#PitchWars Aftermath

For those of you who are completely out of the loop, here's the skinny on Pitch Wars: It was a contest on Twitter where signed writers gave their time and skills to help unsigned writers. These honorable, beautiful people are called Mentors. The unsigned writers, like myself, submitted a query letter and the first chapter of of manuscripts to up to four out of seventy five Mentors. In this round, the Mentors picked one Mentee and one Alternate. I read the average Mentor got eighty submissions, so this contest was huge.

I'm going to make a separate post about Brenda Drake (who started all this) and the Mentors to whom I subbed, so you can check out their blogs and pre-order their books! These ladies are mad talented. And of course generous to the bone because they didn't have to participate in this contest, but they did. So, look out for that.

Now, for my personal results! I was not picked. Yes, sad face.

Except my face isn't actually sad because:

1. This is one contest, and there were a huge amount of submissions with tons of talent. I know I'm not the best writer out there. But I am the best writer I ever have been, so I can be happy with where I am now as opposed to where I have been. I'm giddy for all the writers chosen. They are talented and have worked hard to get that coveted spot. I wish them all the best in the agent round!

 

2. For the past couple weeks, I've been a part of a truly inspiring writing community. Never have I seen so many writers encourage and connect with each other. I saw courage. I saw vulnerability. I saw talent.

Because of that, I am more open to the idea of finding a writers group or critique partners either where I live or online. To be honest, this scares me a little because I don't trust people with my book. What if it gets stolen!? To be even more honest, I'm afraid if I join a writer's group or get a critique partner, they'll be one of those I'm-so-smart types who like to talk down and feel superior. Pitch Wars Peeps have proved to be a humble, fun bunch, though! That gives me hope. Yay, friends, and community and stuff.

3. A rejection does not mean I have failed. It means I have succeeded in finishing a project, and that I have the guts to put it out there. Being rejected means I'm trying. I won't get anywhere otherwise.

4. The Mentors are giving feedback to everyone who subbed, and I got my first feedback this morning from my favorite Mentor. I cannot tell you how important this was to me. This Mentor helped me with my query letter in such a huge way. She also gave me feedback on the writing in my MS that will help me grow tremendously.

Two things I need to work on: grounding my readers in the setting (I knew I wasn't very skilled at this), and "showing" instead of "telling". That one surprised me because I thought I'd been making a conscious effort to show not tell. See how hard it is to recognize our own flaws? That's why her feedback was so important. Now I can take that and delve into learning and revising in that aspect.

Another feedback wasn't as specific because she simply said she didn't connect with the voice. She was encouraging, though! I'm still waiting on feedback from the others.

5. This is the big news I've been waiting to tell. Drum roll, please.

One of the Mentors, Sharon Johnston, tweeted about needing a blog assistant, so I jumped at the chance because the more experience I can get, the better. We talked over email about the position, and then she said she wanted to offer me something else she thought I would like better. That is...a spot on the blog, YAtopia, as a contributor! As in, I am now one of the writers. To be real with you, I feel unqualified. These other writers have so much going for them, that they can and should absolutely write about books, writing, and publishing! Me? I'm just over here writing a few blogs and trying to get an agent for my book. But I won't argue! I feel so dang blessed with this opportunity.

 I'm brimming with thankfulness over it all.


Now, I'm going to bust out all my fun writing supplies and get back to it! Never surrender!




 

Pitch Wars (Potential) Mentee Bio

Pitch Wars is the awesome thing you can read about if you click here. The submission window closed last night, and now tons and tons of hopeful writers are staring at the Pitch Wars feed and constantly checking email to see if they have page requests. Not that I know anything about that because, um, I'm not, like, obsessing or anything...ahem.

I turned in my submission last night! Yay!! Now that none of us can focus on anything else, there's this new thing where we make bios like the Mentors did. If it'll get me to look away from Twitter for a second, why not? Plus, EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING IT. Peer pressure is real.

 My name is Jessie. Actually it's Jessica, but that's feels so...

So I go by Jessie. Or Jess. Or sometimes Jessbaby McSwagg.  Because those feel more...

I have a hilarious, super cute sexy, cuddly, strong, hardworking husband named Gary. Or Gare. Or Garebaby McSwagg. We've been married for almost two years, and dating for a whole decade! Yes, we're middle school/high school sweethearts.

*Some facial hair has been added.

I have waaaay too much fun writing about periods, so I let out all that glory and gore on a blog called Period Fairy. Sometimes it's gross. Mostly funny. But also I have this thing where my jokes are so funny most people don't laugh...so...

I also have a short publication called Obstacles in Our Adventures on Whole Magazine.

The novel for which I submitted by query to Pitch Wars is a Contemporary Christian YA Thriller. I started in in 2010 when I had to write it in twenty eight days for my novel class at Hope College. I have since shaped and sharpened it, and it is the book of my heart.

Short list of things I do besides writing:
-Help lead youth group with my sister and the rest of our team of leaders
-Hang out with my husband and family and play stupid games
-Play Sims
-Read
-Peruse bookshelves
-Learn about babies and parenthood because I want da bebe!

Obessions:
-Organic hygiene
-Tea
-Books
-God's love for me
-Singing really loud while driving
-Swimming under water
-Shopping at thrift stores
-Listening to storms
-Gifs
-Supernatural

Thanks for taking the time to read! I hope the best to all my nemeses participating in Pitch Wars!

Cheers.

I Picked a Genre

Here's an update to anyone wondering what's happening in Writing Land.

In short: Wonderful things!

In long, there are four things:

1)  I've been working on a top secret, new novel while I send out queries for Capture Me Strong. It's going slowly, but well. I'm just fiddling and building characters and plot.

2) I send out queries in little bursts because if I get no responses/all rejections back, then I know I either need to tweak the story or my query. So, I've been doing that. Sending, waiting, tweaking. Not to be confused with twerking.

3) Some of you may have seen on my author page on Facebook (Click here to check it out, and "Like" if you haven't, please!) because I talked about it there, but there has been something wrong with the beginning of Capture Me Strong, but I haven't been able to figure out what the problem is even with Beta Readers. I was working on the top secret project when it hit me! I suddenly knew what the problem was and how to fix it. I fixed, and it energized me so much that I had the best writing day ever, and was able to edit for number 4.

 4) I noticed while I've been querying that I was trying for too vague an audience. Or it seems like it to me, anyway. I'm still learning about the publishing world. When I queried, I wasn't quite sure what genre to choose. Mostly I would say "Contemporary Christian YA with crossover appeal because it addresses faith, but it's not preachy". In case you don't know, that's not a great way to put it. The reason I said it, though, is because I felt like a few small things about my book would be off-putting to a Christian publishers. I used some "real" language that some conservative folk might find foul. To me, they aren't forbidden words. I use some of the words every day. To some, they are swear words. Plus, one of my characters speaks a bit crassly of a sensitive, hot-button issue. So that might not make some Christian people happy. Which means I didn't now if it as "Christian enough" for the Christians.

On the other hand, I knew it was "too Christian" for people who aren't into that. There's talk about God. I explore some of the big questions, like why do such bad things happen on Earth if there's a big, loving God? How can I believe God is my protector when something horrible happens to me? How can I have faith in such goodness when all around me there is such evil? You don't have to believe in God to appreciate those sorts of questions, but there is too much God-talk for it to not be classified as "Contemporary Christian" or "Inspirational Fiction".

I have not read a book that straddles the lines like mine does, and it would be amazing if it could find a home with a publishers as it's line-straddling self. I would love more books that are faith-based but also very real, i.e. not super sugar-coated.  If you know of any, please do mention it!
 Yes, I could leave it as-is if I self-publish. No, I do not, at this time, want to self-publish. Traditional is the dream.

So I prayed about what to do about this. I felt like I needed to make it a solid one or the other. So I thought about what both versions would be like. After consideration, it was clear to me that I cannot take the faith issues out of the novel. The very heart behind Capture Me Strong is so I can share hope with survivors of sexual violence, that there is healing in the Father. I need to be careful not to preach a message, but to simply tell a story and let the reader, no matter what faith they have, explore their own beliefs and come to their own conclusions, just as the protagonist will come to hers.

This change is also the easiest because I can still make the language very "real" without using language that may offend some people. I greatly admire James Dashner, Veronica Roth, and Susanne Collins (to name a few) who are excellent at showing raw, deep emotion in dialogue without using offensive language. I can do this, too. As for the crassness of the aforementioned character, I can also find ways to stay true to her without being offensive. All it takes is wise word-choice. These changes can be done without changing the important parts of the story. If  I took God out of it, it would be like taking my heart out of it, and I can't do that.

Plus now that I'm sticking with "Inspirational/Contemporary Christian YA", I feel like I don't have to be so careful on my Twitter (@Je55ieMullin5) and author FB page not to share my faith too much. That's how I felt before. Like, "okay, I'm going to straddle this line, so I can't say this and this". I want to be free. I feel free this way. 

So, I'm making those changes, and I feel great about it. I may end up with a smaller market, but it's vital that I stay true to myself and to the story.

Yay, progress!

Thanks for reading. Stay sweet. 
 

First Publication!

I will forever celebrate July 16 because on this day in 2014, I went from being a writer to a published writer! My first publication is a devotional called "Obstacles in Our Adventures" on Whole Magazine, a online Christian magazine for women.

I found Whole Magazine on July 10, 2014 when someone new followed me on Twitter. I checked out her profile and saw that she, too, was a writer. I followed her back and saw that she had just had an article posted on Whole Magazine. I went to the website and fell in love with the magazine. It's full of women writing about real life and God stuff. Swoon! This is right up my alley because it's the type of thing I love to write about on my blog, This God Who Makes My Heart Explode with Happiness.
The articles written there are relatable and encouraging, and I wanted to be a part of it.

That same day, I applied to be writer. And I waited.

This morning I woke up to an email sent to me last night saying my post went live at 11PM! So, I guess, technically I was published yesterday. But it feels like today for me, so that's what I'm going with!

I am elated. I've been jumping around, squealing and laughing, crying, and thanking God because this is what I have been striving for. I am published. My words are out there in the world, and they may encourage someone today. That's amazing.

This may get corny, but I want to give thanks right now. First to my Father for giving me a passion and a gift for writing, and for using them. For working in me, through me, and for me. Next, I want to thank Carmen Miller and Emily Lauren of Whole Magazine for giving me this beautiful opportunity, and for putting such a lovely magazine out there. Thanks to anyone else on the team. Thank you, Brittney Moses, for the follow on Twitter because it's through you I found this magazine! Thanks to my husband, Gary, who gives me huge support so I can write full time, and who encourages and inspires me daily. Thank you to everyone who has ever read my blogs because it would be harder to write if no one was reading. There are too many people to thank whom I know personally and have been encouraged by, and I know I would miss some if I tried to name everyone. That said, thank you to anyone who has been encouraging and supportive. You know who you are. (I promise this will be much more extensive and specific when I get my novel published...I've started a list.) I do want to give a shout out of thanks to my family, though, who have been especially and constantly wonderful to me. Thank you to my parents, Phil and Nikki, to the best siblings in the world, Jen and Bugy (Chris), and to Heavan.

If you sat through the acknowledgements, good for you. haha. (Am I the only one who reads the acknowledgements in every book?)

Now, because this post isn't long enough (ahem), I wanted to share that there is something else incredibly exciting happening today. I get to attend Veronica Roth's Q&A tonight at 7 in Lansing with my momma! If you're not into YA books, Veronica Roth is the genius author of the Divergent books. She's one of the authors I most admire and adore. I've already cried, like, three times just anticipating it. I'm going to be a wreck when I actually see her. I'll have to try to reign in my inner fan-girl a bit so I don't scare her away. (Not kidding.) I'm trying to think of the one question I will ask if given the opportunity. Also, I'm wearing all black and considering getting a tattoo (or maybe not) so I can attend this in Dauntless attire. Anyway, yes, I'm thrilled!

Today is wonderful. I'm going to celebrate this day for all of time.

Thanks for reading!
Please like my author Facebook page here and follow me on Twitter @Je55ieMullin5.     

Feed an Author. Buy a Book.

I decided it was long past due that I revamp this blog a little bit and give an update. If you'll take a moment to notice, I changed the background so it's more colorful and happy. What brings happiness like bookshelves full of books, right?

Right. Nothing does.

I also went back through my posts because I remember sharing some excerpts from the novel, which would be okay, except I know it was from the early revisions. Which means they were probably terrible. I was right. That's a good thing, though! Those excerpts embarrassed me today, which means I have grown and learned and moved forward in the book. The transformation of this novel from start to right now has been incredible.

I deleted most of the excerpts because I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea and think that's how I write. It's how I used to write. I'm better now. I'll be better tomorrow.

I am still in the query process if anyone is wondering. It's exciting and a tad nerve-wracking. One of my biggest weaknesses is writing these letters. I've been studying the craft for many months, practicing and learning through trial and error. I can't wait for the day that someone sees potential enough that they eventually read the whole manuscript and get as fired up about Adira's story as I am.

While I'm doing that, as I mentioned in my last post, I have started the next project. (While reading back through post, I realized I said this before about another project that did not end up being The One.) While doing this, I have these moments of Nothing-will-ever-be-as-important-as-Capture-Me-Strong. (CMS is Adira's story.) Ahh. Maybe nothing will, but that doesn't mean another story won't be important. If it entertains and helps one person feel that someone gets them, then it is important. I'm not ready to share what the next one is about yet, but there's some scandal. That's all you get. Vague, I know. Sorry.

One last thing: I have vowed that I'm going to start buying more books. Honestly, I'm a super thrifty person, so this means I'm a huge fan of the library. The writer in me cringes at this. To be clear there is nothing wrong with checking out books from the library. Doing so has led me to love books so much that I go out and buy them. But...the writer in me knows that writers have to buy groceries and pay electric bills and put gas in their cars and stock up on tea. I'm blessed to have a husband who does those things while I pursue my dreams, but one day I would like for my years of hard work on this novel to pay off so I can do some of those things, too. I want to help other writers do the same. I should be a HUGE supporter of authors, and I haven't been. I'm so sorry, all you authors. I vow to buy more books. I encourage all of you to go out an buy a book. (And buying it used from Amazon doesn't help the author, just so you know.)

Cheers,
Jessie

Writing Characters

I'm having way too much fun with this, so I made a video to show you how I'm creating characters for my next project while I'm working on query letters for Capture Me Strong, my completed novel.

If this video won't load, click here to watch it on YouTube.


Thanks for watching! Don't forget to comment, check my Facebook page and Follow me on Twitter @Je55ieMullin5.

True Love

Dear readers,

Things I am doing:
Line edits for Capture Me Strong (unrepresented and unpublished YA novel)
Working on the craft of Pitch-writing
Getting to know Scrivener--and loving it!
Connecting on social media (Tweet @Je55ieMullin5 or visit me on Facebook.)
Hosting this contest for artists on Period Fairy (submissions end October 31!)
Trying not to starve to death while my sweet potato bakes ever so slowly in the oven because I don't (want to) own a microwave
Re-evaluating my beliefs about microwaves

Things I am Not Doing:
Not a very good job at line editing because I keep getting wrapped up in Adira's story in Capture Me Strong. That's a good and bad thing! Good because I see it finally coming together. Like, together together. Bad, though, because line edits are vital for catching easy-to-glaze-over mistakes. I might have to start reading backward...
Also, totally not changing my mind about microwaves.
Letting haters and naysayers get to me. Still.

If I can work on this novel for three years and not get sick of it, only have to take one solid break (that was actually a good thing), and only feel more and more excited about, then...I know this is love. True never-give-up-on-it love.

Cheers!
Jessie