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 . . .
Kara Kennedy – Mentee
Jamie Howard – Mentor
Meredith Tate – Mentor
Jamie & Meredith, why did you choose Kara?
Jamie: I feel like the opening of Kara’s manuscript really grabbed Meredith and I from the killer opening and just absolutely refused to let go. There was so much about it that really hit upon our wish list, and to say we devoured her pages would be an extreme understatement.
Meredith: I totally agree, the beginning hooked us immediately. I loved the toxic dynamic of Maya and Alana, and then the sweet dynamic of Maya and Rowan, and how Maya grew throughout the book. It was one of those manuscripts I couldn’t stop thinking about, even long after I finished reading.
Kara, why did you choose to submit to Jamie & Meredith?
Honestly, at first, I was a little nervous to submit to Jamie and Meredith! They were accepting so many genres, and I was afraid my sad, spooky thriller about a girl fighting the ghosts of her past wouldn’t stand out. But when I looked closer at their wishlist, I realized that my book did have a lot of elements they were looking for: friendship breakups, creepy small towns, the dark side of social media, lots of angst, and of course, ghosts!
Learning that Jamie and Meredith are genuine, real-life friends and CPs really warmed my heart; I knew I would be in good hands with a mentor pair who works so seamlessly together. I was exactly right, and I’m so fortunate to be working with them!
Jamie & Meredith, summarize Kara’s book in 3 words.
Jamie: Haunting. Unputdownable. Heartbreaking.
Meredith: Spooky, mysterious, uplifting
Kara, summarize your book in 3 words.
Atmospheric, haunted, triumphant.
Jamie & Meredith, tell us about yourself. Something we may not already know.
Jamie: One of my former homes was featured on a ghost hunter’s TV show.
Meredith: I’ve lived in three different countries.
Kara, what do you hope to get out of the Pitch Wars experience?
I’m always excited to make more friends in the writing community, and it’s been amazing meeting the other mentees and chatting about everyone’s work! I’m also looking forward to strengthening my craft and learning to trust myself more in my writing. Edit letters and revision plans can be daunting, but it’s important to trust that you know your story and have the power to mold it into the best version of itself.
Kara, tell us about yourself. What makes you and your manuscript unique?
I’ve been writing since I was a little girl – mostly ghost stories, of course. I’m an East Coast native who spent some time living on the West Coast, and in many ways, my manuscript is a love letter to the Los Angeles haunts I left behind. It was so fun to revisit some places I haven’t been able to actually visit in years due to the pandemic and to get to put a spooky twist on them!
YA thrillers are my absolute favorite genre to read, but this is the first one I’ve ever written myself. It’s been so exciting to really dive into the conventions of the genre, learning how to unravel a mystery and keep the reader guessing.
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.