Pay it Forward

I love "Pay it Forward." It's such a great concept for every part of life. Today I'm paying it forward as part of a contest being held on Shelli Johannes's blog. I'm excited for the opportunity (for both taking part in the contest AND being able to honor someone special), so let's get right to it.

Writers tend to be busy people—even busier once they have deadlines to get their manuscript edited for a publisher and sequels to write. Which is why I was so touched by the generosity of Susanne Winnacker. You may know Susanne from  the very popular GotYA, or from her own blog and website, or maybe you've seen her around Absolute Write. In any case, if you've come into contact with her, you'll know she's a gem of a person.

She's got what it takes as a writer, no question about that. She's represented by Julia Churchill of Greenhouse Literary, and her debut novel THE OTHER LIFE will be published by Usborne UK in Spring 2012 as well as Marshall Cavendish in Fall 2012. Back before she was agented, I read an excerpt of her novel in a contest and was immediately drawn to the story. I can't wait to get the book and read the whole thing!


And just as a side note, she and her husband just celebrated their 9th year of marriage. Congratulations!


With everything Susanne's got going on, you'd think her plate was too full to take on another project. Yet when I started looking for beta readers for my current manuscript, the wonderful Susanne stepped forward. She's a magnificent beta reader, and with the experience she has as an agented and soon-to-be-published writer I'm very confident taking her advice. I feel very lucky to have her helping me out.


Thank you, Susanne, for being so awesome!

Interview with Regan Leigh

It's that time again. Yes, of course, Monday, but also time for another fun interview. Today we're talking to aspiring writer Regan Leigh.

Welcome, Regan! Tell us a bit about yourself.

I'm a Capricorn, an INFJ, and I love mashed potatoes.

Hehehe, that's awesome. How long have you been writing?

Most of my life... I'm thirty and started writing seriously around twenty-eight, but I was creating "books" at the age of seven.

What is the name and genre of the manuscript you're currently pitching?

I'm not quite to the query level, yet. I have two completed novels. One is an adult novel that has been through a few edits, but still needs more. The other was an adult novel that I decided fit the YA genre better, so it's going through a big over-haul.

Practice one of your pitches on us.

I guess I'll pitch Mallory's Story, the adult novel with more edits. (And yes, I know the name needs help. I'm terrible at titles.)


Wait...my query for Mallory is shaky and I think this describes it better:


Mallory's Story from reganleigh on Vimeo.

Very cool. How did the idea of the story come to you?


I tried an exercise from a writing prompt book, The 3 AM Epiphany by Brian Kiteley,  and that initial short story led me to develop it into five hundred pages. :) (Yes, I have since edited down that crazy page count.)

What else do you have in the works?

Hayes' Story (I know, enough of the horrible titles. :D) Hayes' Story is the adult novel that is transitioning into a YA book.

Here's what I can say about it:


Hayes is trapped in a town where everyone hates him. They’ve hated him since that one particular incident when he was a young boy. They never forgave him. Because of that, Hayes is bitter guy with a dark sense of humor.


Hayes has to come face to face with one of his worst fears, just as the opportunity to leave presents itself.


That’s not even the beginning of all his secrets. But could he really have more secrets than the others? They have quite a list going for themselves.

Intriguing! Do you have a critique group/partner or beta readers, or do you self-edit?

I've had a few betas over the past year for both novels, as well as for my short stories and flash pieces. I do have a couple of people that I turn to on a regular basis and one person that I consider a really important writing partner. But I also do a lot of editing on my own.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Right now, it's finding the time. I can sit down and write for hours, but I find it much more difficult to write in small amounts. Sometimes life doesn't allow me to write for any decent length of time. ;)

Let’s get to know you on a deeper level. What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

Candles. I love writing late at night and by candle light. (Ok, my Mac is lighting the way, too.) :D

If you could have any super power, what would it be?

To read minds. :)

Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: daily, crackle, and antler.

The antlers were mounted to the wall, where they hovered above the boy eating his daily helping of crackling Rice Crispies.

Yikes, sounds like a setup for an accident. I feel myself wanting to urge the boy away from the antlers before they fall. LOL.

Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.

Oh, I have too many! I've started featuring writers on my blog. Start there. :)

What a great concept. *wink* And finally, where can people find you online?

Absolute Write and Twitter.

Regan, thank you so much for chatting with us. Good luck with your books, and I hope you'll keep us informed on the next steps of your publishing journey.

Interview with Kate Hart

Today's interview will make you smile. No really, it will! Not only because of the brilliant content, but because of the awesome interviewee. Say hello to the wonderful Kate Hart.

Hello, Kate! Tell us a bit about yourself.

I'm a history nerd married to a fellow history nerd. I taught preschool for a few years, then middle school Spanish, and now I write grants and marketing materials for a local non-profit. I have two little boys, an oversized garden and a fairly strong Southern accent.

How long have you been writing?

I wrote all through high school, stopped completely during college, and just picked it back up a year ago. Going to SCBWI LA at the end of July was like an anniversary celebration for me.

Well then Happy Anniversary! :) What is the name and genre of the manuscripts you're currently pitching?

I'm querying two YA manuscripts: REFUGE, a paranormal, and AFTER THE FALL, a contemporary.

Let's hear your pitches.

REFUGE: "Varsity Blues" with witches
AFTER THE FALL: Raychel is sleeping with two boys-- her best friend... and his brother.

Wow, excellent pitches. Sweet and to the point. How did the story ideas come to you?

REFUGE is set in southwest Oklahoma, where my grandparents live. I was talking to someone about witches and the paranormal, and started considering how a real family of witches would get by in that region.

AFTER THE FALL just appeared fully formed. A local hiking accident got me thinking about how my own group of friends would have dealt with that situation. But I neither slept with my best friend nor his brother, in high school or any other time! LOL

Sounds like your muse follows you everywhere. Cool! What else do you have in the works?

I have a few SNIs, some YA and some middle grade, but nothing has declared itself "next" yet.

Do you have a critique group/partner or beta readers, or do you self-edit?

I have a fantastic group of betas. My husband and my best friend both read multiple drafts of each MS, and my girls at YA Highway read various rounds of drafts and queries as well. I also have several other friends from Absolute Write who are indispensable, both for crits and general support.

What’s the hardest part about writing for you?

Not being competitive. It's the hardest part of life for me, period.

Let’s get to know you on a deeper level. What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

I go through ridiculous amounts of iced tea and Dr Pepper when I'm writing.

Mmm, Dr Pepper rocks! So, if you could have any super power, what would it be?

This question has some Freudian implications, right? What does it mean that I can never decide on an answer?

LOL, it probably means you WANT THEM ALL, but who could blame you, really.

Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: robot, yogurt, and glory.

If you can beat these guys in a robot contest, I will reward your glory with frozen yogurt.

That's so awesome!


Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. To whom would you like to give a shout out?

My husband; my best friend Catherine and her husband Chris; all my meese at YA Highway: Kirsten, Kristin Sr, Michelle, Kaitlin, Amanda, Lee, Kristin Jr, Kody, Emilia and Leila; my girls Kathleen, Cory and Deb; and my family.

And finally, where can people find you online?

My personal blog is at www.katehart.net. I also write the weekly industry roundup at www.yahighway.com, and my Twitter is @Kate_Hart.

Kate, it was a pleasure talking with you. Thank you for letting us get to know you a little more. I wish you lots of success with all your publishing endeavors.

Thanks Dorothy!

Interview with Laurie Devore

Hello, everyone. How was your weekend? What's that I hear? Not long enough? Well, I totally agree. But to help us deal with our dreaded Monday, let's take a break from the stress by getting to know a great aspiring writer. Let's welcome Laurie Devore.

Hi, Laurie!Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m a 21-year-old college student in South Carolina. By day, I intern for sports teams and by night I write about high school students with far more dramatic lives than my own.

How long have you been writing?

I know it’s cliché to say, but I’ve been writing for as long as I remember. But I’ve only been writing seriously for the past two years, in which time I’ve finished a novel, almost finished another one, and quit one halfway through (for those keeping count, that’s a lot of words).

What is the name and genre of the manuscript you're currently pitching?

I’m working toward querying my YA dark contemporary Pretty Sins.

Ooh, I like the title. Here’s the part where you pitch it. What’s your story about?

Pretty Sins is about Olivia, a high school cheerleader, who is betrayed by her best friend and falls from social grace. But Olivia’s not one to take things lying down: she decides the best punishment will be to steal her ex-bff’s boyfriend. It’s not like she would hate having him (back). It doesn’t take long before Olivia realizes she might be the meanest mean girl of them all. And that’s not something she wants to live with. Along the way, she deals with the grief over her older brother’s death and meets a golfer who she either loves to hate or hates to love—she hasn’t decided yet.


(This is a pitch in progress. Still haven’t perfected one for this book yet.)

Sounds dark indeed. I'm captivated! How did the idea of the story come to you?

This story actually began as a short story I wrote for my fiction class. I had the idea of this cheerleader who had contempt for how she was viewed because she was a cheerleader and Olivia was born (though she was originally named Tristan).

What else do you have in the works?

I have an already complete novel about a college sophomore which really has nowhere to go. I have a half-finished (but badly in need of a rewrite) YA romance based on a Taylor Swift song and I have a YA mystery in the works.

Wow, a little bit of everything. Do you have a critique group/partner or beta readers, or do you self-edit?

I like to self-edit a good bit and then let a group of beta readers loose on my ms.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Plotting. To me, the words come easy, but trying to guide my readers through a coherent, believable, tense story is incredibly difficult. And all the pretty sentences in the world do not a book make.

Let’s get to know you on a deeper level. What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

Well, I really like to write in cafes, so maybe some food or a drink. But I’m kind of the ‘write anywhere, anytime’ school, so honestly, nothing. As long as I have a computer or a pen and paper, I’m good to go.

If you could have any super power, what would it be?

I don’t know if this is a super power, but I would like to have the power to eat whatever I want and never gain weight.

LOL, I think we'd all like to be able to do that. Imagine the possibilities!

Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: zebra, elevator, and thesis.

I kept waiting for my thesis to start writing itself, which seemed about as likely as seeing a zebra board the elevator in my apartment complex.

Hehe. Okay, here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. To whom would you like to give a shout out?

I don’t know if they’ll read this, but obviously my family, who has been super supportive of my dream of being published and all my online friends, cheerleaders and betas from Twitter and AW and Google Groups. I don’t want to start naming in case I forget someone, but they know who they are.

And finally, where can people find you online?

Uhm, probably more places than you should be able to. I blog at Old Enough to Know Better, Too Young to Care. I tweet from the account @laurie_devore and I’m JustLaurie on the AW forums.

Thank you so much for chatting with us, Laurie. I wish you lots of success with your books. Let us know when you've reached the next step in your publishing journey!

Interview with Elizabeth Holloway

Well, folks, the week is nearly over. Aren't you glad? Me too. To help get us through the last couple days, let's partake in a chat with a wonderful aspiring writer, Elizabeth Holloway.

Welcome, Beth! Tell us a bit about yourself.

I'm a late-night, snack-munching writer, an avid reader and the deliverer of babies, both fictional and literal.

How long have you been writing?

I started writing poetry when I was able to hold a pen in my hand. I wrote my first short story when I was fifteen and my first novel, NIRAMI, at eighteen. NIRAMI is safely under the bed where it can't hurt anyone other than the dust bunnies. I promise.

LOL, I have a few stories that can join it. What is the name and genre of your current manuscript?


I'm currently seeking representation for my YA paranormal, THE COLLECTED, and I'm working on another YA paranormal entitled GRIM.

Here’s the part where you pitch it. What’s your story about?

THE COLLECTED is the story of a murdered girl, Emma, whose soul was collected as a trophy by her killer. Years later, Emma manages to escape the Collector. When she realizes there is hope for life (and love) outside of the glass bottle he kept her in, she risks her freedom, and possibly the soul of her living accomplice, to rescue the rest of the souls still trapped in the killer's morbid collection.

Wow, that's a great premise! How did the idea of the story come to you?

Ha! I love this question. The seeds of this story came from a creepy urban legend. A boy picks up a beautiful, hitchhiking girl and takes her to her house. As he drives away, he realizes she left her sweater in his car. Excited by the prospect of seeing the girl again, he returns to her house only to learn the girl has been dead for years. *cue spooky music*
I loved the idea of the boy falling in love with the ghost girl and thought more about it. I wondered why a ghost would be hitchhiking. Where was she going? Who was she running from, and why? My story snowballed from there.

That's great. Now I really want to read it! Do you have a critique group/partner or beta readers, or do you self-edit?

I have a group of ridiculously talented beta-readers and I self edit.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Writing is hard. It really is. But the hardest part is taking time away from my family and sleep to sit down and DO it!

Let’s get to know you on a deeper level. What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?


I wish I could say something like my signed copy of , but I'm boring. I only need my computer, a dictionary, a thesaurus and a diet Pepsi...Okay, okay...and snacks. Lots and lots of snacks.


Yes, snacks fuel the imagination, I believe, lol. If you could have any super power, what would it be? 

Ah, the ability to telepathically transport my thoughts to my computer and have it come out the masterpiece it is in my brain. That would be pretty cool.

Ooh, yeah, can I have that too? That would come in so handy.

Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: Academy Award, Wite-Out, and pajamas.

I knew when my stylist held up a pair of black pajamas with the words 'I didn't want it anyway' scrawled across the shoulders in Wite-out that my chances of getting the Academy Award for best screenplay were smaller than I thought.

Hehehe, ingenious. Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Whom would you like to give a shout out to?

I'd like to thank my family and friends for their continued patience with the lump who stares at the computer screen all day (me). I'd also like to say thanks to my fantastic beta-readers, Crystal, Kara, Laura, Heather, Steve, Jenn. And thank you, Dorothy, for the awesome interview!

Aw, you're welcome! And finally, where can people find you online?

I occasionally blog at http://writingbynightlight.blogspot.com, I recently joined twitter and I'm an active member of the AW forums. You might see my work entered in contests here and there, as well.

Thank you so much for letting us get to know you, Beth. I'm crossing my fingers that your book snags an agent soon. Let us know when it's published, because I can't wait to read it!