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 . . .
Triona Murphy – Mentee
Wade Albert White – Mentor
Timanda Wertz – Co-Mentor
Triona: Why did you choose Wade & Timanda?
My (virtual) ears perked up when I read that they were solely focusing on MG sci-fi and fantasy. They perked up even further when I read that they liked some of my favorite authors—Terry Pratchett, Shannon Hale, Neil Gaiman, JK Rowling, Tamora Pierce, and Douglas Adams, to name a few. I also liked their approach to revisions: two major passes, one for big-picture edits and one for details. That’s how I prefer to edit myself (although it’s often more like six or seven passes!), so it sounded like we’d be a good fit.
Wade & Timanda: Why did you choose Triona and Shifting Gears?
Timanda: I’m a sucker for intelligent female characters. As a STEM teacher, I was drawn to the main character, who has a knack for engineering and uses her brains and talents to solve the problems she faces. I’m also fascinated by the idea of parallel worlds, and I thought Triona did a really nice job distinguishing hers from other parallel world stories I’ve read.
Wade: The voice of the opening pages immediately drew me in, and the quirky, super-smart MC kept me reading. On top of that, I love alternate Earth stories. How could I say no?
Triona: Summarize your book in three words.
Dimension-jumping. Adventure. Belonging.
Wade & Timanda: Summarize Triona’s book in three words.
Timanda: Smart girl power.
Wade: Awesome. Multidimensional. Friendships.
Triona: Tell us about yourself. What makes you and your MS unique?
I’m a freelance copywriter and knitting pattern designer (yep, that’s a real thing!). I live in Indiana with my husband, who’s also a writer, and my two sons. I’ve been a voracious reader since the age of four and was into cool sci-fi and fantasy more than anything else. SHIFTING GEARS has a lot of elements I loved at the middle school age, like interesting science concepts, relatable characters, and action/adventure.
Wade & Timanda: Tell us about yourself. Something we might not already know.
Timanda: I usually mention my love of Broadway and marine science in these things, so here’s something new: as of last weekend, I have over a hundred (they’re hard to count because the babies are always moving) Madagascar hissing cockroaches in my classroom. Anybody looking for a free pet?
Wade: Something I don’t usually mention in bios is that I took classes for a year at Second City back when we lived in Toronto. It was a lot of fun, and we even did a final performance on the main stage. That has been the entirety of my career in live theatre of any kind. I also feel strangely compelled to add that I own zero cockroaches, hissing or otherwise.
Check out Wade Albert White’s latest release . . .
The Adventurer’s Guide to Successful Escapes
A thrilling debut novel where fantasy and science fiction meet, dragons aren’t as innocent as they look (which is to say, not innocent at all), and nothing is quite what it seems.
Anne has spent most of her thirteen years dreaming of the day she and her best friend Penelope will finally leave Saint Lupin’s Institute for Perpetually Wicked and Hideously Unattractive Children. When the big day arrives, a series of very curious happenings lead to Anne being charged with an epic quest. Anne, Penelope, and new adventuring partner Hiro have only days to travel to strange new locales, solve myriad riddles, and triumph over monstrous foes–or face the horrible consequences.
Packed with action, humor, and endless heart, this debut novel marks the first volume in an irresistible and original fantasy series.
Illustrated by Mariano Epelbaum
IndieBound || Amazon || Barnes&Noble || Indigo || Books-A-Million || Kobo || Goodreads || LB Kids
I don’t write SFF at all, but I LOVE so many of the authors you mentioned that I can’t wait to read this. My 9-year-old daughter also wants to be an engineer, so I hope it’s published soon so I can share it with her! 🙂
(P.S. Designing knitting patterns is an awesome job.)