Pitch Wars Team Interview with Aimee Davis and mentor, Rochelle Karina

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 . . .

Aimee Davis – Mentee

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Rochelle Karina – Mentor

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Rochelle, why did you choose Aimee?

Aimee wrote this story that I couldn’t get out of my head and just kept coming back to. A grown up, fractured fairytale where Destiny is kind of a capricious jerk and no one is quite what they seem and happily ever after comes at a serious cost?

Yeah. I’m down.

I knew the story would need a lot of work, but Aimee’s responses to follow up questions were so well-thought out, and aligned perfectly with what I saw in her manuscript. How could I resist?

Aimee, why did you choose to submit to Rochelle?

Besides the fact that my book seemed to have a lot of elements Rochelle was interested in (fairytale retellings! alternate time periods! magic rules! multi-layer conflict! corrupt power structures! sexy times! shoes! Okay, she didn’t ask for shoes, but I MIGHT have done some light internet stalking and discovered she was into shoes via her website), her mentoring style really appealed to me, specifically the fact that she emphasized explaining the why behind the what. I tend to be pretty intellectual when it comes to my writing and my characters (despite being a pantser), and if I don’t have the why, there is no amount of what you can tell me that will convince me I should fix something. So I liked that immediately. Plus, she was always jumping in on social media with a very positive and encouraging vibe. This being my fifth attempt at Pitch Wars, a little encouragement was definitely something I was looking for.

Rochelle, summarize Aimee’s book in 3 words.

Twisted fractured fairytale.

Aimee, summarize your book in 3 words.

Godmother gone wrong.

Rochelle, tell us about yourself. Something we may not already know.

This question always makes me giggle since I’m kind of an open book with a tendency to overshare.

I am intensely uncomfortable in enclosed spaces. I need windows. And light. And air moving. And it’s a constant battle in our house—we live in the city, and have TONS of very large windows. And I like the blinds up—so I can see OUT.

But a certain someone is always lowering the blinds—because others can see IN. Which makes me feel like the walls are closing in. The compromise—blinds on windows that face other homes are lowered to half-mast for privacy. Windows that don’t face other homes are left open.

Aimee, what do you hope to get out of the Pitch Wars experience?

So much! I said this to Rochelle when she requested my manuscript, but I’ve actually been trying to get into Pitch Wars longer than I’ve been trying to get an agent. Before I ever queried, I applied to Pitch Wars. I think it was the sense of community that really drew me. I have C-PTSD, touch aversion, and OCD, so it can be difficult for me to connect to others (and others to connect to me) right away. The Pitch Wars community always seemed to be so welcoming and positive, and I really hoped to find a place where I fit in within it. So far, that seems to be going well!

Besides the community, I’m obviously hopeful to get a great manuscript and some submission materials to match, but I’ve also been fortunate enough to land myself a mentor who wants to teach me some valuable editing skills I can put to use on EVERY book, not just this one, which is awesome because no matter what happens with Pitch Wars, I’m going to have write more books at some point, right? So that will be invaluable.

Aimee, tell us about yourself. What makes you and your manuscript unique?

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.