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 5, 2020, we hope you’ll take a moment during your writing breaks and get to know our 2019 Pitch Wars Mentor and Mentee Teams.
Next up, we have . . .
Carol Williams – Mentee
Gracie Kim – Mentor
Karah Sutton – Mentor
Gracie & Karah, why did you choose Carol?
Graci: Because Carol’s voice is killer! From the first page, I was captivated by the protagonist CJ and immediately fell in love with her passion and spunk. I told myself I’d just read a few pages, and the next thing I knew, I’d finished the whole thing. That’s how I knew she was the one!
Karah: Carol’s story was one of those mythical moments where a submission is somehow both completely unlike anything you expected to see in your inbox and also everything you asked for. We wanted stories with spooky magic, warm and loving families, and fast-moving adventure. Carol’s was all of that in a totally unexpected way, playing on the snappy dialogue of old newspaper comedy films like The Hudsucker Proxy and His Girl Friday. It helped also that Graci and I were totally in sync about the revisions we wanted Carol to make. It felt like everything came together perfectly with this manuscript.
Carol, why did you choose to submit to Gracie & Karah?
They had me at “Magic of all forms is encouraged, as are all forms of spookiness and humour.” When Graci and Karah combined that with talking beats and character arcs, and the belief that strong structure is the backbone of a strong book, there was no question they were just what I needed. They’ve helped me take my book to another level.
Gracie & Karah, summarize Carol’s book in 3 words.
Karah: Supernatural newspaper caper!
Graci: Sassy. Smart. Spooky.
Carol, summarize your book in 3 words.
Mystery. Magic. Mutts.
Gracie & Karah, tell us about yourself. Something we may not already know.
Graci: I ran away with the circus when I was 16 because I fell in love with a Colombian tightrope salsa artist! I also used to host a cooking show, and ran a business that turned children’s drawings into plushies!
Karah: I feel like I should just leave you with Graci’s amazing facts! Um, I used to be a ballet dancer and originally wanted to study musical theatre. I still do voice acting from time to time in movies and video games.
Carol, what do you hope to get out of the Pitch Wars experience?
With Karah and Graci, I’ve gotten everything I could have hoped for from my Pitch Wars experience — and then some. Their edits have been incredibly insightful and on-target, and their support throughout this process has been warm and very kind. In short, I’ve received beyond-amazing mentoring from Team Kiwi.
Carol, tell us about yourself! What makes you and your manuscript unique?
Once I realized that being an adult was overrated, I gave in to the middle-grader inside me. I started writing for that kid who loved to read books of all kinds, always with a couple of trusty Pop Tarts by her side. As for my manuscript, the MC is everything I never was as a kid: bold, fearless and unabashedly nosy. I hope this MC will break new ground as an African-American ace reporter who gets the scoop and gets out of scrapes.
Check out Graci & Karah’s upcoming releases.
Thank you for supporting our Pitch Wars Teams! The Agent Showcase is February 5 – 10, 2020, and our next Twitter Pitch Party on #PitMad is March 5, 2020! Want to know more about #PitMad? Go here.
