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Pitch Wars Team Interviews with Tanvi Berwah and her mentor, Rebecca Schaeffer

Tuesday, 10 December 2019  |  Posted by Rochelle Karina

 

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 . . .

Tanvi Berwah – Mentee

Website | Twitter

 

Rebecca Schaeffer – Mentor

Website | Twitter

Rebecca, why did you choose Tanvi?

I knew from the pitch that I was going to love this book, and the first chapter totally hooked me. Monster racing? I mean, how cool is that??

Tanvi, why did you choose to submit to Rebecca?

This book is a mashup of sorts, fantasy tropes and execution, but because it’s set on another planet, science fiction. There were a few great mentors looking for genre mixes, and once I had narrowed the list, I studied all of their wishlist posts. I already loved Rebecca’s writing style and her very inventive stories, but also her strengths as a mentor matched everything I felt was a weakness with this ms, so I knew she’d be a great fit.

Rebecca, summarize Tanvi’s book in 3 words.

Monster chariot racing

Tanvi, summarize your book in 3 words.

Oceans. Chariots. Monsters.

Rebecca, tell us about yourself. Something we may not already know.

I love to travel and live abroad. I’ve lived on four continents and in seven countries and counting.

Tanvi, what do you hope to get out of the Pitch Wars experience?

I’m hoping to learn as much as I can about storytelling and characters, and the process of revision to make a book its best possible version. I’m also very excited to have a supportive writing community with my fellow mentees.

Tanvi, tell us about yourself! What makes you and your manuscript unique?

I grew up in New Delhi, a city steeped in history, and have lived amid a clash of Mughal and colonial British architecture. As a child I was convinced I was going to grow up to be an astronomer, I loved the philosophical idea of different worlds and lives even then, and was crushed to learn how much math was involved.

I’ve written fantasy manuscripts before, but this was the first time I wrote something that could vaguely identify as science fiction. Not too long ago, I also realized nearly every character I’ve ever written is an anxiety-strung one who must fight the entire world just to exist on their own terms. So this book ultimately became a blend of everything I love: a defiant girl and a world beyond this one.

Check out the first book in Rebecca’s series, NOT EVEN BONES.

Nita doesn’t murder supernatural beings and sell their body parts on the internet—her mother does that. Nita just dissects the bodies after they’ve been “acquired.” Until her mom brings home a live specimen and Nita decides she wants out; dissecting a scared teenage boy is a step too far. But when she decides to save her mother’s victim, she ends up sold in his place—because Nita herself isn’t exactly “human.” She has the ability to alter her biology, a talent that is priceless on the black market. Now on the other side of the bars, if she wants to escape, Nita must ask herself if she’s willing to become the worst kind of monster.

HMH Books

Or take a look at the WebToon.

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

 

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