#writementor

So excited to announce I’m a #WriteMentor 2020 mentor!

I’ve been #WriteMentor-ing since 2018, so this will be my third time around.

Quick note: It’s a bit difficult to focus in these turbulent, scary times, but I believe that working on your manuscript will take your mind off the events floating around the world.

Gerardo thinking about his past, current, or future project.

Gerardo’s Writing in…

So excited to announce I’m a #WriteMentor 2019 mentor. I was fortunate enough to be picked as a ninja one last year, which turned out to be lot of fun. My 2018 mentee also had fun. At least, I think she did?

Gerardo caught brainstorming his next novel.

Gerardo’s Writing in Numbers

ELEVEN years writing experience.

THREE YA novels published: Summerlypse , Bacon Pie,  and Fractalistic (Summer…

Oh, the synopsis. The beastly synopsis. And it seems like everyone wants something different. One page or two?

Just like the dreaded query letter, there are many resources out there with explicit guidelines on how to write it (I put the links at the end), so I won’t rehash it here. I’m going to give you my two cents, based on my own experiences, research, and reading many through #WriteMentor,…

Feeling refreshed and ready to work.

Last year, after I came home, my husband asked, “What did you do the whole time?” There are no learning sessions or scheduled activities beyond meals. It is just writing. For like three days. So my response: “wrote like a crazy person for like 14 hours a day.” And I think he did think I was a little crazy. Or maybe more than a little, lol. But it was amazing. I mean, call it what you want–being in the zone, writer’s high, whatever–but being away from home, surrounded by other like minded, like devoted people, freed my brain and it was absolutely amazing. I’ve spent this entire year just WAITING for the next one.

This year, I didn’t have something I NEEDED to work on. All the Walls of Belfast is currently untouchable, and I recently sent another WIP to my agent. None of my other projects have been calling to me either. But cue #WriteMentor! A new twitter-based writing contest to hook unagented authors up with mentors who are agented/published. The past few years, with my super busy life, I’ve been missing the camaraderie of a solid Twitter writing community. So I signed up to be a mentor a few weeks ago and this Friday, the submission window opened. Perfect timing. At the writer’s retreat, I had the unique opportunity to devote all my brain power to reading entries and prepping feedback. And I could pick the brains of fellow writers around issues like how debut novels pitched as trilogies are fairing in the market place. Writer’s retreats are also a great place to build new writer connections. Only small hiccup, my laptop decided to spontaneously die on the first full day.

And it was an hour and a half drive one way to a Best Buy to get a new one. #writerproblems

All’s well that ends well though, and I managed to get through all of my submissions, make new writer friends, and interrogate a published author on the finer points of tax deductions, making audio books, and marketing.

I highly recommend writer’s retreats to any writer, no matter where you are in your writing journey 🙂

Hey, so I’m a mentor in #WriteMentor, a new opportunity for querying writers to get hooked up with agented or published author mentors.

If you’re a mentee hopeful, you may have seen my Mentor Bio on the website, but here’s a little more intel.

About me:

The eldest of five children, I was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. I spent the first few years of my life in dying coal mining towns in the…

Hey, so I’m a mentor in #WriteMentor, a new opportunity for querying writers to get hooked up with agented or published author mentors.

If you’re a mentee hopeful, you may have seen my Mentor Bio on the website, but here’s a little more intel.

About me:

The eldest of five children, I was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. I spent the first few years of my life in dying coal mining towns in the…