I couldn’t be happier to share that I’ve been chosen as a Round 4 Mentee for the wonderful Author Mentor Match program!
My mentor’s name is Jamie Krakover and she’s a real live rocket scientist! Jamie is represented by the lovely Kira Watson at the Emma Sweeney agency and you can check out Jamie’s website HERE
I’m thrilled to have the chance to work with a mentor once again, this time on my newest WIP, tentatively titled PARCHED. I work best when I have someone to bounce ideas off of and brainstorm with and Jamie feels like to perfect person to share this journey with as I develop this manuscript. I wrote it at light speed and it’s still delightfully malleable and full of potential but it’s not “there yet.” Together, I think we can get it where it needs to be!
And I won’t lie–I also love that Author Mentor Match doesn’t have an end date. That means no looming terror/excitement of an agent round lurking in the shadows. I generally find a little deadline pressure motivating, but the PitchWars agent round took a lot out of me emotionally, and I’m excited to have the perks of a mentorship without the pressure and time constraints. I put plenty of pressure and self-imposed deadlines on myself as is!
Coming Full Circle
I first submitted to Author Mentor Match over a year ago, when the program started. I wasn’t chosen then but I made some wonderful writer friends and met critique partners who helped me improve so much as a writer. Without them, I never would have been selected for PitchWars, or for this round of AMM. Plus, they’re the people I run to (tweet to?) when the particularly brutal rejections pop up in my inbox.
So, for the many incredible writers who applied to this round but weren’t chosen, you may be tempted to roll your eyes when people say that the best prize from entering contests is the writer friends you make, but it really is true. Through my past unsuccessful attempts I met the incredible Lyla Lawless who has become an invaluable friend and critique partner, and an essential part of my writing journey for a year now. So find your person! Swap manuscripts, make friends, and someday down the road you may be squealing at each other’s book signings or meeting up at NOVATeen bookfest, like Lyla and I just did a few weeks ago! And hey, if you want fresh eyes on your work, she does freelance editing! Check Lyla out at her website, HERE
A Virtual Hug for You: Okay, if you made it this far, I’m extending the same offer I did after the last round of AMM. If you applied to AMM and didn’t get accepted, and you’d like a set of eyes on your query letter or first ten pages, ping me on twitter or shoot me an email at ektwrites @ gmail dot com (remove spaces, obvs) and I’ll do my best to get you some feedback in a timely manner. As timely as I can be with two small children hopped up on sugar running laps around me, at least!
In other writing news, I took the last week and a half off from writing as I waited to hear back about AMM, and my brain is whirring with ideas for new stories. While Jamie works on my edit notes, I’m going to hang out with some writer friends in our virtual cabin for Camp NaNoWriMo, draft a few chapters for these new ideas, and probably fiddle with some of the drafts I’ve tucked away. My dragon book needs some drastic world-building to stand a chance in today’s tough fantasy market, and my first ever MS could best be classified as a… New Adult Space Opera? Maybe?…. which isn’t really a thing right now, so I’m going to have to see if I can reshape and salvage some of that.
Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy Weekend, Happy Spring!