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 . . .
LK Frank – Mentee
Kim Long – Mentor
Jennifer L. Brown – Mentor
Kim & Jennifer, why did you choose LK?
We could not put LK’s manuscript down! GOLNICK AND KIRA SEARCH FOR A HEALER (BUT GET A BIT SIDETRACKED) is told in dual POV, and both Golnick and Kira’s voices were distinct and hilarious. She had us laughing out loud with her wry wit and clever turns of phrase. Between all of those laughs, there were plot twists galore, incredible friendships, steampunk-y tech, unique magic, and a bunch of heart. We were more than mildly obsessed with her submission, and even better, we had oodles of ideas about how to make her story shine even more. We couldn’t wait to invite her to #TeamKrakenBee! Her revision is progressing in such an exciting direction, and we cannot wait for everyone to see her incredible story!
LK, why did you choose to submit to Kim & Jennifer?
I was scrolling through the mentor wishlists and double-took — I’d recently flagged Kim’s Lexi Magill and the Teleportation Tournament as one to buy for my STEM-loving niece. Then I saw Kim and Jen were looking for books with enemies who work together, girl power, STEM, and dragons, not to mention their 2018 mentee (Summer Short) wrote a book featuring magical plant-life … and how could I not submit to them? Even better, they specifically mentioned strengthening emotional arcs, which was something that had been on my mind. Basically, it seemed like a perfect match!
Kim & Jennifer, summarize LK’s book in 3 words.
Enemies to friends.
LK, summarize your book in 3 words.
War’s bad, man.
Kim & Jennifer, tell us about yourself. Something we may not already know.
Jennifer: My books are organized across two bookshelves in a rainbow based on their spine color. I broke up many series to accomplish this, so basically, I am a monster.
Kim: WHAT? Sorry, I can’t get over what I just read from my co-mentor. She split up series?
LK, what do you hope to get out of the Pitch Wars experience?
Aside from getting my manuscript into the best shape possible by shamelessly taking advantage of Kim and Jen’s wealth of knowledge and experience, I’m hoping to (re)learn how to write to deadlines! It’s also lovely to have such a supportive mentor team and PW community to bounce ideas and concerns off.
LK, tell us about yourself! What makes you and your manuscript unique?
I’ve always loved humanities (literature, history, languages), and so of course sensibly opted for a career based in physics. Yes, I’m an idiot. Despite a two-book-a-day reading habit, I hadn’t written anything creative in years but constantly thought, “One day, I’ll write a book of my own.” And then ‘one day’ unexpectedly arrived, and I did. And it was way more enjoyable than poking at eyeballs. (Poking at eyeballs, it turns out, is less fun than the brochures suggest.) Having tried my hand writing YA, I turned to MG fantasy as a palate cleanser, and found it was even more fun again than the eyeball thing. For some reason, people (and spellcheck) take issue when you use words like “unseecomingable” and “ratpocalypse” and (cough) “double-took” in contemp YA, but this book gave me the freedom to play and pun and let my very daftiest humour fly free!
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.
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