Pitch Wars Team Interview with Erin Fulmer and mentor, Ren Hutchings

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 . . .

Erin Fulmer – Mentee

Website | Twitter

Ren Hutchings – Mentor

Website | Twitter

Ren, why did you choose Erin?

Erin’s submission caught my attention right away. I mean…space pirates? Haunted starships? Ancient ruins? A scar in space-time? A found-family crew with comps to Becky Chambers’ WAYFARERS series? I could not request it quickly enough! Her book had so many elements I love in a space opera, and I’m a sucker for multi-POV stories and non-linear timelines. I loved what she did with her characters, and the way the storyline addresses themes of recovery from trauma and reconciling with the past. When I read Erin’s answers to the follow-up questions I asked by email, her responses were so thoughtful and imaginative that I couldn’t wait to talk to her about how she could bring more of her ideas to the page!

Space pirates and haunted starships…love it! OK, Erin, why did you choose to submit to Ren?

Ren said she wrote “twisty space novels” and I have a twisty space novel, so it seemed like a good fit! She listed a ton of elements on her wish list that matched my book. Space archaeology, time shenanigans, AI, immortality, post-Earth human civilization, memory hacking, quippy banter, found families, grumpy cinnamon rolls–it was like she tailored her list specifically for my manuscript. I couldn’t not submit to her. And I could tell she was approachable and funny and down-to-earth, someone I would want to hang out with whether or not we were talking about my book. Which she absolutely is!

Yep, it’s all about fit! Now, Ren, summarize Erin’s book in 3 words.

Haunting, cosmic, emotional

Erin, summarize your book in 3 words.

Mysterious spacetime hijinks!

Yay for hijinks! And, Ren, tell us about yourself. Something we may not already know.

After watching the movie The Flight of the Navigator as a child, I became fascinated by time travel. I was also genuinely worried that I might walk up to my house from the backyard one day and find out that ten years had passed for my family. I made detailed contingency plans for what to do if I unexpectedly jumped into the future, and that probably explains a whole lot about me.

What a great imagination. So, Erin, what do you hope to get out of the Pitch Wars experience?

I’m here to learn. Ultimately, we all want to get an agent, of course, but I hope to make my manuscript the best it can be, develop my revision skills, and grow as a writer. Writing is usually such a solo pursuit, and even though I’m a confirmed introvert who doesn’t mind holing up with my own thoughts for days on end, working with someone else on my book is such a revelatory experience. It’s so lovely to have someone in my corner who cares about the story as much as I do and is rooting for me (and also MOAR TIME TRAVEL, lol!)

Having that support is so important! OK, Erin, tell us about yourself. What makes you and your manuscript unique?

I think GALATEA’S PARADOX is a “heart book” for me. Although on the surface it’s about space and pirates and weird time anomalies and mysterious alien ruins, there is a lot in it that is very personal. At its core it’s about the ways trauma changes us, how it keeps us stuck, and what it costs to get free and move forward. About how sometimes you have to leave your whole self behind if you are going to have any shot at getting her back, and how time and truth are relative and depend on our perspective. But, you know, with cool starships, robots, a dashing interstellar privateer, and an AI with a sly sense of humor and a lot of secrets. Plus a genetically engineered pseudogriffin who wants to eat the rich and his grumpy cinnamon roll human detective who is better at solving crimes than fixing his own life.

Did I just spend a paragraph talking about my book and say nothing about me? Kind of. Was that on purpose? Maybe. You don’t want to read about me, you want to read about my chaos bi pirate captain. I’m just a homebody attorney with a lot of feelings who dotes over my kitties, reads the science news to cheer myself up when the world is too terrible, and appreciates a good paradox.

The story sounds awesome, and so do you! Thank you both for taking the time for this interview. It’s so great to get to know the teams a little.

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.