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 starting on February 6, 2019, we hope you’ll take a moment during your writing breaks and get to know our 2018 Pitch Wars Teams.
Next up, we have . . .
Kristy Boyce – Mentee
Sabrina Lofti – Mentor
Carrie Allen – Mentor
Sabrina and Carrie, why did you choose Kristy?
No jokes—we were already a little smitten when we saw Kristy’s title in our sub list, and her pages, characters, and friends-to-lovers romance made us swoon. Hot British Boyfriend is cute, fun, has ridiculously adorable banter, and is exactly the Kasie West-esque romance we were hoping to find. We adore working with Kristy and are trilled to have her on Team Girl Power.
Kristy, why did you choose to submit to Sabrina and Carrie?
After reading Sabrina and Carrie’s blog post, I knew we would be a great match! My manuscript fit what they were looking for and we also had many of the same favorite books and authors. Another thing that stood out was their interest in having a relationship with their mentee that would last beyond Pitch Wars and querying. Having mentors for 4 months is amazing, but having new friends is even better!
Sabrina and Carrie, summarize Kristy’s book in 3 words.
Hot. British. Boyfriend.
Kristy, summarize your book in 3 words.
Study abroad romance
Sabrina and Carrie, tell us about yourself. Something we may not already know.
Sabrina: Three true things you may not know about me:
1. Through the entirety of middle school and high school I had life goals of being a jockey and the first female rider to win all three legs of the Triple Crown.
2. I was a Sunny D girl when I was 12.
3. I’ve been lucky to have 3 amazing Luckys in my life—a horse, My Lucky Penny, a dog, my first and only to date, and the main character in my book that’s currently on sub.
Carrie: Something Pitch Wars doesn’t know about me: Carrie’s Publishing Math. Over the last 7 years I wrote 14 manuscripts. Number 8 nearly broke me. It wasn’t until number 9 that I was finally query-ready. I queried 8 agents. My (dream) agent submitted 3 manuscripts over 2 years, racking up approximately 35 editor rejections.
And 1 yes. Which absolutely was worth all the other numbers (even number 8).
*Not included: the boxes of tissue and bottles of wine for each heart-wrenching rejection.
Kristy, what do you hope to get out of the Pitch Wars experience?
My biggest hope is to soak up all of the knowledge/tips/skills I can from this awesome community and use that to elevate my writing. I am always trying to learn and improve and I can’t think of a better way to do this than to work with experienced writers.
Kristy, tell us about yourself! What makes you and your manuscript unique?
I have my PhD in social psychology and that will often influence my writing. This manuscript is special to me because it actually began when I was teaching a psychology class called “The Self” that deals with self-esteem. I was writing a multiple choice question about a hypothetical girl who studies abroad and I realized that the premise would make a great novel. So, this book combines my psychology background with my love of writing (and England)!
Check out Carrie’s Fall 2019 release, MICHIGAN VS. THE BOYS…
After her girls’ ice hockey team is cut for budget reasons, Michigan tries out for the boys’ team, and earns a place on the starting lineup. But when she shows up her teammates with her skills and her refusal to back down, hazing crosses the line into assault.
Thank you for supporting our Pitch Wars Teams! The Agent Showcase is February 6 – 11, 2019. If you’re an agent and would like to participate, you must register here: https://pitchwars.org/info-for-agents/. We hope you’ll join us to support our teams on the Twitter hashtag #PitchWars.
I love the idea of using psychology in such a specific way in your manuscript. Good luck!