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 . . .
Suleena Bibra – Mentee
Farah Heron – Mentor
Farah, why did you choose Suleena?
Voice, voice voice! Suleena’s book is hilarious, steamy, and I love the unique Art House setting. Also, the main character in TWO HOUSES is an Indian woman, just like I am.
Suleena, why did you choose to submit to Farah?
I wanted to submit to Farah because of her wish list. It matched up with what I hope my manuscript is, so I knew I had to submit to her. Also, her love of banter, her amazing GIF game and the fact that she said #OwnVoices and interracial couples were encouraged.
Farah, summarize Suleena’s book in 3 words.
Sexy, funny, sophisticated.
Suleena, summarize your book in 3 words.
Enemies. Art. Banter.
Farah, tell us about yourself. Something we may not already know.
I’ve been a voracious reader all my life, but only started reading romance about five years ago. My debut novel, THE CHAI FACTOR, was a rom-com, and I have two more rom-coms on contract. I dream of one day writing a historical mystery, but the amount of research and planing scares me. I rotate through hobbies the way some people buy shoes: knitting, sewing, bread baking, video games, craft beer. I have worked in a high-school, a high-end department store, and in a bikini store, among other places. I live in Toronto with my husband and two kids, love to travel, and hope one day to meet Suleena’s dog (meeting Suleena in person would be great, too.)
Suleena, what do you hope to get out of the Pitch Wars experience?
I hope to become a stronger writer. I want to make this manuscript better and use the tools that Farah gives me in revising old projects and in writing new ones. For me, it was hard to see what the novel needed, but Farah’s notes have already led to so many amazing changes!
And if I get an agent and a book deal, that would be ok*.
*And by ok I mean it would be the best thing to happen in the history of things happening and I’m including my wedding day and puppy gotcha day because my dog can’t read this and my husband probably won’t read this.
Suleena, tell us about yourself! What makes you and your manuscript unique?
I grew up reading, and loving, romance. In between other people’s books, all the stories I made up in my head had a romance in them. One of the things I didn’t see in the books I read growing up, was people who looked like me (and thank god that’s changing!). But I wanted to write #Own Voice stories so people could feel the way I did when I first saw Mindy Kaling in The Mindy Project or when Alisha Rai wrote about brown nipples: really seen.
I also studied art history in college and volunteered at a museum, so when I started writing some of those romance stories in my head down, in was natural to set them in the art world.
Check out Farah’s latest release, THE CHAI FACTOR.
Thirty-year-old engineer Amira Khan has set one rule for herself: no dating until her grad-school thesis is done. Nothing can distract her from completing a paper that is so good her boss will give her the promotion she deserves when she returns to work in the city. Amira leaves campus early, planning to work in the quiet basement apartment of her family’s house. But she arrives home to find that her grandmother has rented the basement to . . . a barbershop quartet. Seriously? The living situation is awkward: Amira needs silence; the quartet needs to rehearse for a competition; and Duncan, the small-town baritone with the flannel shirts, is driving her up the wall.
As Amira and Duncan clash, she is surprised to feel a simmering attraction for him. How can she be interested in someone who doesn’t get her, or her family’s culture? This is not a complication she needs when her future is at stake. But when intolerance rears its ugly head and people who are close to Amira get hurt, she learns that there is more to Duncan than meets the eye. Now she must decide what she is willing to fight for. In the end, it may be that this small-town singer is the only person who sees her at all.
Add it on Goodreads!
You can also add Farah’s upcoming release, THE RIGHT SPICE on Goodreads!
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.