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 . . .
Nathalie D. Medina – Mentee
Sonora Reyes – Mentor
Sonora, why did you choose Nathalie?
I fell in love with Villavivos the second I read the query letter. I mean, it’s basically if you took Warm Bodies and made it a Western with an all Dominican cast and gave the zombies a theatre troupe?? LIKE??? How could I not choose this book? Not to mention it’s just so full of heart and such an amazing cast of characters who I immediately fell in love with. I believe in this book so much and I had an absolute blast reading it(twice!!) before the announcement.
Nathalie, why did you choose to submit to Sonora?
I have a lot in common with Soni and we had talked before through #QPOCChat, so I already really looked up to them. I was also already really excited for their upcoming book, The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School. So when I saw they were a Pitch Wars mentor, I knew I had to submit to them. Most importantly, my book actually matched their manuscript wishlist without much bending, so I screwed my courage to the sticking point and submitted!
Sonora, summarize Nathalie’s book in 3 words.
Dominican theater zombies!!!
Nathalie, summarize your book in 3 words.
ACAB YEEHAW ZOMBIES
Sonora, tell us about yourself. Something we may not already know.
I have a really really cute pit bull named Thor and he is my pride and joy!
Nathalie, what do you hope to get out of the Pitch Wars experience?
I really value the mentorship aspect of the program. This is the first big revision I’ve been through, and not doing it by myself is HUGE. I don’t feel like I’m flailing in the dark. I’m already learning so much from Soni about pacing, characterization, scene transitions, making sure everything in your novel is there for a reason, and not just leaving problems in there that you know need to be fixed! Soni is also amazing at brainstorming solutions to problems that seem intractable, so no revision issue is too big or too scary.
Nathalie, tell us about yourself. What makes you and your manuscript unique?
Of course now that I’m being asked about myself, all knowledge of myself is instantly obliterated from my brain… So I would simply say, please enjoy this picture of my cat Lucy, a wonderful senior black cat with so much personality (they are the most difficult to adopt out, so please consider them when adding an animal companion to your life!). Click the kitty pic to see it bigger.
Check out Sonora’s upcoming release…
The Lesbiana’s Guide To Catholic School is a coming-of-age contemporary YA novel, coming May 2022 from Harper Collins.
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.