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 5, 2020, we hope you’ll take a moment during your writing breaks and get to know our 2019 Pitch Wars Mentor and Mentee Teams.
Next up, we have . . .
Florence Migga – Mentee
Maria Frazer – Mentor
Meera Trehan – Mentor
Maria and Meera, why did you choose Florence?
What first caught our eye was her striking comps (Percy Jackson meets Children of Blood and Bone!)
We were taken by Florence’s story with its pitch-perfect middle grade voice, humor, fun characters, and Uganda setting. It’s important for a mentee to be willing to take the revisions and run with them, and really dig deep with their edits, and from Florence’s email to us, we had a feeling she’d be up to the challenge. (we were right! she totally was!)
Florence, why did you choose to submit to Maria and Meera?
When I read their post about what they were looking for in a mentee, the first thing that struck me was their friendship and energy. I love that they are CPs and friends, and their request was just fun to read. I wanted in on that. Between them, they have a great range of experience that I’m impressed with. Secondly, as a debut author with an #ownvoices manuscript, I really wanted mentor(s) who would understand how important it is to me to share my culture with young readers in an honest, educational, and relatable way. I really felt like Maria and Meera got that. Finally, chocolate chip is my favorite type of cookie, so I feel like that was A Sign. 😉
Maria and Meera, summarize Florence’s book in 3 words.
Friendship. Ancestors. Adventure.
Florence, summarize your book in 3 words.
Brave. Family. Fun.
Maria and Meera, tell us about yourself. Something we may not already know.
We’ve been critique partners for a few years, but the first time we spoke on the phone was this summer, in preparation for Pitch Wars! We hope to meet in person some day.
Florence, what do you hope to get out of the Pitch Wars experience?
Two things: first, is helping with editing. I am all over a first draft, but I really struggle with editing. I was hoping this experience would not only get me to edit this story to the degree that it needed, but also give me tools, techniques, and confidence that I can take with me going forward in my writing career.
Second, I have a handful of friends who are writers, and I love talking with them about it, but I really wanted to expand my circle of writing friendships. I especially loved the idea of having writer friends who are at the same part of the journey as I am, and also who are writing middle grade like me.
I can definitely say I have gotten both to a degree beyond my expectations — it’s truly been incredible!
Florence, tell us about yourself! What makes you and your manuscript unique?
I have been a reader and writer my entire life. I co-founded a book review blog, Book Nerds Across America, in 2010, and I still run it and its associated social media accounts. I don’t know what the future will look like for book bloggers, as it’s already changed so much since I started 10 years ago, but I love it too much to ever let it go.
The idea for GUARDIAN SAINTS has been brewing in the back of my mind for years, but I’ve been afraid of it for many reasons. But I go to a lot of book events and I kept hearing authors say something along the lines of, “The story that scares you is the one you need to write.” I distinctly remember one Saturday last January, I spent the day researching Ugandan folklore. The more I discovered about the Guardian Saints, the faster my heart started beating. It was terrifying — and I knew I had to write this story.
Thank you for supporting our Pitch Wars Teams! The Agent Showcase is February 5 – 10, 2020, and our next Twitter Pitch Party on #PitMad is March 5, 2020! Want to know more about #PitMad? Go here.