much, but refuses to give up. There’s magic, mayhem, rule-breaking shenanigans, monsters of all sorts, quirky and absurd people, and friendships that form in the darkest of moments.
Erin, tell us about yourself. Something we may not already know.
Hmmm, something you may not know. Well, I have an obsession with witches. A lot of my books have witches of some kind in them. Sometimes the really nasty ones are my favorite.
Thank you for supporting our Pitch Wars Teams! And remember, there’s a #PitMad Twitter pitch party on September 7th.