Our mentors are mentoring, 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 10, 2021, we hope you’ll take a moment during your writing breaks and get to know our 2020 Pitch Wars Mentor and Mentee Teams.
Next up, we have . . .
Jade Webb – Mentee
Lyn Liao Butler – Mentor
Lyn, why did you choose Jade?
I fell in love with the voice in Jade’s book right away. It was exactly what I was looking for. Voicey, distinct and so real I could actually see her characters. And when I kept reading, the story held my interest and I could see how I could help her make it shine even more than it already does.
Voicey, distinct and so real sounds great! And Jade, why did you choose to submit to Ian?
I am thrilled to be working with Lyn because she brings such a contagious enthusiasm about my project. While corresponding with Lyn, she asked such specific and thoughtful questions about my manuscript that showed me that she “got” my writing and was invested. Lyn offers such clear and supportive guidance that makes me excited to improve both my manuscript and my writing.
It’s great to have someone that “gets” your writing! Now, Lyn, summarize Jade’s book in 3 words.
Heartfelt voicey rom-com
Aww, lovely! So, Jade, summarize your book in 3 words.
Peak millennial rom-com
Sounds awesome. Lyn, tell us about yourself. Something we may not already know.
I am a big klutz. My mom can never understand how, as an ex-ballet dancer, that I can be such a clumsy person. I am always running into things, cutting myself, getting my foot caught in doorways, slipping down stairs, etc. Part of that may be because I read all the time – even when walking so… 🙂
Yes, I can see how reading while walking may have something to do with it. Back to Jade! What do you hope to get out of the Pitch Wars experience?
I am hoping to take Tweet Heart to the next level – I believe it’s a great love story that weaves together heart, humor and culture and it just needs a bit of guidance and tweaking to make it that much better. Just in the few short weeks since we’ve started working together, I’ve already started looking at my writing and my manuscript with new eyes and I am looking forward to strengthening my writing as I work with Lyn.
Welcome to the family! Jade, tell us about yourself. What makes you and your manuscript unique?
Well, I am a lot like my heroine in my manuscript – we’re both millennials who live with mental illness and use social media and humor to cope with the ups and downs that come with that diagnosis. Like my heroine, I am also a social worker, but while she works in a school, I worked with senior citizens (though there is quite a bit of overlap—you wouldn’t believe the drama in some of these retirement communities. It puts high school to shame!) I am also a new-ish mom who designs websites when I’m not writing. I think what makes Tweet Heart unique is that it captures a lot of the anxieties, fears and mental blocks that my generation deals with in a really humorous and kind way. One thing my heroine works through is the challenge of understanding and owning her identity, which is something I am still working through as a daughter of an immigrant who grew up in an intercultural and interfaith family. I like to challenge this mindset that I, and many children raised in these families have, of never feeling “enough” of either culture.
That sounds fantastic, and I’m sold! Thank you Lyn and Jade for the interview, it’s always great to get to know the teams!
Lyn Liao Butler’s debut, THE TIGER MOM’S TALE, will be published by Berkley/Penguin in July of 2021. Lyn was born in Taiwan and moved to the States when she was seven. In her past and present lives, she has been: a concert pianist, a professional ballet dancer, a business owner, a personal trainer and instructor, an RYT 200 yoga instructor, a purse designer, and, most recently, author of multicultural fiction. Lyn did not have a Tiger Mom. She came about her overachieving all on her own.
When she is not torturing clients or talking to imaginary characters, Lyn enjoys spending time with her FDNY husband, their son (the happiest little boy in the world), their two stubborn dachshunds and trying crazy yoga poses on a stand-up paddleboard. So far, she has not fallen into the water yet.
Thank you for supporting our Pitch Wars Teams! The Agent Showcase is February 10-15, 2021. Make sure to stop by then and check out all our mentees’ entries when it opens.