A Love Letter to Pitch Wars

First off I must thank the generous Brenda Drake for creating this event. Contests make my palms and pits sweaty but this one…this one made my heart bigger.

From the get go the community of writers were supportive, creative and funny. I made new friends and even experienced my first troll (boo troll).

I spent a few days combing the mentor list trying to find who may be right for my MS DEAR DEAD DRUNK GIRL. It’s tricky, because mentors have distinct likes and dislikes and although some say they like a certain theme they may not like some of the darker elements of my story. So I did my due diligence and found people I really liked.

I hit submit. And then the waiting began. I bought books. PW turned me on to new YA writers and I am gobbling up their work now.

Instead of completely freaking out about letting my baby into the world, I made friends. Lots of Twitter friends who are GIF-tastic, fun and helped make the time and days go faster. A few even live nearby and we hope to meet up soon.

I was psyched to receive an email from a mentor until I read it and she informed my chapter did not attach. YIKES! Thankfully she asked that I send it and told me she’d pass it along to the others I submitted to.

Even better, a few days later she asked that I send my full MS to her. ***happy dance, happy dance oh, the happy dance.

This is really when I started losing my mind. I couldn’t tell anyone what was going on. So again, I chatted with my new friends. I chatted with my CP. I started building my query letter spreadsheet and plotting which agents I’ll submit to.

Last night rolled slowly into town and Brenda Drake once again helped us all breathe a sigh of relief, as well as crash her website, when she released the names of the 2015 Pitch Wars Mentees. My new friend Monica was there as well as Tracey and a few other people I trade tweets with.

I am over the moon happy for them. No joke, not making this up- I’m thrilled they got picked.

And I’m not crushed. I’m not crying in my early morning coffee. I’m the opposite. I’m invigorated about my book. I feel good about the journey and hope one day to participate as a mentor. I’ll be added to the list of mentors who didn’t get into Pitch Wars themselves but went on to be successful.

Writing is a long journey. I’ve got stamina. See you in the bookstore!