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.
First up, we have . . .
Laura A. Woollett – Mentee
Jenna Lenhe – Mentor
Tara Creel – Mentor
Jenna and Tara, why did you choose Laura?
We’ve always wanted to tackle a MG horror together but continually felt ourselves being drawn to books that tugged our heartstrings. When we found ourselves reading and then texting each other back and forth all day until we finished Laura’s manuscript, we knew we had something special. Her horror with heart is going to steal people’s hearts!
Laura, why did you choose to submit to Jenna and Tara?
We share a love of all things horror!
Jenna and Tara, summarize Laura book in 3 words.
Creepy. Heartfelt. Suspenseful.
Laura, summarize your book in 3 words.
Ghosts, creepiness, love
Jenna and Tara, tell us about yourself. Something we may not already know.
Jenna: I wholeheartedly believe in ghosts, the Sasquatch, and aliens. I cannot be convinced that these entities don’t exist. And I like ketchup on my eggs.
Tara: While I write MG, I’m a sucker for a good love story. I told my sister the first time I saw my now husband that I would marry him. We got married less than five months later and have been together for almost thirteen years 💛
Laura, what do you hope to get out of the Pitch Wars experience?
I hope to strengthen the emotional resonance of the story, while upping the creepiness even more.
Laura, tell us about yourself! What makes you and your manuscript unique?
My long-time love of scary stuff comes from my deep-seated need to feel safe, loved, and in control. The main character in The House of Dead Boys, Nat, is a lot like that too. Having lost his mother and moving in with his estranged dad, Nat is in a sea of uncertainty. That’s terrifying enough, but add a ghost that wants to kill him to the mix and talk about a control-freak’s worst nightmare! My nonfiction book, Big Top Burning: The True Story of an Arsonist, a Missing Girl, and The Greatest Show On Earth, probes the same essential question: when something really bad happens – who will take care of me? I find that the stories I write, at their heart, all aim to provide some comfort to readers who might be facing hard times. I want to wrap readers up in my words and tell them that no matter what, you are loved and you are going to be OK. And as I write, I tell myself this too.
Check out Jenna’s latest release, WHEN THE DEVIL TAKES HOLD.
After an accident nearly wipes out Murphy and her friends, the only thing they can think about is getting to Murphy’s remote lake house and grabbing a celebratory ‘we’re alive’ beer. When they find a Ouija board and connect with Korku, the so-called demon of fear, they laugh off the creepy experience as a side effect of to much fun in the sun.
The next day, Murphy’s friend Hayley disappears. Assuming she’s just gone for a hike on one of the many trails, no one gives it much thought. Hours later, Hayley’s body washes up onto the lake shore even though she refused to go into the water. Somehow, Murphy’s friends are dying by the fears they confessed. With the cell phone towers down and no vehicles in sight, the remaining friends are forced to stay in the cabin for the weekend. When another of them dies, the survivors have to make a choice: fight for their lives while they way for help to arrive or fight their way back to town from the remote cabin.
As everything around them dissolves into a waking nightmare, Murphy discovers their cabin isn’t the only one plagued with horror. The entire mountainside is cloaked in darkness and unfortunately for Murphy, fear knows no bounds.