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 starting on February 6, 2019, we hope you’ll take a moment during your writing breaks and get to know our 2018 Pitch Wars Teams.
Next up, we have . . .
Taylor Koleber – Mentee
Katie Golding – Mentor
Michelle Hazen – Mentor
Katie and Michelle, why did you choose Taylor?
His book had us laughing so hard when reading in public that strangers kept double taking at us, and we nearly broke the caps lock key on our phones texting back and forth about it. I mean, when you laugh until you can’t breathe, you know you’ve got a winner.
Taylor, why did you choose to submit to Katie and Michelle?
Several of the bullet points in their all-caps texting ‘DID YOU SEE THE THING’ list seemed to match my manuscript. They both seemed fun, clever, and the high-energy compliment buffet they promised to serve up in revisions (without sacrificing anything in the way of stuff that does actually need to be revised) sounded like a dream come true.
Katie and Michelle, summarize your mentee’s book in 3 words.
Hilarious dating bloopers!
Taylor, summarize your book in 3 words.
Professional rebound dater.
Katie and Michelle, tell us about yourselves. Something we may not already know.
Katie: I’m a musician! Flute and Oboe, started all the way back in sixth grade.
Michelle: I am a huge sucker for bad date stories. Like, as soon as I find out one of my friends is on some dating app, I’m just like TELL ME ALL YOUR WORST DATE STORIES. So this book was like catnip to me, to see some dating train wrecks and then the super-real moments when a date gone wrong turns into a moment of true connection.
Taylor, what do you hope to get out of the Pitch Wars experience?
A stronger community wherein I can hone my craft, learn more about the genre, and meet and support other talented writers!
Taylor, tell us about yourself! What makes you and your manuscript unique?
Fun fact: this manuscript is (albeit very loosely) based around real-life experiences I’ve had!
One of my best friends had had a terrible run of boyfriends who hadn’t treated her the way she deserved. One night, we got talking, and she confessed how she felt so turned around and confused as to how a relationship was supposed to work–so I offered to take her on a few dates to sort of ‘reset the mold’. Very structured dates, totally platonic, just so she could sorta work through the motions. After three or four dates, she was bright, shining, happy… it worked well. I introduced her to another guy a little later, at a NYE party. They’ve since been married seven years (with one glorious little boy and a little girl on the way).
A few years later, after an amicable break-up with another girl, I sort of set her up with another guy/mutual friend… and they wound up married about a year after that.
So, I thought it’d be good fun to write about a guy who literally made his living being paid to rebound-date women, and along came the manuscript Mr. Rebound.
Check out Michelle’s Sex, Love, and Rock & Roll Series.
If you can’t get to the Big O, can you get to the happily ever after?
Jera McKnight loves music, swoons for hot guys, but sucks at sex. Jacob Tate is her perfect storm: a pun-loving nude model with a heart as big as his record collection.
When a newspaper-delivery accident lands him in her living room, he’s almost tempting enough to make her forget she’s never been able to please a man—in bed or out of it. Sure, he laughs at her obscure jokes, and he’ll even accept a PG-rating if it means he gets time with her, but he’s also hiding something. And it has everything to do with the off-limits room in his apartment.
Jera pours all her confusion and longing into her drum kit, which pays off when her band lands the record deal of their dreams. Except just like Jacob, it might be too good to come without a catch.
She doesn’t know if her music is good enough to attract a better contract, or if she’s enough to tempt a man like Jacob to give up his secrets—even if they could fix her problems between the sheets. But if this rocker girl is too afraid to bet on herself, she might just end up playing to an empty house.
If you’re looking for a story “infused with love, laughter, charm and a deep streak of vulnerability” then you’ll adore this addictive new series. Click now if you want to instantly escape into Jera and Jacob’s romance!
Check out Kate’s ORDER UP and SWAP OUT books …
Wesley Jacobs’ life is going nowhere fast, unless he’s racing to his next stop as a pizza delivery driver. Race he does when the order is for quirky dance captain Reagan Ward. When Reagan applies for a job at the pizzeria, Wes’ soft-spoken style and attentive eyes (along with his classic Chevelle Super Sport) are more than she can resist. Unfortunately, a law-breaking age gap and her disapproving father terminate their nightly flirtation at the punch of the time clock.
Months quickly melt away with duck pond rendezvous and stolen moonlit dances. Once the couple finally blows out Reagan’s birthday candles, the new age of Wes’ beloved girlfriend ushers in both freedom and a heavy dose of reality. For Reagan, college life is beckoning, and its call points her dance shoes to the other side of the country.
Only now beginning to find his own path in life, can Wes justify following his heart toward the only girl he’s ever loved, even when she’s perpetually off-limits?
Months quickly melt away with duck pond rendezvous and stolen moonlit dances. Once the couple finally blows out Reagan’s birthday candles, the new age of Wes’ beloved girlfriend ushers in both freedom and a heavy dose of reality. For Reagan, college life is beckoning, and its call points her dance shoes to the other side of the country.
Only now beginning to find his own path in life, can Wes justify following his heart toward the only girl he’s ever loved, even when she’s perpetually off-limits?
And keep an eye open for Katie’s Wreckless series, releasing starting in 2020 from Sourcebooks Casablanca.
Thank you for supporting our Pitch Wars Teams! The Agent Showcase is February 6 – 11, 2019, and our next #PitMad is December 6, 2018!