Pitch Wars Interview with Maria Mora and her mentor, Lindsey Miller

Welcome to the Pitch Wars Team Interviews by Marnise Nicole

Bringing you a closer look at each Pitch War Team and their project.

Be sure to comment with support, comments, and questions.

 

Meet Lindsey Miller and Maria Mora

Team: TeamMentos!

Lindsey Miller (Mentor), tell us a little about yourself.

I’m a fantasy person at heart, but I love any book with fantastical world building and characters to die for. Some of the books I revisit every year are Sherwood Smith’s CROWN DUEL (page 438, you guys); Garth Nix’s LIRAEL (all right, I re-read all of them, but this one especially) with its deeper look into the world of the Abhorsen series; and Scott Westerfeld’s LEVIATHAN which has one of the most interesting alternate history (alternate science history?) stories ever. Carol O’Connell’s STONE ANGEL will stay with me forever.

Maria Mora(Mentee), tell us a little about yourself.

I began writing fiction in fourth grade during math class. (I still count on my fingers.) When I was little, I wanted to be Sorcha from Willow or Luke Skywalker or a cat. I’m single mom of two wonderfully weird little boys. I grew up on and around boats, and I am here for all of your questions about fishing.

I’m drawn to stories with high stakes and characters with questionable morals. My favorite book as a child was THE ISLAND KEEPER by Harry Mazer. My favorite book of all time is SWORDSPOINT by Ellen Kushner. I love Gail Carriger’s Parsole Protectorate series and Francesca Lia Block’s WEETZIE BAT. I have a deep, abiding love for PHANTOM by Susan Kay and I re-read Jim Grimsley’s COMFORT AND JOY every few years around the holidays.

I’m a major pantser and I used to think I could only write while feeling “inspired.” Now I approach writing with discipline. See also: Tears of despair. My characters live in my head and sometimes comment on my life and fashion choices. I test out dialogue in the car and in bed at night when I can’t sleep. Sometimes I worry there’s a hidden camera on me.

Lindsey, why did you decide to participate in Pitch Wars?

I’ve participated in Pitch Wars as a mentee, and I really wanted to give back to the writing community that had welcomed me. It’s such an amazing opportunity to meet new writers and pay it forward. I also love hearing about what everyone is writing and reading new stories.

Maria, why did you decide to participate in Pitch Wars?

After stepping away from it for over a year, I started working on GATHOS again early this summer. Within minutes of opening up Scrivener, I saw Dahlia Adler tweet about Pitch Wars (which I hadn’t been ready for last year). Major serendipity. I had to jump on the opportunity to work with an active, supportive, talented community. I spent about 60 days revising, including chopping off last three chapters and rewriting them completely.

Lindsey, what are you most excited for?

Maria! I love her story and the world, and I especially love the small details in the world building that make the characters and situations really pop. I can’t wait to see what Maria does with the story, and I’ve loved working with her so far.

Maria, what are you most excited for?

Linsey! It’s so wild and fun to have someone care about this story and these characters the way I do. It’s honestly a dream come true to brainstorm with Linsey and figure out what isn’t working. I am so ready to come up with solutions and weave them into the story. I know this will be hard work but I am so pumped.

Maria, describe your novel in 3 words.

Friends are family.

Lindsey, describe your mentee’s novel in 3 words.

Trust your family.

 

Check Us Out …

Maria Mora, Mentee

Twitter | Website

Maria is a Communications Director at Big Sea Design and Development in St. Petersburg, Florida. Before that, she managed a team of writers as Associate Editor at SheKnows.com. She’s written over 1000 articles about topics like parenting, health and travel. You can often find her screwing around on Twitter. Sometimes she updates her blog.

Linsey Miller, Mentor

Twitter | Website

Linsey is a young adult fantasy writer and wayward biologist represented by Rachel Brooks of the L. Perkins Agency. You can find her rambling about books and writing on Twitter  or procrastinating on her blog.