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 . . .
Jamie Sogn – Mentee
Lyn Liao Butler – Mentor
Lyn, why did you choose Jamie?
Jamie’s thriller gripped me right away. I could see a vision for it and when I sent her some hard questions, I could see from her answers that we were heading in the same direction and that she would work hard. I love her POV and the twists she put into her book.
Jamie, why did you choose to submit to Lyn?
I thought Lyn would be a wonderful Mentor when I read her profile for last year’s Pitch Wars! I submitted a women’s fiction manuscript to Lyn for Pitch Wars last year, but I didn’t get any requests. I shelved that manuscript and began a new one which became a thriller. Imagine my excitement when I saw that this year, Lyn was also open to thriller submissions! I was drawn to the perspective Lyn offered as a Woman of Color and loved her claim that she would offer constructive criticism without sugar coating it! I knew that her insight and honesty could take my manuscript to the next level.
Lyn, summarize Jamie’s book in 3 words.
Twisty, masterful, empowerment
Jamie, summarize your book in 3 words.
Twisty toxic friendships
Lyn, tell us about yourself. Something we may not already know.
I love dogs and foster for two rescues. We’ve fostered 15 dogs since the pandemic started and only foster failed twice. LOL
Jamie, what do you hope to get out of the Pitch Wars experience?
I am already gaining so much as I work with Lyn on my manuscript revisions. Her ideas have already been game changing for my work! Beyond Lyn’s insight, I am looking forward to having her as a connection to help me navigate being new in the publishing world. An added bonus is getting to know the other mentees- everyone is so talented!
Jamie, tell us about yourself. What makes you and your manuscript unique?
I’m an attorney and live in Seattle. I was pretty excited to set my thriller in the angsty and dramatic Pacific Northwest. One of the things that Lyn is helping me bring out in my manuscript is the Asian American identity of my main character, which in my head was the same as me- half Filipino Chinese and half white. However, it was very ambiguous in my original submission and she asked me why I didn’t explicitly make my main character biracial like myself to lend another layer of depth. I am so excited to make this a unique part of the story, as I would love to see more BIPOC protagonists in the stories I read.
Check out Lyn’s upcoming release, RED THREAD OF FATE …
Two days before Tam and Tony Kwan receive their letter of acceptance for the son they are adopting from China, Tony and his estranged cousin Mia are killed unexpectedly in an accident. A shell-shocked Tam learns she is named the guardian to Mia’s five-year-old daughter, Angela. With no other family around, Tam has no choice but to agree to take in the girl she hasn’t seen since the child was an infant.
Overwhelmed by her life suddenly being upended, Tam must also decide if she will complete the adoption on her own and bring home the son waiting for her in a Chinese orphanage. But when a long-concealed secret comes to light just as she and Angela start to bond, their fragile family is threatened. As Tam begins to unravel the events of Tony and Mia’s past in China, she discovers the true meaning of love and the threads that bind her to the family she is fated to have.
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.