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 9, 2021, we hope you’ll take a moment during your writing breaks and get to know our 2021 Pitch Wars Mentor and Mentee Teams.
Next up, we have . . .
Elle Everhart – Mentee
Jenny L. Howe – Mentor
Courtney Kae – Mentor
Jenny and Courtney, why did you choose Elle?
We fell hard for Elle’s swoony, escapist, bi m/f romcom from the query alone, and the pages delivered tenfold! WANDERLUST could be comp’d to a voice as sparkling as Talia Hibbert’s, meets the electric forced proximity of THE UNHONEYMOONERS. Carefree yet complex main character Dylan and adorably uptight cinnamon-roll love interest Jack stole our hearts and swept us around the world in this cinematic, immersive, steamy dream of a ride! We’re so thrilled to work with Elle, and can’t wait for this incredible story to be out in the world! Elle is especially talented at delivering on all the quintessential romcom trademarks of humor and over-the-top fun scenarios, all while weaving in hearfelt and timely themes of abortion care and bi erasure. This is a gem of a book, and Elle is a star.
Elle, why did you choose to submit to Jenny and Courtney?
When I was reading about what the adult mentors were looking for this year, Courtney and Jenny immediately stood out. They seemed so warm and lovely and supportive in their post and, wow, they’re even kinder in person (or… I guess… online). I’m so lucky that they chose me — I feel like they just get what I want this book to be and like they can see the shiny, polished version underneath the current draft. I cannot wait to read their books when they come out because I just KNOW they’re going to blow my mind.
Jenny and Courtney, summarize Elle’s book in 3 words.
Swoony! Escapist! Cinematic!
Elle, summarize your book in 3 words.
Big-hearted globe-trotting strangers
(I cheated a bit there with the hyphenated words haha)
Elle, what do you hope to get out of the Pitch Wars experience?
I’m hoping to end Pitch Wars with the absolute best version of my book — I love these characters and their story, and I want them to really shine! Courtney and Jenny have given me some excellent feedback, so my wheels are definitely turning! I also want to grow my community of writer friends — I’ve already met so many lovely people and I can’t wait to see their books in the world one day (hopefully one day very soon). Honestly, every time I think about the community here, my heart grows ten thousand times the size!
Elle, tell us about yourself. What makes you and your manuscript unique?
I’m originally from the United States, but I live in London and am currently training to be a secondary English teacher. I’m a single parent, too, so I spend 99% of my time hanging out with kids who are way cooler and funnier than I could ever hope to be (my son and my students are also always saying the most brilliant things—I’m so lucky I get to spend time with them). As a bisexual person, I’m always clamouring for more bisexual leads in romance—there are SO many people writing the most amazing books, but I had to add my own. Access to safe abortions, too, is something I care a lot about, and my main character’s attempts to navigate the fall out from talking publicly about her abortion was really, really important for me to include and make central to her story. Abortions are healthcare and I would love to see that talked about more in romance!
Check out Jenny and Courtney’s upcoming releases …
THE MAKE-UP TEST by Jenny L. Howe
ONE TO WATCH meets BEACH READ in this smart, swoony, romantic comedy, in which two college exes find themselves battling against each other—and their unresolved feelings—for a spot in a prestigious literature Ph.D. program.
Coming September 2022 from St. Martin’s Griffin
Morgan Ross can plan world-class events, but she didn’t plan on returning to the hometown that broke her heart seven years ago—and re-discovering the girl of her dreams . . .With her career as a Los Angeles event planner imploding after a tabloid blowup, Morgan Ross isn’t headed home for the holidays so much as in strategic retreat. Breathtaking mountain vistas, quirky townsfolk, and charming small businesses aside, her hometown of Fern Falls is built of one heartbreak on top of another . . .
Take her one-time best friend turned crush, Rachel Reed. The memory of their perfect, doomed first kiss is still fresh as new-fallen snow. Way fresher than the freezing mud Morgan ends up sprawled in on her very first day back, only to be hauled out via Rachel’s sexy new lumberjane muscles acquired from running her family tree farm.
When Morgan discovers that the Reeds’ struggling tree farm is the only thing standing between Fern Falls and corporate greed destroying the whole town’s livelihood, she decides she can put heartbreak aside to save the farm by planning her best fundraiser yet. She has all the inspiration for a spectacular event: delicious vanilla lattes, acoustic guitars under majestic pines, a cozy barn surrounded by brilliant stars. But she and Rachel will ABSOLUTELY NOT have a heartwarming holiday happy ending. That would be as unprofessional as it is unlikely. Right?
Thank you for supporting our Pitch Wars Teams! The Agent Showcase is February 9-14, 2022. Make sure to stop by then and check out all our mentees’ entries when it opens.
1 Comment
my pitch wars interview with my mentors is live! – Elle Everhart · January 2, 2022 at 9:29 am
[…] Pitch Wars Team Interview with Elle Everhart and mentors, Jenny L. Howe and Courtney Kae […]
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