Pitch Wars! ... about me and submission information

PICK ME!

Today the coaches for Pitch Wars are posting something about themselves and what they'd like to critique for the contest. So without babbling on and on, here's mine...

Something about myself...

The youngest of three children, I grew up an Air-force brat and the continual new kid at school. My fondest memory growing up is that of my eccentric, Irish grandmother’s animated tall tales, which gave me a strong love for storytelling. So it was only fitting that I’d choose to write young adult and middle grade novels with a bend toward the fantastical. When I’m not writing, running contests and workshops, or doing the social media thing, I haunt bookstores and coffee shops or read someplace quiet and not at all exotic (much to my disappoint).

I’m represented by Lauren Hammond of ADA Management. My young adult novel, LIBRARY JUMPERS, will be out February 2014 and my middle grade novel is now out on submission.

What I'm coaching for the contest...

For this contest I’m coaching middle grade manuscripts. I just finished extensive revisions for my middle grade and just started a new middle grade project, so my mind is trained on it at the moment. I have a passion to help others succeed, and I take critiques seriously. I'm very detailed with my notes and give examples to help those receiving them understand what the heck I'm talking about.

I enjoy anything with ghosts or stories that will transport me to places I’ve never been, real or fantastical. I’m a sucker for humorous and historical. I love creepy-crawly-make my skin goose-pimple novels.  Basically, send me ALL the middle grade! I might be surprised what I’ll like. After all, it's all about the characters, isn't it?

Here's a sample of my writing from my current middle grade project...

There was one thing Piper Philips despised more than sushi—people who were late. Rain glossed everything, making the street sheen like the plastic her mother wrapped her Fluffernutter sandwiches in each day. Fat drops of water fell from the doorframe and landed on the toes of Piper’s galoshes. The wet cold slithered up the sleeves of her rain jacket and prickled her skin. Parents in their cars swooshed across the wet pavement and braked up to the curb. Wet kids, resembling penguins in their black uniform raincoats, scrambled for the doors.

               

“Hey, Piper, maybe your dad will pick you up in an armored truck,” chided Keaton Wilson as he passed her. Obviously, the boys with him thought it funny. They laughed and snickered, clomping over the puddled cobblestones, splashing water up at Piper as they went.

               

Piper frowned. That wasn’t at all funny. It wasn’t as if her pop was behind bars for doing something bad like murder or something. He’d just refused to tell the judge who his source was for a story he’d written for the newspaper. The thing was, Piper felt her pop was wrong to protect a criminal. She wanted her pop home. And she wanted the kids at school to stop teasing her about it.

And here are the submission details... 

Submissions start today (11/26)  and the cut of time for applications (query and first five pages of manuscript) is 8PM EST on December 5.

Send your applications to brendadrakecontests@gmail.com. Writers can apply for up to 3 coaches. The coaches' categories are set. Coaches can only consider the categories they've signed up for. Writers cannot apply for a coach that is not in their category

For additional information about this contest go HERE.

·        This is open to finished manuscripts only.

·         You may only enter one manuscript.

·         Only the genres requested by each coach will be considered for the contest.

Formatting...

Subject line: Pitch Wars Application: Coach Name you want to apply for: Title (Example: Pitch Wars Application: Brenda Drake: GONE WITH THE WIND)

Name: Your Name

Genre: The genre of your manuscript

Word Count: The word count of your manuscript

Query letter here  (embedded in email). Single spaced. No indentions. A space between each paragraph.

First five pages of the manuscript here (embedded in email). Single spaced. No indentions. A space between each paragraph.

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REMINDER: You can send an application for up to 3 coaches. 

Check back soon for a complete list of the amazing agents participating in the contest. There's over a dozen!

Today all the coaches are posting bios/wish lists on their blogs. So before choosing your top 3 picks, check all the coaches' posts in your category before deciding which coach to submit. To jump from blog to blog, just click on our pictures below. 

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