Our mentors are editing, our mentees are revising, and we hope you’re making progress on your own manuscript! While we’re all working toward the Agent Showcase on November 3rd-9th, we hope you’ll take a moment during your writing breaks and get to know our 2016 Pitch Wars Teams.
And now, we have . . .
Judy Lin – Mentee
Janella Angeles – Mentor
Axie Oh – Co-Mentor
Judy: Why did you choose Janella and Axie?
My main character is obsessed with food and is snarky about growing up in an Asian household. Since Janella and Axie are both Asian-Americans, I thought they would be able to relate to some of those family dynamics as well as the food culture. When I read their bios and interacted with them on Twitter, they sounded like so much fun and would be awesome people to work with. I’m so excited to spend the next two months with them revising and polishing my manuscript!
Janella and Axie: Why did you choose Judy?
From the moment we first read Judy’s entry in our inbox, we knew she was a strong contender due to her fantastic voice. As writers of color and supporters of We Need Diverse Books, we were hoping to find an #ownvoices manuscript that we really loved in our slush pile, and Judy’s story was one we went crazy for! How could we not choose a manuscript that has food, humor, spine-tingling Chinese ghost stories, and intriguing character dynamics?
Judy: Summarize your book in three words.
Secrets, hauntings, betrayal
Janella and Axie: Summarize Judy’s book in three words.
Taiwanese “Stranger Things”
Judy: Tell us about yourself. What makes you and your MS unique?
I was born in Taiwan and immigrated to Canada with my family when I was eight years old. Having grown up in big cities, I currently live in rural Saskatchewan (in a town of less than 2,000 people). I’ve always felt like I existed somewhere in-between, and my writing helps me explore and make sense of that feeling, whether it’s navigating my Taiwanese / Canadian identities or the differences between small town / urban lifestyles.
I actually attended a summer camp in Taiwan that is similar to the one that my main character attends (minus the ghost sightings!). It was a fun experience travelling all over the island sight-seeing, but a bit of a whirlwind to live and travel with so many people my age in such a short span of time. I also grew up reading and hearing ghost stories based on Chinese and Japanese mythology. I want to share some of the terror that I experienced while I was growing up with the next generation. (insert evil laugh here).
Mentors: Tell us about yourself. Something we might not already know.
Axie: I was in an ad for Cats the Musical when I was five-years-old. My mom and I got free tickets to see the show afterward, and I fell asleep!
Janella: Speaking of cats, I took voice lessons for a few years in high school and had to perform a cat opera duet with my sister in one of our recitals. While wearing cat ears, because we took our roles very seriously.
