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 . . .
Loro Gold – Mentee
Anna Kaling – Mentor
Anna, why did you choose Loro?
1. It may surprise people, but it wasn’t just because Loro wrote a mystery with DINOSAURS. I mean, as a rational person I do love dinosaurs, but I am a dino connoisseur and have high dino-related expectations. Loro wrote an excellent manuscript, first and foremost, and the dinosaurs were a bonus. The icing on the cretaceous, if you will.
2. This line in her writing sample: “You look like you’re cosplaying as a banana.”
3. Her brilliant attitude. I asked a bunch of questions when requesting the full and it was obvious she had the right work ethic, the right expectations, and the right attitude towards Pitch Wars—she wanted to hone her craft and be part of the community, not just get into the showcase. It was obvious she was mature and sensible, and I felt it was important that at least one of us had these qualities.
Loro, why did you choose to submit to Anna?
I subbed to Anna this year because I kicked myself all year for not subbing to her in 2020 with my last manuscript. She’s such a beacon in the Pitch Wars community, not only because of her popular #PWTeasers but also due to her kindness and generosity in critiquing submission packages in the Pitch Wars forum. That stood out to me, because it allowed me to see her mentorship style and sense of humor, both of which felt really in tune with what I was looking for. So this year, I told myself if she was looking for mysteries (and dinosaurs) again I absolutely had to submit to her. I was not about to kick myself again for a whole other year. My knees just could not take it anymore. And what luck, she was!
Anna, summarize Loro’s book in 3 words.
Hilarious. Gripping. Dinosaurtastic.
Loro, summarize your book in 3 words.
Humorous. Whodunnit. Dinosaurs.
Anna, tell us about yourself. Something we may not already know.
My secret ambition is to build and train a raccoon army, with the ultimate goal of world domination. Current setbacks are that there are no raccoons in the UK and I have no military experience, but I’m not letting this faze me.
Loro, what do you hope to get out of the Pitch Wars experience?
The main thing I hope to get out of Pitch Wars this year and every year is to connect with other writers who are passionate about storytelling. Under Anna’s mentorship, I’m also hoping to get a stronger manuscript to dive into the query trenches with. I’ve hit the halfway point of my developmental revisions, and I’m feeling really good about what we’ve accomplished so far. And Anna has already given me a new way to think about mystery plotting that I’m excited to carry into future manuscripts.
Loro, tell us about yourself. What makes you and your manuscript unique?
I currently live in the DC Metro with my husband and our two dogs. But I spent my childhood in the middle of a rice field in China… Texas. Ask me about our short-lived “Great Wall.” It’s a bizarre story. Growing up in a rural community, where our nearest neighbors were mudbugs, I devoured books.
As I got older, I turned my passion for reading into writing. Granted, I took the scenic route to get where I am today in Pitch Wars, first writing creative non-fiction, screenplays, infomercials, and ad copy before leaping into novels. But that combined with a love of laughter and finding humor in darkness makes me who I am and inspires the stories I want to tell.
It feels weird to say that I want people to laugh when they read my murder mystery, but it’s the truth. The genre mashup of humorous amateur-sleuth mystery with science fiction is what sets Dial C for Carnotaurus apart. Think Finlay Donovan is Killing It mixed with Jurassic Park. If you’re looking for a fun romp in Cretaceous North America while solving a murder, then this is the story for you.
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.