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 . . .
Ruth Ford – Mentee
ST Sterlings – Mentor
Steph, why did you choose Ruth?
Ruth had a fun story with a neat twist! I loved Adrian, the protagonist, from the second he was introduced. Ruth seemed ready to work hard and make the story the best it could possibly be!
It’s great when a character hooks you right off! And Ruth, why did you choose to submit to Steph?
I chose Steph for a bazillion reasons. One major factor was that she listed juvenile detention centres and funeral homes in her wishlist. They don’t quite match my story, but they were the closest I’ve ever seen anyone asking for! Also she just seemed so warm and fun in her blog. I trusted that she’d be gentle while ripping my manuscript to shreds.
I’m intrigued with what comes close to juvenile detention centers and funeral homes. So Steph, can you summarize Ruth’s book in 3 words?
Fun, Twisty, Accepting
Ruth, summarize your book in 3 words.
Necromancy. Mystery. Misunderstandings.
Ah, and here is the tie in. I love necromancy stories! And Steph, tell us about yourself. Something we may not already know.
I used to write fanfiction based off popular anime. Fans of my fanfiction encouraged me to work on original stories!
That’s great! Writing fanfiction can really build a following I’ve heard. Now Ruth, what do you hope to get out of the Pitch Wars experience?
Confidence. A better novel too, obviously, but more than anything else I wanted to find some confidence in my own work and I think that’s already happened.
I’m so glad to hear that you’ve gained confidence! It’s what makes us brave enough to go deeper into our emotions and our writing. And Ruth, tell us about yourself. What makes you and your manuscript unique?
Pitchwars happened at a perfect time for me. I’d just moved back from working in Japan for five years and, with everything happening in the world just now, I had a lot of free time on my hands. I’m hoping to go back to uni next year to work towards being a therapist for young people, and I think that was an influence for my novel. I still don’t quite know what to label my MS. I’m not sure if saying it’s a ‘YA contemporary light-fantasy with romance and mystery plotlines, as well as cross-generational friendships, found family and LGBT+ themes’ is a bit long… I’ll try and condense that before the showcase.
The whole story came about after creating my main character, Adrian. The only time I toot my own horn is when I think about his character.
That is a bit long of a description, but it hooked me. Good luck condensing it. Thank you Steph and Ruth for the interview!
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.