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 . . .
Kristy Gillespie – Mentee
Lindsey Frydman – Mentor
Kristy, why did you choose to submit to Lindsey?
Lindsey critiqued my query and first chapter and gave great feedback, I read her novel, The Heartbeat Hypothesis, and loved it, and after watching the PW video, I felt like she was someone I could be friends with.
Lindsey, why did you choose Kristy’s manuscript?
I fell in love with Kristy’s book instantly! The subject matter of anxiety and OCD was something I could relate to, and she did a wonderful job at making her plot dark and suspenseful, yet with a handful of hope towards the end. Aside from flying through her book, she’s also such a sweet person – one I knew I’d love to work with!
Kristy, summarize your book in 3 words.
Dark, suspenseful, hopeful.
Lindsey, summarize Kristy’s book in 3 words.
Dark, Creative, BAM (That last one is for the ending. <3)
Kristy, tell us about yourself! What makes you and your MS unique?
Lucy Counting Stars in a nutshell: After teen artists’ suicides rock small town, Lucy is sent to a mental hospital where they believe creativity causes mental illness. Me in a nutshell: former school counselor, current school librarian, generalized anxiety disorder.
Lindsey, tell us about yourself. Something we may not already know.
I love giving my introversion a worthy adversary so I’m a burlesque dancer! I have an art degree and while I can’t draw very well, I love to paint. (And I didn’t even major in painting!) Most of my books have a creative aspect to it – usually by giving at least one character an art related obsession or career. =)
And next, we have . . .
Laura Seabaugh – Mentee
K. Kazul Wolf – Mentee
Laura, why did you choose to submit to K. Kazul Wolf?
Funny thing and totally unexpected – she was a secret mentor – but I knew from her first email that we would be a force to be reckoned with. I entered Pitch Wars hoping to connect with someone who happens to come from the same creative universe as me. K. Kazul Wolf is that person, I just didn’t know it until she requested!
K. Kazul Wolf, why did you choose Laura’s manuscript?
As a secret mentor, there was a lot to love in my inbox (and I mean a LOT—hundreds of entries, I want to say my final inbox count clocked in at around 450) but Laura’s MS stuck out to me and I couldn’t shake her story. On top of being a sucker for sisters—especially a dynamic as intense and deep as hers—the world was so dark and yet lovely, and her voice was spot on. She was one of the only ones I knew I needed to request more of from the first few pages! Immediately after reading, I had a vision for how to emphasis what she already had going, and how to make the writing tighter. And from the answers that she gave me when I vaguely asked about changes, I felt like our visions co aligned. And she’s proven that since after I sent her an edit letter, she’s been awesome about hearing me out and discussing the changes so that we’re both on the same page and working toward the same goal. I’m excited beyond belief to see what she turns this amazing manuscript into, and to see where she goes as an author!
Laura, summarize your book in 3 words.
Delightfully Dark Frozen
K. Kazul Wolf, summarize Laura’s book in 3 words.
Fatalistic, Ferocious, Firebreathing-bullfrogs
Laura, tell us about yourself! What makes you and your MS unique?
I live a double-life as a writer-artist, and I haven’t quite grown out of my own little world. So naturally other-world fantasies of any medium are my happy place. As an INTP in an INFP trade, I like to think big – like nature of the universe and power of being human big – while zeroing in on deep (often unconventional) friendships and the contrasting pain of loss and loneliness. Since most of my writing comes from a love of fantasy, I aim to make the setting in my manuscript a living thing, a character in the story. So while we follow a young woman who will do anything to overcome the curse of her deadly touch and save her little sister from the darkness that haunts them, their world has bigger problems, with dragons who see no place for her kind in the future they’re trying to shape. And sometimes the world fights back.
K. Kazul Wolf, tell us about yourself. Something we may not already know.
Hmm, most everyone knows I’m a chef and a part-time dragon… Oh! I was a swimmer for many years before I was a writer. I was actually getting to the point I was really good (being six feet tall helps) before I caught the swine flu and was out for over six months which destroyed nearly everything I worked for. But, while I was stuck in bed I caught the cooking and the writing bug. Which is how I got to be able to mentor amazing writers today. 🙂
Our mentors’ latest releases . . .
THE HEARTBEAT HYPOTHESIS by Lindsey Frydman
Audra Madison simply wanted to walk in the shoes of Emily Cavanaugh, a free-spirited teenager who died too young. After all, Audra wasn’t supposed to be here.
Thanks to Emily, Audra has a second chance at life. She’s doing all the things that seemed impossible just two years ago: Go to college. Date. Stargaze in the Rocky Mountains. Maybe get a tattoo. You know, live.
Jake Cavanaugh, a photographer with mysterious, brooding gray eyes, agrees to help chronicle her newfound experiences. She makes him laugh, one of the only people who can these days. As they delve into each other’s pasts – and secrets – the closer they become.
But she’s guarded and feels like she can’t trust anyone, including herself.
And he’s struggling with the fact that his beloved sister’s heart beats inside her.
SACRIFICES OF SHADOW by K. Kazul Wolf
Sacrifices of Shadow is a graphic novel in the vein of dark urban fantasy, written by K. Kazul Wolf and illustrated by Matt Edginton. Anya is on her way to visit a friend when she comes upon a strange man lying in the road. It’s the middle of the night, pouring rain, and through the headlights it looks like something has just tried to tear this guy to pieces. He asks if she has a weapon on her, and before she can scoff or run back to the safety of her truck, something large begins to growl behind her…
Anya finds herself drawn into an eldritch world where hellish hounds stalk the between-worlds, magic-infused firearms are bought and traded, and shadowy entities in human guise appear to be eerily common.
Thank you for supporting our Pitch Wars Teams! The Agent Showcase is November 1-7, and our next #PitMad is December 1st!
1 Comment
Keep Calm & Write On – My Novel is in Pitch Wars! · September 14, 2017 at 9:04 pm
[…] Our Pitch Wars Interview: http://pitchwars.org/pitch-wars-2017-team-interviews-kristy-f-gillepsie-with-her-mentor-lindsey-fryd… […]
Comments are closed.