The Writer's Voice: Where Is Jessie Oliveros Now?

I'm thrilled to share this guest post with TWV 2013 alum Jessie Oliveros, who, as you're about to see, has had a busy year. Jessie's MG voice immediately caught my attention, but as it turned out, she caught her big break in another category. Read on for all the details!

Over three years ago, I posted the beginning of my middle-grade novel A Pretty Pirate Pickle for The Writer's Voice. I came away from that experience with a submission in the inbox of an excellent agent and a fine-tuned first five pages. (I also came away with a mentor-relationship with Krista who has been an amazing help these last few years!)

I would go on to query many agents with my middle grade baby. I lost count, but between contests and query letters I'm going to say 100. Eleven agents showed interest and asked for more. One even emailed me just before Christmas and said they were giving the novel a second read! (Admittedly it kind of made my Christmas a little stressful.) They came back with R&R notes for me. I revised, but ultimately they passed. It did make my manuscript stronger...glass half-full here.

Fast forward more rejections and working on other manuscripts, and I connected on Twitter with my now CP Myrna. We'd been around the same blogosphere ground for a few years, but we found we had a lot of the same writing interests and started trading work--namely picture book manuscripts. I bring Myrna into this story because she kind of helped rekindle that spark for picture book manuscripts. This put my writing brain in just the right place when I went back to Kansas two summers ago to visit my parents. I spent quite a bit of time with my grandparents during that visit. My grandpa had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's a few years back, and so this time was precious. I voice recorded their stories from their youth. I had a special interest in recording my grandpa's stories before he forgot them.

When I went home after this trip, I wrote a picture book about memory loss called The Remember Balloons. I felt like it was special. When I read it to my sister, we both cried. My sister said, "Don't change a thing!" Which was nice, but even the best-feeling manuscripts aren't perfect. (Myrna gave me some great advice to make it better.)

And so I queried. I queried this one pretty slowly. Over several months, I sent it out to about twelve agents. One even said she thought it was very sweet, but she didn't think it would sell. After that one, I thought about just keeping it for me. Maybe it wasn't a sell. Myrna told me otherwise, and so I kept it out there.

I love Twitter pitch contests, and I entered a couple last Christmas. When I entered my pitch for The Remember Balloons in Pitchmas I had a request! From Mike Hoogland of Dystel and Goderich Literary Management. I sent the manuscript off to him on a Saturday. He emailed me the following Monday and asked if I had illustrations. I told him I wasn't an author/illustrator but let him know about my other work.

Then an email on Tuesday--he wanted to know if we could talk on the phone about representation! That night my husband took our kids out while I had The Phone Call I'd only been waiting for for six years. :) Mike really believed in my manuscript, he liked the sound of my other work, and I thought we would work well together. I signed an agent-author agreement a week after Christmas.

We worked on my manuscript for a few weeks, and then we went on submission in February. We were only on submission for a couple weeks (incidentally, the day we were closing on my house and a few days before I had my baby number four) when I received an email from Mike letting me know the editor of Simon and Schuster BFYR was interested. The day after I brought my baby home from the hospital, I received an official offer. 

New house, new baby, new book...that was ten days of a lot of amazing things! My book is due out Fall 2018. In the meantime, Mike and I are editing a couple PB manuscripts and that little middle grade baby that started this journey. I now call it A High Seas Heist. So hopefully you see that one as a real-life book one day, too!

Thank you for sharing your journey with us, Jessie. Can't wait to get my hands on THE REMEMBER BALLOONS (and, with any luck, A HIGH SEAS HEIST, too)!

The Writer's Voice: Where Is Ashley Turcotte Now?

Writing is a process. I think we're all aware of this, but what we don't always acknowledge is that this process can change over time and that what worked for one project may not work for another. Cue Ashley Turcotte's courageous piece on writing and rewriting in which she discusses LUMINARY, the project that was on my TWV 2013 team.

I first met Krista during “The Writer’s Voice” in 2013, when she picked my YA fantasy LUMINARY for her team. It was a wonderful experience, though it didn’t lead to an agent offer. Neither did any of my queries, as it turns out. In the end, I had to admit that the book was extremely flawed and undercooked. But my general motto back then was Keep Moving Forward. Even if I did a major rewrite of LUMINARY, I wouldn’t be able to query any of the same agents with it. So despite the fact that I was pretty sure it was the best idea I’d ever had, I moved on. Wrote a new book. And that’s the one that got me my agent.

Suddenly, I didn’t have to worry about having something fresh and new and shiny to send to agents. I could go back to LUMINARY! In fact, I had my agent’s blessing to do so, as she also loved the idea (though she agreed that my execution was, alas, rather lacking). We talked over a new plan and, while my other book went out on submission, I dove into a total rewrite.

I was inspired! I was full of ideas! I hadn’t gotten to hit the restart button on my earlier projects, and the whole process was terribly exciting to me. When I had a shiny new draft, I sent it off to my agent, sure that she would absolutely love it.

Only she didn’t. It was better than the last draft, yes. But there were a number of fatal flaws and, after much discussion with my very brilliant agent, I ultimately decided it needed another full rewrite.

Remember my whole Keep Moving Forward thing? I’d never written a book twice, let alone three times. Revisions, yes. Dozens and dozens of those. But total, start from scratch, rebuild from the ground up rewrites?

It was daunting. Exhausting. Terrifying. Because what if I got it wrong again? It’s not like I could let the idea go—not when it’s the best idea I’ve ever had. Would I spend the rest of my life rewriting the same exact book, because I just couldn’t seem to get it right?

I know this is crazy. I know it now, looking back from the other side. I even knew it then, though the crazy voice telling me I was doomed to some sort of Groundhog Day version of writing told the quieter, more rational voice to shut up. All that inspiration and excitement and joy dried up in a flash.

There’s a line I’ve heard several times over the years that goes something like this: “Inspiration is for amateurs.”

And I agree, to an extent. I want to make a career out of being a writer. With book deals come deadlines, and I can’t spend too much time staring into space waiting for inspiration to come when that happens. Especially since inspiration can be an elusive little thing.

However. (And this is a big however.) I firmly believe that if I have no heart while I’m writing the book, it will come across in the writing. There’s an author I used to adore and love and revere who now so clearly only writes for the paycheck. None of the recent books have any heart. They’re just half-developed stories full of soulless characters, and reading them left me so unsatisfied and heartbroken that I had to stop. And I will never let that happen to my own books.

So what’s the solution here? How do you flush inspiration out when it’s gone into hiding? Below, please find my simple, step-by-step process for finding inspiration again.

1. Butt in chair, fingers on keyboard. Tell myself over and over again that I can do this.
2. Finding that I’ve forgotten the entire English language, stare into space instead of actually writing anything.
3. Cry. A lot.
4. Then cry some more.
5. Send my agent a crazy email talking about groundhogs that makes no sense whatsoever.
6. Give myself permission to take a break before I completely break. Because, at the end of the day, taking care of myself will lead to way more awesome books than writing myself into complete and total depression.
7. Write something new. Because it turns out I didn’t forget the entire English language. I just forgot how to write LUMINARY. And guess what? I was so excited to be writing again that I pounded out a draft in only 22 days. Writers are meant to write. It’s as simple as that. We just have to find the right project.
8. Ride the wave of that inspiration and dive back into LUMINARY.

It’s like my creativity needed a jumpstart, but now that it’s running again, I can drive it wherever I want. In fact, I just finished the third version of LUMINARY this weekend. It was the hardest work of anything I’ve ever written. Times five. But you know what? I’m pretty sure it’s also the best thing I’ve ever written. Hearts flash in my eyes whenever I think about it. And I’d get so lost in the writing that I’d forget to eat, or drink, or move. Sometimes for ten or fifteen hours at a time. If that’s not inspiration, I don’t know what is.

And yes, a tiny part of me is still afraid that I’m doomed to write this book for the rest of time. But if I can fall this head over heels in love with the book every time I write it, I suppose that’s not the worst possible fate. Especially when I get to write scores of other projects in between drafts, to keep my inspiration overflowing.

Thank you so much, Ashley, for sharing these insights with us. Fingers crossed for LUMINARY!

The Writer's Voice: Where Are Kati Bartkowski and Heidi Lang Now?

In all my years of doing "The Writer's Voice," I only worked with one pair of coauthors, Kati Bartkowski and Heidi Lang. I'll admit that I wasn't sure what to expect, but if there was any conflict on their end, they kept it well hidden from me:) Their entry garnered multiple votes, and their manuscript, now titled LAILU LOGANBERRY'S MYSTIC COOKING, went on to land an agent and sell to Aladdin. I asked them back today to talk about that process and what it's like to work with a coauthor (especially a coauthor you're related to). Enjoy!

KV: Congratulations on the sale of LAILU LOGANBERRY'S MYSTIC COOKING! What inspired you to write it?

KB: I had the idea of a chef who opens her own restaurant and serves fantastical things, like kraken calamari and gourmet gryphon linguini, and then I was planning on writing a different book about a fantasy world slowly being taken over by science, where the elves are actually gangsters fighting to keep control of the city as the scientists gain more and more power.

HL: Kati and I often discussed our writing ideas with each other long before we ever tried co-writing. So when she told me these ideas, I started coming up with suggestions for her. I proposed the idea of combining both stories, so the chef would be working in that fantasy versus science world. I also suggested that the scientists be steampunk scientists, because I thought that would be the most awesome. And then I kept thinking of things she could do with that story--I was really excited about it, until finally she asked me if I wanted to just write it with her.

KV: What was it like to work together, and what tips do you have for other coauthors?

HL: It was (and still is) really fun to work together. Our first draft flew by so quickly because we were just having fun with it, passing it back and forth. As far as tips go, I’d say cowriting can be really tricky because you have to trust the other writer, and you also have to be willing to be completely honest about anything you don’t think is working. For us, it’s worked out because Kati and I have a lot of complementary skill sets. For instance, she likes to plot everything out, and I’m a total pantster.

KB: Chiming in here to say that was one of the hardest things to work with. I’d have this whole story planned out, and then Heidi would add in something…unexpected.

HL: But usually awesome!

KB: …usually. ;)

HL: I think it also helps that we’re sisters, so we’ve had many, many years of being forced to work together one way or another. But for other coauthors, I’d say it’s important to find someone who you trust, who you have fun working with, and who you can be honest with without worrying about it destroying your relationship. Having similar goals for the story and similar tastes in books is also important. For instance, both Kati and I love stories with kick-butt female protagonists who are not afraid to chase their dreams. We also both like a little bit of romance, lots of unique magic, and characters who are not exactly evil, but not exactly good, either.

KV: Tell us about the submission process. Did it move fairly quickly, or did it take some time? And if it took some time, what did you do to stay sane? :)

KB: I know a lot of authors really hate the submission process, but I didn’t mind it. After the stress of querying agents, it was kind of nice to kick back and know someone else was taking over for a bit. And both Heidi and I felt really confident in our agent--she was so excited about our book and did a fantastic job of putting it out there. We figured it would either sell, or it wouldn’t, but at least it was in good hands now.

HL: It did take kind of a long time, with some really close passes. I wasn’t as zen about it as Kati, but mostly I tried not to think about our book out there, circling, potentially never selling. Instead, Kati and I started working on a completely new story in order to pass the time.

KB: We managed to finish the first draft, too. So we’ll have that to go back to after we’re done with revisions on MYSTIC COOKING.

KV: Now tell us about getting the good news. Were you aware of Aladdin's interest beforehand, or did the offer come out of the blue? And how did you find out?

HL: We were not aware of their interest, but Kati had told me when we were first on submission that she felt like Aladdin would be the perfect place for our story.

KB: I still feel that way. :)

HL: Me, too! Anyhow, as you can tell we’re both still really excited about it! We found out when Jennifer, our agent, sent us an email basically asking if we were free to talk that afternoon because she had “news.” Kati was at a play-date with her toddler, so she didn’t see the email right away and I had to call her about twenty times--

KB: Or a hundred times.

HL: It might have been closer to a hundred. ;) Eventually she answered the phone, we set up a call with Jennifer, and the rest is history. I remember there was a lot of dancing around the house and squealing after we hung up.

KV: Once you officially accepted the offer, what were the next steps? And are you working on edits now?

HL: Once we accepted the offer, we didn’t hear anything from Aladdin for a couple of months. I hear this is really typical, but part of me worried they bought our book by mistake and were trying to think of a nice way to tell us.

KB: Luckily it didn’t come to that, and eventually we received our first edit letter and our first deadline. Most of their edits were more bigger picture questions about the world and the roles of some of the side characters, so before making any changes we had to spend a lot of time thinking about it and outlining it, much to Heidi's pleasure. ;)

HL: We actually just received our second edit letter a few weeks ago, so we’re going through that whole process again. There aren’t as many things to change this time, though, so we’re getting closer. And then we need to really get moving on the sequel, which we’ve been slowly, slowly plotting and writing on the side.

KV: Any last words of advice or encouragement you'd like to share with us?

HL: Don’t give up! We finished our first “final” draft of MYSTIC COOKING back in 2012. It was originally YA and was over 100,000 words long…when we signed with Jennifer we had it down under 60,000, and it’s MG now, which is definitely a much better fit. But it took a while to get to that point.

KB: Which leads to our second big advice: learn how to take and apply criticism. We had a lot of people take a look at our story and offer suggestions for improvement. We made it into Pitch Wars back when our story was YA, and then the Writer’s Voice contest after we revised it to MG, and through those we found a lot of wonderful critique partners who all helped make our story much better.

HL: That’s about it. Writing is sometimes so frustrating, and the whole process can feel like it’s taking forever, but it’s so worth it. We love creating these worlds and these characters, and we’re so excited that other people are going to get to read the stories we created.

KB: Exactly. Write on, everyone! And thanks so much for inviting us to chat with you, Krista!

It was my pleasure, ladies. If the book is half as charming as this interview was, it will be charming indeed:)

The Writer's Voice: Where Is Laura J. Moss Now?

Today's interview features Laura J. Moss, a member of my TWV 2013 team and co-founder of AdventureCats.org. Laura writes YA fiction (as you can see from her awesome entry), so when her agent suggested that she develop a proposal based on her recently launched website, it was something of a leap of faith. I think it's safe to say that the leap paid off:)

This is Laura's cat, Sirius. I'm sure you can guess where the names come from:)

KV: Congratulations on the sale of ADVENTURE CATS: A GUIDE TO LIVING NINE LIVES TO THE FULLEST! What inspired you to write it?

LJM: I never actually envisioned AdventureCats.org as more than a website with an active Instagram community. The book was all my agent’s idea--and it was an “ameowzing” one. She had this incredible vision for it that got me very excited about the possibility of writing a book, and now here we are. I’ve found that as Adventure Cats has evolved, it’s often because other people have shared my passion for it and brought their own vision to the table, and I’m so grateful for that.

KV: I love the idea of a book based on a website! What inspired you to launch it?

LJM: Adventure Cats came about for a few reasons. I’ve been working as a journalist for years and have done a great deal of pet writing, so I’d interviewed some of the more famous adventure-cat owners like Craig Armstrong and Stephen Simmons. I’d started leash training my own cats, but there wasn’t really a resource out there that explained how you go from a stroll around the yard with your cat to hiking, camping and paddling trips with your cat. Last spring I mentioned to my husband that I wished such a website existed and he said, “Well, we could make that.” So he designed the site, and I got to work creating content and launching social media for it. Then I roped in some talented friends to help with writing and marketing, and soon we had a site!

However, while the website started as an informational resource, it evolved into much more as I learned just how much our negative perceptions of cats and cat owners can hurt shelter cat adoptions. Currently, more cats are killed in U.S. shelters (1.4 million annually, according to the ASPCA) than dogs, and I think one reason for that is because of how cats and cat people are stigmatized. Last year, a PetSmart Charities survey found that 49 percent of Americans buy into the “crazy cat lady” stereotype and that the adjectives often associated with cats are ones like “lazy” and “aloof.” But Adventure Cats is proof that cats and the people who love them don’t necessarily fit this mold, and I hope that changing these attitudes will lead to more adopted shelter kitties.

KV: A lot of nonfiction is sold on proposal. Did you sell this project on proposal, and if so, how was writing that proposal different than writing the YA fiction you're used to?

LJM: ADVENTURE CATS was sold on proposal, which was a whole new ballgame for me. With fiction, I’m used to sitting down, seeing where a story takes me, and sort of disappearing from the writing in a sense. But with the proposal, you’re not only trying to sell your idea but also yourself, so there’s a lot more focus on platform and why you’re the one person who can write this book and how you have the ability to get press for it and sell it. In addition to the platform discussion and the requisite sample pages, the proposal also includes sections on sales and marketing, so there were definitely moments where I thought, “I am so not qualified to write this!” But my agent, Myrsini Stephanides, is a pro with this sort of thing and has sold numerous books on proposal, so she made the process as smooth as possible.

KV: Tell us about the submission process. Did it move fairly quickly, or did it take some time? And if it took some time, what did you do to stay sane?

LJM: It actually moved so quickly that I will be spoiled for all future submissions. Within a day of sending out the proposal, my agent said we had interest and she was going to start setting up calls with editors. We had the calls the following week and went to auction the very next week.

Despite the swiftness of how it had happened though and how amazing my agent and all the editors were, I still had plenty of anxiety about the whole thing. But I can get anxious about a trip to the grocery store so that’s not especially surprising.

KV: Now tell us about getting the good news. I understand that you had quite a bit of interest in the project, so what made you pick Workman?

LJM: It’s still unreal to me that there were so many offers to choose from. It was an incredible position to be in, but also a bit paralyzing when it came to making the actual decision. There was a lot to consider--the editors’ visions for the book, the type of book they wanted to make, the advance, etc.--so I ended up making a spreadsheet, which made my Type-A husband very proud.

At that point, I could see all the variables clearly and it really came down to gut. One of the first editor calls I had pre-auction was with Workman, and after I got off the phone with their team, I’d raved to my critique group about how they really “got” what Adventure Cats was about and how they were so easy to talk to and had tons of great ideas for the book. Plus, Workman does a phenomenal job with these quirky types of books. I’m sure I would’ve been in good hands with any of the editors I talked to, but Liz Davis and Evan Griffith at Workman were definitely a natural fit for ADVENTURE CATS.

KV: Once you officially accepted the offer, what were the next steps?

LJM: Once we accepted the offer, there was some email celebration, and then I got to work. We’re planning a spring 2017 publication date, which is very fast in the publishing world, so I’m really writing this book in a matter of months. (I just don’t let my anxiety-addled brain focus on that detail too much.)

And next week I’ll get to meet my agent and the amazing editorial and marketing teams at Workman, which I’m very excited about! Adventure Cats is co-hosting a cat-hiking event in Central Park with Purina, so it’s the “purrfect” opportunity to get to meet everyone face to face. 

KV: Any last words of advice or encouragement you'd like to share with us?

LJM: As cliché as it may be, I’d say don’t give up. Publishing can wear you down, but the people who succeed are the ones who pursue their dream in the face of hardship and rejection. I participated in The Writer’s Voice three years ago, and I later queried a manuscript that got me a slew of rejections and R&Rs but no offers of representation. Now I’ve sold a book, which still seems unreal to me!

Also, keep in mind that your path to success may take unexpected turns. This is something my critique group and I discuss a lot because many of us had a tendency to think of ourselves as only YA writers, and we saw the only path to success as having those novels traditionally published. But we had to realize that we’re so much more than that. While we’re YA writers and some of us have sold those books, several of us have dipped our toes into other writing waters and found incredible success in self-publishing, blogging and ghostwriting. While everyone is still working toward traditional publication, there’s joy--and a real confidence boost--in seeing people respond so positively to other things you’ve created. While I never thought I’d write nonfiction, selling ADVENTURE CATS has been an amazing experience that’s opened so many doors for me, and I’m ridiculously excited about it. It’s not the path I originally envisioned for myself, but it’s clearly the right path for me.

So don’t limit yourself. Follow your passions. And surround yourself with people who believe in you and challenge you to be the best version of yourself. (Mad love to #Twitterbloc for being those people for me.)

Wonderful advice, Laura. Success can come in so many different forms these days that it's important to keep an open mind. Thanks for sharing your journey with us!

The Writer's Voice: Where Is Noelle Henry Now?

One of the very first entries I read during TWV 2012 was for FACE THE MUSIC, a YA contemporary romance about a deaf cellist who gets paired up with a boy who's the opposite of her type in a coveted scholarship competition. I knew I wanted it right away, so it didn't surprise me when it and its author, Noelle Henry, got snatched up by a Writers House agent several months after the contest. What DID surprise me was when the project didn't sell. And when Noelle's next project didn't sell. And when--well, I guess I'll let Noelle tell her own story. Inspiration ahead:

When Krista first announced she was bringing the old Writer’s Voice gang back together for a special feature on her blog, I was thrilled to take part. But then reality set in. To update everyone on what has been going on with me since The Writer’s Voice contest was to essentially admit I’d been standing still for four years. And that...made this blog all the more difficult to write.

I signed with an amazing agent in 2012, not long after The Writer’s Voice contest, and I guess I sort of thought that meant success was right around the corner. I know, I know, I hear you all groaning at my naivete, but I’d written other books that had gone nowhere. I honestly felt Face the Music was the one. I’d been told over and over again how good books will always find a home. I’d written a good book. I believed in it. My agent believed in it. Wasn’t that enough?

Most of us have dealt with our fair share of rejection, so when the passes started rolling in on that book, I told myself it was no big deal. I wrote another book and another one. I poured my heart and soul into them, believed in them with everything I had. And still, at the end of the day, they went nowhere. I understood all about the subjective nature of this business, I got that publishing was just as much timing and luck as it was perseverance, but with each new rejection, every close call that fell through, my self-confidence broke more and more.

I’d tied all of my self-worth into getting that elusive book deal, and without it, I felt like a failure. Regardless of the fact that I’d written several great books I’d once been so proud of, I had nothing. I was nothing. Writing wasn’t fun anymore. It was torture. I’d let all my disappointments rob me of the joy of doing what I’d once loved best. Every time I sat at the computer, I was paralyzed by anxiety and doubt. Was this sentence strong enough? Were my characters interesting enough? Was I just wasting my time on another book that wouldn’t sell? 

Now, I hope you’re rolling your eyes at me saying you don’t relate to this. I hope you’ve taken every moment of your writing journey in stride and are still putting one foot in front of the other. But just in case you are like me, and you’re finding that belt of disappointment getting so heavy around your waist you can’t take another step, take some time to remember why you started writing in the first place--way before the idea of selling a book was ever on your radar. Write it down if you can.

Next, remember that writing is what you do, not who you are. I’m betting all of you have other creative pursuits in your life. Whether that’s music, art, gardening, decorating, or maybe something completely different, the point is, we are all so much more. So why do so many of us tie our happiness and fulfillment into whether or not our book sells?

Lastly, step away if you need to. If writing has just become too frustrating and stressful, don’t feel guilty about taking a break. It’s okay. No one will think badly of you. The world will not end if you don’t write. Your writer friends will not disown you. Your agent won’t decide you’re too much of a burden and cut you loose. Shift your focus onto living an amazing life. Fill your days with everything you love, and I guarantee your love of words will come back to you when you’re ready.

In many ways, your words could be my words, Noelle. Thank you so much for sharing them with us.

The Writer's Voice: Where Is Lisa A. Koosis Now?

I have a special treat for you today, a guest post from Lisa A. Koosis, a TWV 2012 and TWV 2013 alum (though she was on Mónica's team the second year). Lisa's traveled a long road, so I'm especially happy to report that her debut, RESURRECTING SUNSHINE, will be available from Albert Whitman & Company later this fall. Enjoy!

When Krista and I first decided on perseverance as the topic of my guest post, I thought: surely I can come up with something clever to say about that. After all, it’s something I know a thing or two about. But then somehow, “clever” didn’t seem exactly right for the subject matter. Because perseverance by its very nature implies struggle, right? It implies time passing and roadblocks and setbacks and frustration. Yup, lots of frustration. So instead of being clever, I’d like to tell you the story of my journey, which if nothing else, is one of perseverance.

Back in 2012 when I first entered The Writer’s Voice, it wasn’t--as that old cliché goes--my first rodeo. I’d been querying since 2007. In fact, The Road of the Dead, my TWV entry that year, was the third manuscript I’d queried (and the fifth book I’d written). 

The first manuscript I’d queried, a mainstream drama called Children of the Moon, wasn’t the first book I’d written either. It was the third. The first two have never amounted to anything beyond being virtual dust collectors on my hard drive. In September 2007 I heard about The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) for the first time, and knew I had to enter. I’d been revising Children of the Moon for probably two years, even as I’d been learning about queries and synopses and the etiquette of agent submissions. 

Truthfully, I think I’d also been dragging my feet on submitting, though looking back, I’m not sure why. I wasn’t afraid of rejection. I’d been navigating the short story markets for the better part of a decade by then, and had done fairly well for myself. In the process, I’d also received countless rejections, none of which had killed, maimed or otherwise injured me. (And I’ll tell you this… Agent rejections are nothing. Short story editors can be brutal!)

So I entered ABNA’s first competition…and flopped, not even making the first cut. Worse, they didn’t even advance the full amount of entries they’d slotted for that second round, which was a huge slap in the face. I’d heard the message--not good enough--loud and clear, but I let it fuel me, so I revised some more before embarking on a more traditional querying process. Eventually, after making the rounds, COTM got shelved.

A different manuscript made it to ABNA’s semifinals in Year 2. It also, subsequently, made it to Number 2 in another contest, one which was, unfortunately a first-place-or-nothing affair. That one got queried, too…and rejected and rejected and rejected and ultimately shelved.

By the time 2012 brought me to The Writers Voice for the first time, I’d entered ABNA every year. I’d even hit the semifinals with three different manuscripts. I’d been querying for five years straight, and though I can’t give you an exact count of my rejections at that point, I’ll say this: it was a whole lot. So when Krista posted “I want you” on my contest entry I was thrilled, but didn’t expect anything.

That turned out to be a good thing, because I didn’t get a single agent request from TWV that year…not a single one. And it confirmed what I might have known all along. That it was time to file away yet another manuscript.

My next project was a young adult manuscript that I’d been working on. I’d found my way to YA through another contest, one that I’d actually won, the Family Circle Short Fiction Contest. One of the prizes was a Mediabistro class. I’d wanted to learn from either an editor or an agent, so even though I considered myself an author of adult fiction, I chose the YA class, taught by the amazing Kendra Levin of Viking. The book I started for that class crashed and burned, but still, I came out of it with fresh inspiration, a newfound love for YA and an amazing critique partner.

This was the one, I thought. I was sure of it. But the YA manuscript only netted me more rejections.

I’d read time and again that if you were getting personal rejections you were getting close. Except I’d been getting personal rejections for years. Encouraging ones (You write beautifully and have an authentic voice. You’ll get there). Complimentary ones (Your world-building skills are amazing). Sometimes even perplexing ones (I think this could really be commercially successful but I’m going to have to pass. I loved this and couldn’t stop turning pages but I’m afraid I’ll have to pass). But rejections nonetheless. My significant other even made up a crazy, head-banging song about getting all these compliments and then the ultimate “no” that came at the end. He would sing it to make me laugh.

Conceptually, the idea of perseverance is great. But in practice, it’s hard to persevere. At least it was for me. There were times when I just flat-out quit (at least three times that I can think of), when I was sure I just didn’t have the heart to keep going. There were times I didn’t like who I was becoming, the frustration and jealousy getting the better of me as I watched other writers fly past me, securing agents, landing book deals, when they’d only been at it for a year or two. There were times when I felt hopeless. I couldn’t understand what I was doing wrong, or even worse, what other writers were doing right. I was the almost girl. I had been the almost girl for years. I was always going to be the almost girl.

And yet I kept coming back to it, like a compulsion. I nicknamed my YA manuscript “the book that would not die.” I had (and still have) an amazing critique partner who wouldn’t let it die, who believed in it even when I couldn’t.

And the bottom line was this. No matter what I told myself, what I wanted more than anything in the world was to publish a book.

At one point, when I was picking away half-heartedly at yet another round of revisions, my significant other bribed me. “Finish that new first chapter by the registration deadline,” he told me, “and I’ll pay for you to attend that conference you want to go to.” So I did. And not only did he keep his word; he even paid for a critique for that chapter. And at that critique, I met an editor who loved the first chapter. I pretty much got no critique, just a lovely conversation and an invitation to submit the full manuscript.

It was a no (no’s never surprised me by then), but she asked me about my idea for additional revisions and then confirmed that she thought I was on the right track. She even said she’d like to see the manuscript again when I was finished revising.

…which brings me to The Writer’s Voice Part 2 and Team Monica. I was dragging through revisions when I saw the announcement for TWV 2014. I perked up. Maybe it was just the deadline I needed to get myself motivated and moving. Plus, it might be the ideal place to test out those new revisions before I sent it along to that editor again. So I entered. And on my entry, Monica wrote “I want you.”

Of course, me being me, I didn’t expect anything.

But this time, a funny thing happened. Nine agents requested. A few days later, I got an email from an amazing agent asking to talk, a call that ended with an offer of representation. And it wasn’t my only one that week.

I went through another two rounds of revisions under my agent’s guidance, and then we went on submission. Approximately six months after that, I had two offers on “the book that wouldn’t die.”

It’s continued to be a rocky road for me. Without going into details, I’ll say that the publisher I’m with now isn’t the publisher whose offer I accepted that day back in April of last year. Weird things happen, sometimes, things that are beyond our control. But I will say that the publisher I’m with now feels like the one I’m supposed to be with. It feels right. And the “book that would not die, also known as Resurrecting Sunshine, will be out in Fall 2016 from the amazing folks at Albert Whitman & Co.

It’s funny. A few years ago when I was at my most discouraged, my significant other and I attended Book Expo America (BEA) in NYC. It was amazing and overwhelming and inspiring. And it also made me a little sad as I saw author after author signing their books? Was I never going to get where I wanted to be? Would I never join that elite club?

A few days ago I got an email from my publishing house. The subject line said: Invitation to BEA. Of course, I accepted it.

In less than two months I will be there, amid the beautiful chaos of BEA (in Chicago this year), doing an in-booth signing.

Sometimes, looking back, I think I’ve heard the word “no” more than anyone else on the planet. I know it’s not true, but it feels that way sometimes. But now, I’ve also heard the word “yes,” which somehow manages to surpass every single “no” put together. For me, that’s the exact beauty of perseverance.

Krista, thank you so much for inviting me to be a part of your blog, and thank you for all you and everyone at The Writer’s Voice have done for me.

My pleasure, Lisa. My pleasure.

The Writer's Voice: Where Is Erin Petti Now?

One of the last entries I read during TWV 2012 was for an MG adventure then called THELMA BEE. The voice immediately hooked me (and it hooked three agents, too!), and now that I've had a chance to read the whole thing, I can say that the book, which comes out from Mighty Media Press this September, is just as charming and creepy in whole as it was in part. For more behind-the-scenes tidbits from author Erin Petti, read on!

KV: Congratulations on the upcoming release of THE PECULIAR HAUNTING OF THELMA BEE! What inspired you to write it?

EP: Thank you so much, Krista!

I think I wrote the kind of book that I love to read! I had a feeling that a big, fun, creepy, New England-y adventure was inside me and really wanted to get out. I lived by a river when I started writing Thelma and the natural scenery was so inspiring.

KV: After THELMA was featured in TWV 2012, it went on to land an agent and, ultimately, a book deal. Can you tell us about that process?

EP: When I entered Thelma into TWV in 2012, she was very early on in her development. I had the heart of the story, but it was through beta feedback that I was able to push the story and the characters further, and to create something that was ready for editor eyes.

I found my wonderful agent Laura through #MSWL on Twitter and she submitted our manuscript to Mighty Media Press. My editor, Lauren, has been instrumental in making the book what it is today. I’m really lucky that her vision meshes so well with my own. She’s got fantastic insights and I’m incredibly lucky to work with the MMP team!

KV: I remember loving Thelma, and she hasn't lost any of her shine. Where did her character come from? Is she based on a real person?

EP: Not in a specific way. I guess everyone we write, in some way, has the DNA of people we’ve met. I knew I didn’t want her to be hung up on the Middle School stuff that gets most kids down. I wanted her to take off from an unencumbered place. That’s VERY different than the way I was when I was her age. Maybe I wrote my 6th grade opposite!

KV: One of my favorite elements was the Riverfish Valley Paranormal Society. Have you ever been on a ghost hunt?

EP: Oh, I am DYING TO--no pun intended!!! I’ve been on ghost tours, and I watch every paranormal show I can get my hands on (Note: When Ryan Buell from Paranormal State gave Thelma a blurb, I was over the moon for a week straight). Additionally, I totally lived in a haunted dorm in college. But I’ve never been on an honest-to-goodness investigation and it’s a major life goal of mine.

KV: The book's setting--New England in the fall--felt especially appropriate for this story. Is Riverfish Valley a real place, and either way, how did you develop it as a character in and of itself?

EP: Riverfish Valley is not a real place in Massachusetts, but Maynard is. I lived right by the Assabet River when writing the book. The Assabet turned into the Beaverbottom River in Thelma’s backyard. In fact, Thelma’s house is based directly on the house I lived in in Maynard, and Riverfish itself takes a huge amount of inspiration from the quirky river town that I love--right down to the Clock Tower!

KV: Any last words of advice or encouragement you'd like to share with us?

EP: Just a crazy-big thank you! Krista, you were one of Thelma’s very first cheerleaders, and I can not tell you how grateful I am for your support. Please consider yourself an honorary member of RVPS!

I will! Thanks for coming back and catching us up to speed, Erin, and good, good luck with THELMA!

The Writer's Voice: Where Is Ben Spendlove Now?

The bad news is that my last week was a bit of a whirlwind, so I completely neglected the blog. The good news is that you'll be able to get a double dose of "Where Are They Now?" beginning with Ben Spendlove. Ben and I have been critique partners for going on six years, so DRIVERS was one of the few entries I got to read in its entirety. Ben's writing never ceases to blow me away, and the insights he shares below are just as keen.

KV: One of the things I loved most about DRIVERS was how it felt like a book that only you could write. What inspired you to write it?

BS: My first conception of DRIVERS was quite different from what I ended up writing; the protagonist was an investigative reporter who suspected an unmanned-ground-drone maker of actually putting people inside the drones. I work at a company that automates vehicles, so I knew a lot about the subject. In that form, however, it would have been more of a detective story.

As I worked it over in my mind, I was drawn more to the characters inside the drones. What would make someone voluntarily hide inside a robot that was likely to be destroyed? The answer, at least for me, was that they wanted to die. And I understood them, having gone through periods of depression and suicide attempts.

It became deeply personal, with the technology, setting, and action as a metaphor for exploring depression and suicide. These subjects are often misunderstood and stigmatized, so I wanted to show, metaphorically, what it was like. I tried to use my inside knowledge of how autonomous vehicles work to make it plausible and realistic.

KV: As one of your critique partners, I know that your writing has sometimes had to take a backseat to the rest of your life. What makes you keep coming back to it?

BS: I believe that everyone has a creative impulse. For me, it's strong. And though I like other creative endeavors, like rebuilding bicycles, I always come back to writing--and I always have. Writing gives me a positive place for my thoughts to dwell instead of worrying about what terrible things might happen in real life. It helps me sort through my experiences and emotions. On days that I write, I'm more focused at work and happier at home.

Last summer, I had a run-in with depression for the first time in over ten years. I'd thought I was done with depression, immune for life. But there it was. I turned to my writing, both what I'd written in DRIVERS and a new novel, to explore the aspects of my life that didn't feel right. Writing isn't a cure for depression; it can sometimes make it worse! But it can also help, and it has. (In fact, this last year has made me grateful that I don't have a publisher or even an agent. I don't have deadlines or commitments to deal with.)

Another draw is the love I develop for my characters and stories. I want them to reach their potential, and as long as I still have ideas for making them better, I'll keep revising. I tend not to have a lot of stories in my head waiting to be written, but I certainly have lots of ideas about the ones I'm working on.

KV: A few years ago, your wife wood-burned an Isaac Asimov quote on a pencil: "I write for the same reason I breathe--because if I didn't, I would die." What do those words mean to you?

BS: I won't literally die without writing, but if I go too long without working on a novel, it feels like I'm dying. I feel directionless. Life seems futile. I think I was born to write stories. (It's probably pathological.)

Writing is also my preferred method of communication with myself. I write notes--a lot--to help me figure things out. My day job is technical writing, so I do a lot of less-creative writing, too. (Engineers occasionally comment about how awful my job seems to them. And I'm always like "Right back at ya!")

You know, I guess I don't know that I wouldn't literally die, because I've never actually stopped writing. Hmm.

KV: What are you working on now?

BS: I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I'm still working on DRIVERS. After The Writer's Voice and querying about fifty agents, I set it aside and wrote another novel, THE FREEZER, which was difficult to write and took much longer. (No luck getting an agent there, either.) Then I started a middle grade novel, but couldn't get momentum. Then I started another sci-fi novel, which I love and intend to finish.

But last year when I opened DRIVERS and read the entire thing--I still loved it. That's got to count for something. I knew if I were to give it another go, I'd need some fresh eyes and ideas. So I swallowed my pride and gave everyone at work and all my Facebook friends the chance to read it. And I got some good feedback. Then one of my coworkers approached me about starting a writing group, and we've been workshopping DRIVERS a chapter at a time.

Now I'm working on some exciting changes to the setting, the ending, and the secondary characters, including (wait for it) making one of the drivers an investigative reporter. I'm also bringing in other motivations for the drivers, because there are many reasons to put oneself in mortal danger. I'm not sticking slavishly to my depression metaphor anymore, and I think the story is better for it.

KV: Any last words of advice or encouragement you'd like to share with us?

BS: My daughter is my role model when it comes to writing. She reads voraciously and writes prodigiously. As much as I profess to love reading and writing, I don't do either very much. She spends a good chunk of her free time (and more of her non-free time than I'd like) reading and writing. And you know what? She's really good at both of them. Once she learns to revise, she'll write better than I do.

I guess I'm saying that the standard advice about writing is good advice. I'm trying to take it and fit writing into my day wherever I can--even if I have to give up some precious sleep.

Thank you for your honesty and authenticity, Ben. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has grown and will grow from the words you add to the world.

The Writer's Voice: Where Is Sarah F. Henson Now?

Thanks for joining me for this second installment of "Where Are They Now?" Sarah F. Henson also participated in TWV 2012--I remember loving the voice in her awesome entry, PLAYING WITH FIRE--and though she signed with an agent not long after, she only just announced her first book deal last month. I wanted to ask her about that process and what she learned along the way, and she graciously agreed.

KV: Congratulations on the sale of DEVILS WITHIN! What is it about, and what inspired you to write it?

SH: Thanks, Krista!! And thanks for having me on the blog! I still can't believe this is all really happening! My book, DEVILS WITHIN, is about a teenage boy named Nate who was raised in a white supremacist compound, and flees after killing their leader--his father--in self-defense. Now living with his estranged uncle, he struggles to overcome the racist beliefs he was taught since birth, while hiding from the violent men who want him dead.

The idea came from a news article I read, so this story is basically inspired by real events. In real life, the boy was ten and the shooting wasn't in self-defense, but point blank while his father slept. I remember reading the headline and wondering what had to happen in a kid's life for him to reach that point at such a young age. That led to a lot of unsettling research on modern white supremacists, where the hate groups are located (every state except Alaska and Hawaii), how they recruit, and the methods they use to terrorize people--all topics I explore in the novel. So while my book is a complete work of fiction, everything is rooted in fact. (If you want more information, I have some resources on my website, sfhenson.com.)

KV: Tell us about the submission process. Did it move fairly quickly, or did it take some time? And if it took some time, what did you do to stay sane? :)

SH: Whooo boy, the submission process! It took some time. Right around seven months. Staying sane is a lot easier said than done! I did different things to try to keep my mind off of it--started writing new stories, and spent a lot of time working on projects around the house. My husband and I are about to start the adoption process, so we spent a chunk of those months painting and installing new hardwood floors ourselves (never again!). But nothing completely distracted me.

What helped most is the agented author group that I'm a part of. It's a collection of wonderful authors (put together by the awesome Natalie Parker) all of whom, at the time, also hadn't sold yet. Finding other writers in the same stage of the process as you is incredibly comforting. You have to keep so much of the submission process quiet; I would've gone crazy without a place to open up and vent and commiserate!

KV: A quick note to my readers: I loved the idea of Natalie Parker's agented author group, so I asked Sarah for more information. She sent me a link to Agented Author Hook-up, so if you're at that stage of the process, definitely check it out!

Now tell us about getting the good news, Sarah. Were you aware of Sky Pony's interest, or did the offer come out of the blue? And how did you find out?

SH: Let me just say that getting the news was probably the single most exciting day of my life. Seriously. My husband looked at me and said, "You weren't this excited when I proposed." Which is true, but in my defense I knew he was going to propose at some point--I never knew I'd ever actually get published. This has been my dream since I was four. Not exaggerating. So yeah, big deal!

I'd known the editor (the amazing Alison Weiss!) was interested since way back at the beginning of November, but I didn't let myself get too excited. I've come close before. Then in mid-January I received THE email. When I saw the word "offer" I literally screamed, almost dropped my phone, then cried. Then we went out for celebratory chocolate, haha.

KV: Once you officially accepted the offer, what were the next steps? And are you working on edits now?

SH: The weeks after accepting the offer were a whirlwind! A week later, my announcement hit Publishers Weekly, which was really cool, but also a little overwhelming. After months of silence, I couldn't suddenly shout it to the world. It's still a little surreal. I joined a debut group, the Swanky 17s, took author photos (no one warns you for how weird it is to have someone come in your house and take pictures of you. I'm lucky that a friend is a fantastic photographer, but it's still strange!), and set up my author website. Now, as with everything in publishing, I wait. My editor (still can't believe I can say that!) is a freaking boss and has several books slated for my release season, so no edit letter yet. I'm good with that, though. It gives me time to absorb everything and work on my next book.

KV: This isn't your first rodeo, so what did you learn from all those other times around that helped you survive this one?

SH: Definitely not my first go at it! This was my fifth manuscript, and the third to go out on submission, so I was prepared for the process, but also more nervous than I had been with the others. I poured so much into this story. It's the first time I've ever felt empty after finishing a manuscript and I can honestly say it's the best thing I've ever written. Which means I was sooooo nervous to go on sub--more so than before. With each previous rejection I've known I could do better. With this one, I felt tapped, and overcome with this fear that my best wouldn't be good enough.

Those previous rejections helped prepare me, though. I was more ready this time around, so the close calls and flat out nos weren't as crushing as I thought they would be. Through everything, what I've learned is that you can't control the process, or how editors will react, or how long everything will take. All you can control is you, how much you push yourself, and how well you write.

KV: Any last words of advice or encouragement you'd like to share with us?

SH: Look, this business is tough. You have to have thick skin to survive. So my advice is to learn how to take criticism and rejection and use it to make you better. It took seven years of writing and rejection before I finally obtained my dream of a book deal. I tallied it up right after I announced my deal and I've received over 120 rejections over five manuscripts (counting both querying agents and subbing to editors). I can't tell you the number of times I thought about giving up, but I couldn't let myself. If you really want to obtain your dreams--whatever they are--you can't give up.

Well said, Sarah. Thanks again for coming back and sharing these insights!

The Writer's Voice: Where Is R.C. Hancock Now?

Welcome to the very first installment of a new series I'm calling "Where Are They Now?" It's been almost four years since we launched "The Writer's Voice," so I thought it would be fun to check in on the former members of Team Krista and see what they're up to. First up is R.C. Hancock, author of AN UNCOMMON BLUE (which was the project he entered in TWV 2012). Enjoy!

KV: AN UNCOMMON BLUE has gone on quite a journey since it was featured on TWV 2012. Want to sum it up for us?

RH: I just looked over TWV 2012 on your blog and got all excited again. It was such a fun contest. Although Louise Fury didn't end up taking AN UNCOMMON BLUE, it went through two more R&Rs with two different agents. (One who inspired me to completely rewrite the first half of the book.) After what seemed like years, (okay, it was years) I found an agent and a publisher. Blue was published December 2014 by Cedar Fort. The coolest part of this extended journey was all the friends I've made along the way. Don't roll your eyes. I'm serious. The awesome people I've connected with are much more rewarding that the royalty checks. Trust me. ;)

Big thanks to you, Brenda, and Cupid for helping us reach our dreams. And it's so great to be a part of your success too! Shout out to all my fellow #TeamKrista members!

KV: And don't forget the lovely Mónica Bustamante Wagner! She's been a huge part of the contest's success, too, even if she always tries to steal my favorite entries:)

What are you working on now?

RH: Book 2 in the Colorblind series is written and waiting the publisher's approval. Currently editing my YA sci-fi GROOMED, which is basically THE HUNGER GAMES meets Bachelorette. My WIP is a YA thriller called THE TIME-TRAVELER'S SEWING KIT.

KV: I want to read your YA thriller based on its title alone.

Do you have any favorite memories from the inaugural round of the contest?

RH: Obviously the big win for Team Krista. :) We did win, right? It's been a while. Haha. 

KV: Heck yeah, we won!

RH: I was looking through the comments of my entry and was surprised to see so many of the participants now have books out with big publishers! It's such a cool thing to be friends before fame and fortune take their terrible toll, lol. I'm still waiting for that toll to hit. 

KV: Any last words of advice or encouragement you'd like to share with us?

RH: Read tons of writing craft books.

Don't get stuck on early novels. If you've exhausted every avenue, shelve it. Your next one will be better.

Connect! Got to conferences. Do blog contests! Not only are they a blast, but it's so much easier to make it when you're not #2854 in the slush pile.

And finally, don't turn your nose up at self-publishing. Especially if you've already got a fan base. Amazon is the great equalizer. Just make sure to get a professional editor and cover artist. What? You don't want to have to market yourself? Newsflash: Even with a publisher you're still expected to do a crazy amount of marketing. So might as well get most of the moolah, too. If I told you how much I've made on AN UNCOMMON BLUE, you'd probably laugh. I know I do. Right after the crying. But I can't argue that it's been a blast getting there.

Thanks for dropping by and launching this new series, R.C!

Upcoming Attractions

One of the things I've learned about myself is that I'm a happier writer when I'm a blogging writer, so I'm bringing back some of my favorite features and putting together some new ones.

First up, a brand new interview series called "Where Are They Now?" "The Writer's Voice" has had an amazing run over the last four years, and though the other coaches and I have decided to take a step back from it for a while, I couldn't bring myself to let it go entirely. Team Krista has featured some of the best writers I know, and their paths have taken them in every possible direction. "Where Are They Now?" will highlight those individuals journeys, from their highest peaks to their lowest valleys. The first interview will drop later this week, so keep an eye out for that post. (And if you're a member of Team Krista and haven't heard from me yet, you will! Unless you were a part of TWV 2012. Then you should have already heard from me, so maybe my e-mail got sucked into your spam filter?)

Speaking of interview series, I have a few more installments of "From Submission to Offer" in the works. Being on submission is one of those things we rarely talk about, so my hope is that "From Submission to Offer" will provide an editor's-eye view of this mysterious process.

Finally, "An Agent's Inbox" will return next month with the indomitable Brent Taylor of Triada US Literary Agency. The details will go up on March 11, and the submission window will open on March 14, so if you want to join in, mark those dates on your calendar!

I may or may not have a few other ideas skittering around in the back of my brain, but I also wanted to ask YOU what kinds of things you'd like to see. Is there an old feature you miss, or is there something specific you'd like to learn more about?

Team Maries Wins "The Writer's Voice"

#TheWVoice wrapped up earlier this week, and I'm pleased to announce that #TeamMaries won with 21 official votes! Here's how those votes broke down:

#1: AN ADAGIO DARK AND LOVELY Lauren MacLeod, Erin Harris, Caryn Wiseman, Carrie Pestritto, Andrea Somberg, Kathleen Rushall, Courtney Stevenson
#2: WHISPERMAGE Carrie Pestritto, Andrea Somberg
#3: THE DREADFUL GOOD Caitie Flum, Erin Harris, Carrie Pestritto, Andrea Somberg, Courtney Stevenson
#4: JETSTAR FIGHTER PILOT Renee Nyen
#5: TRUE NORTH Courtney Stevenson
#7: THE SHAPE OF THE MANGO Mollie Glick, Carrie Pestritto, Andrea Somberg
#8: THE LAST PAPER DAHL Erin Harris, Kathleen Rushall 

And THE LAST PAPER DAHL also picked up a request from NinjaHulk. Congratulations, Kristin!

To those of you who didn't get a vote--or didn't get selected by a coach--I just want to say that subjectivity is a huge part of this business and that everyone's tastes are unique. I know you know that, but it bears repeating. Writing is such a solitary pursuit, and at first, it feels like the only person who believes in you is you. But if you keep at it, if you keep taking those punches and dragging yourself back to your feet, you'll slowly find like-minded people who believe in you and your writing. I just found eight new people to believe in, and whether they got no votes or seven, I look forward to seeing their names on books someday.

Last but certainly not least, thanks to Anna-Marie McLemore, my wonderful guest coach, for helping me put together a great team and offering thoughtful feedback on their entries. Thanks to my indefatigable fellow coaches, Brenda Drake, Mónica Bustamante Wagner, and Elizabeth Briggs, for their hard work and dedication over so many weeks (and years). And thanks to everyone who participated, especially my awesome teammates, for taking a risk and putting yourselves out there. It takes a lot of courage to face rejection and keep coming back for more, and I admire your fortitude. Truly, I do.

The Agent Round Starts NOW

#TheWVoice is a multi-blog, multi-agent contest hosted by Brenda Drake, Mónica Bustamante Wagner, Elizabeth Briggs, and me. We based the contest on NBC’s singing reality show The Voice, so the four of us selected projects for our teams based on their queries and first pages and coached the talented writers who wrote them as they polished their entries.

And TODAY we get to post our team members’ finished entries on our blogs!

Twelve amazing agents are going to read these queries and first pages, then vote for their favorites on Tuesday, June 23. Each vote will count as a partial or full request depending on how many votes the entry receives. If an entry receives 1 or 2 votes, those votes will count as partial requests. If an entry receives 3 or more votes, those votes will count as full requests.

Voting will stay open until noon EDT on June 24, at which point we’ll determine which coach’s team received the most votes (and let at least one ninja agent take a crack at the entries). That coach will win bragging rights for time immemorial, and everyone who received requests will be able to submit their materials to all the agents who voted for them. These votes represent serious interest in your project, so PLEASE DON’T ACCEPT AN OFFER OF REPRESENTATION BEFORE GIVING “THE WRITER’S VOICE” AGENTS AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A COMPETING OFFER.

Our twelve amazing agents:

Caitie Flum of Liza Dawson Associates
Mollie Glick of Foundry Literary + Media
Erin Harris of Folio Literary Management
Lauren MacLeod of The Strothman Agency
Sara Megibow and Renee Nyen of kt literary
Ammi-Joan Paquette of Erin Murphy Literary Agency
Carrie Pestritto of Prospect Agency
Kathleen Rushall of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency
Andrea Somberg of Harvey Klinger, Inc.
Courtney Stevenson of Pippin Properties
Caryn Wiseman of Andrea Brown Literary Agency

And my eight amazing teammates' entries:

#TeamMaries #1: AN ADAGIO DARK AND LOVELY (YA historical)

#TeamMaries #2: WHISPERMAGE (YA fantasy)

#TeamMaries #3: THE DREADFUL GOOD (YA mystery)

#TeamMaries #4: JETSTAR FIGHTER PILOT (YA science fiction)

#TeamMaries #5: TRUE NORTH (MG contemporary)

#TeamMaries #6: MONTANA GOLD (YA adventure)

#TeamMaries #7: THE SHAPE OF THE MANGO (Literary fiction)

#TeamMaries #8: THE LAST PAPER DAHL (MG fantasy)

To read the other teams' entries, please use the following links:

#TeamCoffeehouse

#TeamFTW

#TeamTRex

Lastly, cheerleading is allowed, but only until Monday! We want to leave the comments free for the agents to vote on Tuesday. (Also, we will only allow, well, cheerleading and/or positive feedback. Please don’t critique the entries before the agents vote. On the flip side, please don’t try to convince the agents that they want to vote for one of your favorites or, you know, threaten to douse the agents in silly string if they don’t vote for your critique partner. This is a silly-string-free site.)

Happy reading!

Team Maries #8: THE LAST PAPER DAHL

Title: THE LAST PAPER DAHL
Genre: MG fantasy
Word count: 63,000

Query:

Not long ago, eleven-year-old Cecelia Dahl had a little brother who was alive, a mother and father who didn't blame her for his death, and a pleasant house in Hungrig, Norway. She had a soul that lived inside her body, not a miserable blue one that ran out through a door in her chest. Before Tuesdays turned evil, Cecelia was made of skin and bones and happiness, not the crackling paper and sorrow now ripping her life to shreds.

Cecelia’s mother has left for The Land of Yesterday to find her ghost brother. Her house, a dark and crooked thing called Widdendream, absorbs her father into its walls as punishment for making her mother leave. Just before it eats her as well, two mischievous gnomes whisk her away in their hot-air balloon. The gnomes, soul-catchers by trade, claim they know the way to Yesterday, and also how to capture her runaway soul. Its absence is why she’s turning into a paper girl, but finding it won’t be easy. Now Cecelia must survive the harrowing voyage in order to find Yesterday and bring her mother and ghost-brother home. If she doesn’t, Widdendream will never give her father back, and Cecelia’s transformation to a full paper Dahl will be irreversibly complete.

First page:

On Monday of last week, Cecelia Dahl understood the world. She resided in Hungrig, Norway, in a crooked house called Widdendream. Daisies that bloomed in both grass and snow circled the shimmering lake outside her window. Sharp mountains loomed over her town. Dogs barked. Cats meowed. Cecelia’s midnight blue hair grew long and fast and cantankerous. Her skin was dark and bronze and oddly freckled, just like her mother’s. Widdendream loved its residents, as all good houses should, and Cecelia’s family loved her unconditionally. Indeed, on Monday of last week, these were all hardboiled facts.

Then on Tuesday of last week, Cecelia did the bad thing, and the world narrowed down to this: Tuesday hated Cecelia and Cecelia hated it back. 

Now that Tuesday had arrived once more, Cecelia couldn’t help but look over both shoulders as she sank into her desk. It felt like something terrible had its eyes focused on her.

“Cecilia?” Miss Podsnappery pushed up her horn-rimmed glasses. “Whatever do you call that instrument in your hand?” 

Every eye in class turned on Cecelia. Expressionless gazes traced her charcoal sweater and the black-and-gray-striped dress beneath it, judging her frayed tights and scuffed boots too, no doubt. Her teacher, bewildered as always, cast looming shadows. Cecelia forced a smile. She must keep her answer as succinct as possible, forgoing any miscommunications. Teachers were simple creatures, after all, and easily confused.

Team Maries #7: THE SHAPE OF THE MANGO

Title: THE SHAPE OF THE MANGO
Genre: Literary fiction
Word count: 100,000

Query:

Samira Ali’s love life was mapped at birth: Finish graduate school, let her parents find her the perfect Pakistani man, and learn to love him while rearing a houseful of beautiful Muslim babies.

American-born Samira never expected to find true love that way, but neither did she expect to careen so far into forbidden territory. Less than halfway through her doctorate program, she’s not merely embroiled in a clandestine love affair with wildlife photographer Gary Rosenthal; she’s internalized the cadence of his voice when he lights his Hanukkah candles. But before she can admit that she’s fallen irrevocably in love, Samira learns that her father is dying. Rather than destroy his hope that she’ll find the perfect Muslim man, Samira leaves Gary--only to discover that she’s pregnant.

Unable to think straight in the days following her father’s funeral, Samira flies to Pakistan on the pretense of helping her grandfather. She tells herself that she’ll have a plan by the time she returns to her small Florida hometown, but being in Lahore complicates everything. As Samira struggles to conceal her pregnancy from a gaggle of nosy aunties, she learns that she’s not the only Ali woman who has had to choose between love and the culture and faith that define her. Samira’s mother is hiding a past that could make the blended family Samira dreams of possible (if Gary will take her back) or force Samira to choose between the one parent she has left and the love of her life.

First page:

Samira swung her leg over her bicycle seat and leaned into the pedals. In seconds, the rusty green dumpsters and dull gray gravel of the alley were behind her, and she was jumping the curb at Carolina Street. She crouched low over her handlebars as she rode deliberately through the shadows that draped her hometown, softening everything she passed: the park where she had broken her arm when she was six, her high school home economics teacher’s house, the azalea-ringed yards of two aunties, the police chief’s stucco rambler.

She pedaled fast, her legs moving like pistons as she headed west, away from the beach, away from her childhood home, away from her still-sleeping mother, mentally mapping the shortest route to the next town. At her fastest pace, it would still take more than a half hour each way.

She needed a car.

“Don’t be stupid, Sam,” she said, her voice lost beneath the whir of her bike.

No one drove through Carlysle, Florida, at four thirty in the morning.

If she were driving, the chief would have gotten in his cruiser and followed her to make sure she was all right. With Samira’s luck, he’d have had a half dozen of the aunties trailing him, or--at the very least--reaching for the telephone.

Samira could almost hear the aunties’ voices as one, husky with concern, sleep, and unflinching Pakistani accents:

“Nasreen-behen, so sorry to call at this hour, but everything is okay, nehi? Samira just drove by...”

Team Maries #6: MONTANA GOLD

Title: MONTANA GOLD
Genre: YA adventure
Word count: 85,000

Query:

For perpetual slacker Simon, graduating from high school just means his parents are going to force him to stop playing video games and actually make decisions about his future. When he finds a map his miner great-great-great-great-uncle left to a hidden cache of gold, he decides getting out of town--and putting off any major decisions--sounds like a good idea. He cashes in his graduation checks and hops a plane to the wilds of Montana, but it doesn’t take him long to realize he’s in over his head.

Savvy local Maggie takes pity on the city boy, but not because she finds Simon's snobby Eastern accent charming. Finding the gold is her last chance to pay off her father’s crushing debts and stay in the town she loves, and she doesn’t care who gets hurt in the process.

As Simon and Maggie follow the clues, what started out as a fun adventure turns serious when they’re stranded in the woods and word of the gold gets around to the wrong people. But Maggie’s warming up to him, and Simon starts to wonder if his future might just include her--not to mention the rugged beauty of Montana. They’ll have to outsmart a crazed mountain man, drug smugglers, and the wilderness itself if he wants to live to find out.

First page:

The day Simon found the letter with the first clue to his great-great-great-great-uncle's gold started out just as dismal as most days. In the morning, he graduated from high school. A class of three thousand, seven hundred, and forty-one pretty much guaranteed a comatose audience by the time they got to Wexler, Simon.

Afterward, instead of giving Simon a break, maybe a little time to shower off the rented gown stink, his parents informed him that he was having a surprise graduation party. Simon's former classmates must have been more impressed by his Dartmouth-professor parents than he was, because there were over a hundred people at their house by four thirty. He escaped to the backyard and was sitting on the edge of the pool with his shoes off and dress pants rolled up when his best friend found him.

"This party blows chunks," Matt said, flopping down beside Simon.

"I had nothing to do with it," Simon said. "I take no responsibility for its vomit-inducing properties.”

"MageWars later?”

"Definitely." A few hours of the best online game in the universe would go a long way toward erasing the suck of the day.

The porch door whacked open behind them. Simon kept his eyes forward. If he had any luck at all, it would just be someone coming out for a smoke.