Tag Archives: Young Adult literature

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A Writer in the Spotlight – Lori M. Lee

A Writer In The Spotlight Logo

Hello gentle reader,

I’m delighted to share with you another interview with a YA author! This week it’s Lori M. Lee, whom I’ve been following online for quite some time. Her debut GATES OF THREAD AND STONE is a YA Fantasy which will be released on 5th August 2014!

Lori M Lee

Author: Lori M. Lee

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Website: http://www.lorimlee.com/

Book: GATES OF THREAD AND STONE

Biography:

Lori was born in the mountains of Laos where her family relocated to a Thailand refugee camp for a few years and then moved permanently to the United States when she was three. She can’t remember any of it, and uses this excuse to insist she was raised by invisible flying unicorns. Like thestrals but less morbid.

She’s been writing since the third grade although quality has hopefully improved. Her first novel was a Mary Sue fantasy romance she wrote when she was a preteen. It contained many things preteens probably should not have been writing about. She blames her older sisters.

She has a borderline obsessive fascination with unicorns, is fond of talking in capslock, and loves to write about magic, manipulation, and family. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband, kids, and a friendly pitbull.

My interview (9th May 2014)

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

Pretty much 🙂 I’ve wanted to be a writer since the third grade. Other career choices popped up along the way (I’m particularly fond of my brief “become a model” goal, because I’m sure THAT would have worked out haha), but writing has always remained my steadfast dream.

When and where do you write?

I use the spare bedroom as an office. For now. Once my son is old enough, he’ll get the room, and I’ll return to the kitchen table. I write primarily when my son is asleep, because that’s when I can focus best. Otherwise, I’m being constantly distracted even when my husband is watching him (although, partly it’s b/c he’s just so darn cute). The nice thing about the office, though, is I can shut the door!

What do you say to writers who want to be published one day?

Read and write a lot. Be informed. And don’t give up!

Gates-cover-FINAL-sm

To write “Gates of Thread and Stone”, where did you get your inspiration from? (How did you come up with a character who can manipulate the threads of time, ability which sounds beyond cool?!)

Kai, as a character, came to me when a friend said something in passing about time, which I can’t actually tell you because it’s a spoiler for the book lol. But as to her abilities, I wanted the flow of time to be almost a physical entity—thus the threads—and for her magic to have clear limitations based on this.

Why did you choose to write for young adults?

It wasn’t a conscious choice. It’s the category of books that I’ve always been drawn to. Even when I was twelve, well before “young adult” became a legitimate industry category, I was writing characters who were seventeen, although then, it was because those were the heroines I wanted to become. Now, I write about young adults because that period of our lives still resonate the strongest with me. I can’t imagine not writing young adult.

What are you working on now?

I am working on book two, although I’m also pulling together the world building and general plot of a new fantasy project.

Thanks for the interview, Lori!

You can add GATES OF THREAD AND STONE on Goodreads here.

 

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Novel Writing and Themes

Hello gentle reader,

Let’s say you’ve written a novel. You’ve developed its plot, fleshed out its characters, worked hard on its world-building  and polished it for submission. You’ve sent it off to CPs, or agents, or editors. And the feedback you’re getting is something along the lines of “I didn’t care much/enough about the story.” This might mean your manuscript wasn’t this CP’s/agent’s/editor’s cup of tea. Or it might mean there’s an issue with themes in your story.

What are themes?

Every story has a PLOT and a THEME. Your plot is what happens to your characters and the problems they have to resolve. Your theme is what your story means, its relevance to the reader’s life.

For example in The Hunger Games, the plot is about Katniss taking part in the games and surviving them with Peeta. However the themes of the story are social inequalities, and life and death offered as entertainment, among others.

Do you need a theme in your novel?

This is my opinion, but I tend to say: yes, yes you do, very much. Some books focus on plot so much that they forget about themes. The result can be entertaining, but it’s also easily forgettable and quite frankly, hollow. Great books, which stay with the reader long after they’ve read it, offer a balance of plot and theme. They are both entertaining (=with a good plot) and they make the reader question his/her convictions (=with its themes).

How do I choose my themes?

Much like choosing the events that will make up your plot, choosing your themes is up to you, really. You need to ask yourself the question: which topics matter to me in life? You also need to make sure your theme matches the genre you’re writing in. With Historical fiction, I find it’s easy to think of themes just by researching the concerns of the time period I chose for my setting. They usually resonate a lot more with our modern lives than we could expect.

How do I weave my themes into my plot?

That’s the tricky part. You don’t want your themes to be impossible to get, but you don’t want to bang your reader on the head with them either. You need to strike a balance between plot and theme, and never preach or feel the need to make your theme obvious, EVEN IN CHILDREN’S BOOKS. If you manage to do that, then…

Any thoughts on themes? Any advice to mix plot and themes efficiently? Feel free to leave me a comment below!

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A Writer in the Spotlight – Sara Raasch

A Writer In The Spotlight Logo

Hello gentle reader,

I’m delighted to share with you another interview with a YA author! This week it’s Sara Raasch, whose debut SNOW LIKE ASHES is coming out on 14th October 2014. It’s a YA High Fantasy and I was lucky to win an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) and to read it early!

Sara_Author_Pic03

Author: Sara Raasch

Genre: Young Adult, High Fantasy

Website: http://sararaasch.tumblr.com

Book: SNOW LIKE ASHES

Biography: Sara Raasch has known she was destined for bookish things since the age of five, when her friends had a lemonade stand and she tagged along to sell her hand-drawn picture books too. Not much has changed since then — her friends still cock concerned eyebrows when she attempts to draw things and her enthusiasm for the written word still drives her to extreme measures. Her debut YA fantasy, SNOW LIKE ASHES, the first in a trilogy, comes out October 14, 2014 from Balzer + Bray. It does not feature her hand-drawn pictures.

My interview (5th May 2014)

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

Yes! One of my earliest memories is of making Beanie Baby themed picture books, pasted together and drawn with markers and crayons. I’ve been hooked all my life! Not to Beanie Babies, thankfully.

What do you say to writers who want to be published one day?

It’s worth it! It’ll be hard — really hard — a lot of the time, but persistence is key. If you don’t give up on yourself, things WILL happen! Keep moving forward!

Snow Like Ashes

To write SNOW LIKE ASHES, where did you get your inspiration from? How did you come up with the world of Primoria?

A mashup of Pinterest (gotta love Pinterest) and combining some cultural aspects from our world. Pinterest is the best world building tool — it allowed me to throw a bunch of things together that I thought might be cool for a kingdom and see what they looked like side by side. For instance, one of the kingdoms we meet in the next book (Autumn) draws a lot of inspiration from Middle Eastern/Thai cultures. I have a lovely Pinterest board of that kingdom (that is of course secret now, but someday I will get to share it!).

Do you share any similarities with Meira, your main character?

We’re both very stubborn and passionate! Once Meira gets behind a cause, there’s no swaying her away from it, and I’m exactly the same way. Which can be a very useful trait, but is oftentimes detrimental and makes me/her blind to a lot of other things.

One thing you do really well in the book is describing how teenagers feel and act in this moment between childhood and adulthood. Is this why you chose to write for young adults?

Thanks! I love the time between childhood and adulthood — it’s such a time of transition and possibility, and that is mainly why I write YA. Anything can happen, and the characters can become anyone — seeing them grow is amazing!

What are you working on now? (Is it Book 2?!)

It is! Book 2 is currently in edits, and I’m actually already about 100 pages into Book 3. Why yes, I am obsessively early on deadlines, thanks for noticing.

Thanks so much for this interview, Sara!

Thanks for having me, EM! This was fun 😀

You can add SNOW LIKE ASHES on Goodreads here and you can follow Sara on Twitter here.

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A Writer in the Spotlight – Michelle Krys

A Writer In The Spotlight Logo

Hello gentle reader,

I’m delighted to share with you another interview with a YA author! This week it’s Michelle Krys, whose debut HEXED is coming out in June. I “met” Michelle online thanks to the Christmas In July pitch contest she organizes every summer with Ruth Lauren Steven.

michelle krys final 4x6

Author: Michelle Krys

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal

Location: Northwestern Ontario, Canada

Website: http://michellekrys.com/

Book: HEXED (expected publication: June 10th 2014 by Delacorte Press)

My interview (24th April 2014)

1. Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

Being a writer was one of those things I always said I wanted to do but never took any steps towards accomplishing. It was always later. When I grow up. When I had more time.

It was only once I began a yearlong maternity leave that things changed. My son slept through the night and took 3-4 hour naps during the day, and I knew that if I was ever going to write that book, I wouldn’t get any better of an opportunity try.

2. When and where do you write?

Now that my son is four and doesn’t nap, all of my writing gets done in the hour between when my husband gets home from work and before we get started making dinner. I also set an alarm every day for 5:30am with the intention of getting up to write before anyone else is awake, but I usually end up pressing the snooze button and going back to bed. But the good intentions are there, so that counts!

3. What do you say to writers who want to be published one day?

I always say the same thing: Be persistent. There will always be rejection in a writer’s life, whether you’re querying your first novel or you’re a New York Times Bestseller pitching your next project to editors. What matters is what you do about it. Keep working, keep learning, keep reading, and don’t let someone’s “No” be what makes you give up on your dream.

Hexed_6_17_13

4. To write HEXED, where did you get your inspiration from? (How did you come up with the idea of a cheerleader/witch?)

I got the idea for HEXED from my sister. A few years ago she told me about an adult historical novel she wanted to write, which she’d planned to call “The Witch Hunter’s Bible”. When she later decided not to pursue the idea after all, I asked her if I could use the title for a young adult novel that had been unfolding in my head ever since she first mentioned it to me. Ironically, ‘The Witch Hunter’s Bible’ ended up not being the best fit for the finished product, and we changed the title in the editorial process.

In terms of Indie being a cheerleader, I really wanted to subvert the usual gothic witch stereotype, and I thought a fun way to achieve that would to be for the protagonist to be popular and snarky rather than a quiet outcast. A cheerleader seemed like a great fit for that.

5. Why did you choose to write for young adults?

My first novel was actually for adults. One of the reasons I think it struck out with agents, besides it being my first novel, was that my passion wasn’t showing through on the page. I’d written a book I thought I should write instead of a book I wanted to write. When I gave up on the silly notion of what was a ‘real book’ and followed by heart, that’s when things started falling into place for me. I’m a firm believer that it’s obvious when your heart isn’t in it.

6. What are you working on now?

I’m about halfway through writing the first draft of Dead Girls Society, a YA paranormal thriller about a girl who escapes her helicopter parents by joining a high-stakes dare club, only to find more than just thrills—girls are going missing and she could be next.

DGS is a little bit dark, but it has the same kind of dry, sarcastic humor as Hexed, and of course, there’s plenty of action, romance, and drama. It’s been a complete blast to write!

Thanks so much for this interview, Michelle!

You can pre-order HEXED here or add it on Goodreads here.

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A Writer In The Spotlight – Kat Ellis

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Hello gentle reader,

Today I’m thrilled to share with you an interview with another talented YA author! I “met” the lovely Kat Ellis online a couple of years ago and now her debut BLACKFIN SKY is coming out on 14th May.

Kat Ellis

Author : Kat Ellis

Genre : Young Adult, Thriller

Location: North Wales, UK

Website: http://katelliswrites.blogspot.co.uk/

Book : BLACKFIN SKY (out 14th May in the UK and 2nd September in the US)

My interview (19th April 2014)

Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

Oh, no. Not at all. I think my career aspirations went something like this:

Actress (age 8) …singer (age 10, before I knew I couldn’t sing) …spy (age 12, before I knew my French wasn’t that good) … rock star (age 13, when I learned to play guitar – not well) …racing driver (age 21, after finally learning to drive) …uh, OK, maybe I’ll work in IT (also 21).

So I worked in admin for a bit, then moved into a more IT-ish job, where full-on geekery was obviously a MUST, and ended up falling in love with YA films… then YA books… then YA writing. I think I was about 27 when I knew that I wanted to be a YA author for real.

When and where do you write?

I’m lucky that I get quite a lot of time to write now, and have my very own writing cave at home. The walls are lined with books, and I have my guitar and piano in there to play with when I’m stuck with my writing (or just feel like a skive).

What do you say to someone who wants to be a writer?

HOORAY! (I think anyone who puts in the time and effort to make their dream happen deserves a bloody big HOORAY.)

blackfin sky jpeg

(UK cover)

To write BLACKFIN SKY, where did you get your inspiration from?

I started off knowing the story’s hook: I knew that Skylar drowned on her 16th birthday, and that she’d come back 3 months later and act like nothing had happened. So, breaking all my own rigorous plotting rules, I wrote the first chapters without knowing where it would end up. And I hit the mother of all brick walls when I realised I had no idea what had actually happened to her.

So I mulled it over for a while, took a break from writing, and mulled some more. And then, as happens every summer, the circus came to town. I went with my sister and niece to watch the performance, and it was while I was sitting in the stands, amazed at all the stunts going on in the Big Top, that I figured out what had happened to Sky.

Ta-da! The rest is history. Or Blackfin Sky, actually.

Blackfin-Sky-Kat-Ellis(US cover)

Which authors inspire you now? (=Any books you’d recommend?)

I like to read across the genre spectrum, but have developed recent author crushes on Non Pratt (TROUBLE), C J Skuse (ROCKAHOLIC, PRETTY BAD THINGS, DEAD ROMANTIC), and Patrick Ness (A MONSTER CALLS, THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO).

Some of my long-time author heroes are Lisa McMann (WAKE trilogy, THE MISSING, CRASH, DEAD TO YOU) Michael Grant (GONE series), and Lucy Christopher (STOLEN and THE KILLING WOODS).

As April was UKYA month, I got to catch up on reading a lot of UKYA from my TBR pile, and it’s been fantastic focusing on all the talented authors and amazing fiction coming from the UK right now. Definitely inspiring!

Thank you so much for this interview, Kat!

You can add BLACKFIN SKY on Goodreads here or pre-order it here.

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Waiting On Wednesday – 42

Hello gentle reader,

Today I’m waiting on THE FOREVER SONG (Blood of Eden #3) by Julie Kagawa (expected publication: 15th April 2014 by Harlequin Teen). I enjoyed the first two books in this YA Fantasy trilogy (although THE IMMORTAL RULES was a bit slow-paced, THE ETERNITY CURE really grabbed me). And now I can’t wait to read the finale and find out what will happen to Allie and Zeke!

The Forever Song

From Goodreads:

VENGEANCE WILL BE HERS

Allison Sekemoto once struggled with the question: human or monster?

With the death of her love, Zeke, she has her answer.

MONSTER

Allie will embrace her cold vampire side to hunt down and end Sarren, the psychopathic vampire who murdered Zeke. But the trail is bloody and long, and Sarren has left many surprises for Allie and her companions—her creator, Kanin, and her blood brother, Jackal. The trail is leading straight to the one place they must protect at any cost—the last vampire-free zone on Earth, Eden. And Sarren has one final, brutal shock in store for Allie.

In a ruined world where no life is sacred and former allies can turn on you in one heartbeat, Allie will face her darkest days. And if she succeeds, triumph is short-lived in the face of surviving forever alone.

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly event, hosted by book blogger Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Have you read The Immortal Rules and The Eternity Cure? Is The Forever Song on your TBR list? What are you waiting on this week?

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600 Blog Followers Giveaway! (closed)

Welcome gentle reader!

My little blog has (almost) reached 600 followers and I also have 1100 followers on Twitter. Additionally, today is my birthday, so I’ve decided to celebrate by having a book giveaway!

I’m giving away my latest favourite book: a copy of HALF BAD by Sally Green (paperback edition).

Half Bad: cover of first novel by Sally Green, predicted to be next Harry Potter or Twilight Saga

The giveaway is open until Sunday 23d March 2014 at 9pm (BST time). It’s open Internationally, as long as the Book Depository ships to your country.

To enter please fill in the contact form below with your name and email. Since this giveaway is to thank my followers, you have to follow my blog via email or WordPress to enter. If you are a Twitter follower, if you like my page on Facebook, if you follow me on Pinterest or Tumblr, or if you tweet about the giveaway, this will grant you an extra entry. Mention it below.

Entrants must be at least 13 years of age.

The winner will be chosen randomly, notified by email and will have 72 hours to reply or a new winner will be chosen.

I hold the right to end the giveaway before its original deadline without any prior notice.

I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.

Privacy information: no information given for this giveaway will be used for other purpose than this giveaway. All information provided (names, emails and mail addresses) will be deleted after the giveaway.

Good luck everyone, and feel free to leave me a comment below!

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Book of the Week – 25

Hello gentle reader,

Yesterday I finished reading HALF BAD by Sally Green (published on 4th March 2014 by Viking Juvenile). It’s a YA Fantasy which I read because of Xpresso Reads’ review. And I wasn’t disappointed. This book is awesome. I loved it from start to finish, and I can’t wait for the second book in the trilogy.

I’ve heard some people were put off by the use of the second person present in the first few chapters. Although I’m still not sure this was the best choice to start off this novel, I can only say that it’s worth overlooking. The rest of the book is in the first person, and the plot, pacing, world building and characters are so good that it makes it all worthwhile.

Now add this book to your TBR pile and read it as soon as possible.

Half Bad: cover of first novel by Sally Green, predicted to be next Harry Potter or Twilight Saga

From Goodreads:

In modern-day England, witches live alongside humans: White witches, who are good; Black witches, who are evil; and fifteen-year-old Nathan, who is both. Nathan’s father is the world’s most powerful and cruel Black witch, and his mother is dead. He is hunted from all sides. Trapped in a cage, beaten and handcuffed, Nathan must escape before his sixteenth birthday, at which point he will receive three gifts from his father and come into his own as a witch—or else he will die. But how can Nathan find his father when his every action is tracked, when there is no one safe to trust—not even family, not even the girl he loves?

In the tradition of Patrick Ness and Markus Zusak, Half Bad is a gripping tale of alienation and the indomitable will to survive, a story that will grab hold of you and not let go until the very last page.

Have you read Half Bad? What did you think? And what are you reading this week? Feel free to leave me a comment below!

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Successful Queries – Day 6 – Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Hello gentle reader,

Welcome to the Successful Queries Blog Series! The idea is to share with you Queries That Worked and to find out what made them stand out in the slushpile. My hope is that it’ll help you, querying writers, to write an amazing query for your own manuscript and to find Your Agent.

Today Rhiann Wynn-Nolet is sharing her query and answering a few questions. Rhiann writes YA and NA fiction and she’s represented by Stefanie Lieberman of Janklow & Nesbit Associates. 

RhiannWynnNolet

QUERY

Dear Agent,

TENDRIL is a dark YA Rapunzel meets The Collector story, set in present day Maine and complete at 67,000 words.

A family curse. Albinism. Hair that moves according to feelings and desires of its own. These are the heirlooms Opal MacBride inherits. The curse is painfully clear on two points—Opal will never find true love, and MacBride men may become indecently obsessed with her magical hair and alabaster skin.

When her grandmother dies, Opal’s uncle becomes her entirely unsuitable guardian. While seeking solace at her grandmother’s grave, she attracts a lonely, angry sixteen year old ghost. Shortly thereafter she meets his equally lonely, slightly sullen living brother. Despite unfavorable first impressions, romance blossoms. Soon she questions everything she was told about love and the curse.

Though the curse may be wrong about love, it is dreadfully accurate regarding Opal’s uncle. His obsession leads to a depraved scheme to make her a prisoner in his lighthouse. To save herself, Opal must foil his plot. To ensure a happy ending, she must choose between the two brothers she loves, and life in this world or eternal life in the next.

 INTERVIEW

How long did it take you to write this query?

I worked on this query during the summer of 2012 and probably had 4 versions (The only one I saved was Query4 in my Word docs).

Did you have beta readers or CPs (or did you enter contests or workshops) to help you with your query? 

Honestly I didn’t know query-writing advice was available when I started querying. I didn’t know about CPs or betas either. Sad, but true. “Social Media” was on my To Do List right after “Query TENDRIL”. But as soon as I stuck my toe into the Twitter stream, I heard about WriteOnCon 2012. During contests in summer/fall 2012 people gave me feedback. Besides WriteOnCon, there was GUTGAA, a Curiosity Quills contest, Agent Trick Or Treat, and some whose names I don’t remember. Several provided query advice.

What was the hardest part to get right?

Definitely plot. A number of well-meaning advisors told me I needed to figure out what the MAIN plot was—the love story or the MC vs. her creepy uncle. To me both were equally important and inextricably entwined plot arcs. I gave them equal time in my query.

Any advice for querying writers out there?

Yes!

 a. Avail yourself of all the “free” help out there, but don’t rush to make every change someone advises. In the end it’s YOUR query, YOUR chance to get an agent’s attention. Analyze who’s suggesting the change, whether it provides you with an “aha!” moment, whether more than one person makes the same suggestion, etc.

b. Experiment with a couple of different versions of your query –send out a small batch of Query 1 and a small batch of Query 2 to see which garners more interest.

c. Query in batches, because if you’re lucky enough to get requests for fulls/partials you can add that in to your next round of queries. In my experience, nothing makes an agent sit up and take notice faster than an indication that other agents are interested. If you find yourself in the enviable position of receiving an offer, then BY ALL MEANS nudge outstanding queries and query anyone you haven’t already (as long as it’s someone you’d like as an agent).

d. There is no “secret recipe” for writing the perfect query, and really your query doesn’t have to be perfect, just good enough to make the agent want to read the story.

 Thank you so much for taking part in this blog series, Rhiann!

GIVEAWAY (closed)

Querying Writers! Rhiann is giving away a QUERY CRITIQUE to one lucky winner! To enter, please fill in the form below with your name and email adresss, and include the genre of your mansucript. Good luck!

The giveaway is open internationally until Saturday 15th March 2014 at 11pm BST.

Any questions? Ask below!

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Successful Queries – Day 5 – Kate Brauning

Hello gentle reader,

Welcome to the Successful Queries Blog Series! The idea is to share with you Queries That Worked and to find out what made them stand out in the slushpile. My hope is that it’ll help you, querying writers, to write an amazing query for your own manuscript and to find Your Agent.

Today the very knowledgeable Kate Brauning is sharing her query and answering a few questions. Kate writes contemporary and speculative suspense, both YA and adult, and she’s represented by Carlie Webber at CK Webber Associates.

kate-brauning

QUERY

HOW WE FALL, a YA suspense, is complete at 88,000 words.

Making out with your cousin has its pitfalls. Seventeen-year-old Jackie hasn’t been able to end her secret relationship with Marcus since he kissed her on a dare. He’s her best friend, which only makes it harder to quit their obsessive relationship.

Except she has to, because she’s falling in love with him. It’s not like it’s illegal to date her cousin, but her parents would never approve and the families would split up their multi-family home. Afraid of losing her best friend, she calls it off. She can’t lose Marcus right now: the cops just found her missing friend’s body.

Hurt and angry, Marcus starts dating the new girl, Sylvia. But with Sylvia comes a secret and a stranger. The stranger starts following Jackie everywhere she goes, and Marcus is nearly killed in a car accident. When Jackie finds out Sylvia lied about not knowing her murdered friend, Jackie’s certain Sylvia is connected to the man threatening Marcus.

The more Jackie finds out about Sylvia, the bigger the wedge between Jackie and Marcus, but she doesn’t have long to figure out what’s going on. She may have lost both her relationship and her friendship with Marcus, but she couldn’t handle losing him for real.

If she doesn’t act fast, Sylvia’s secrets may mean their bodies will be the next ones the police dig out of the Missouri woods.

INTERVIEW

How long did it take you to write this query? 

This query is the product of 3 or 4 drafts and a lot of revisions where I cut a line or changed a phrase. It was hard to write because it has two main conflicts, which was difficult to show clearly.

Did you have beta readers or CPs (or did you enter contests or workshops) to help you with your query?

My CPs helped a ton. I couldn’t do it without them! I didn’t use workshops or contests for critiques for this query, but I did for the first MS I queried.

What was the hardest part to get right: the voice, the plot, the worldbuilding, etc?

Showing the kind of story it is was the most difficult. It’s part thriller, part dark contemporary romance. The taboo element was hard to address. So basically, the toughest part was having the query show the agent what to expect from the pages– which is probably true for most queries!

Any advice for querying writers out there?

Read agent blogs to get a handle on what they’re seeing too much of and what to avoid both in query issues and in issues like the structure of your opening pages and cliche plot elements; get someone to critique your query who knows nothing about your book so you know if it will be clear to agents; start a new project to keep your mind off your inbox while you query!

Most of all, keep at it. Query the MS you have now, write a new one, query that one. Learn how to improve with each one. Persistence gets it done. 🙂

If you want to read my full agent story, and what happened before I got signed, you can read the whole story here: My Agent Story and Before I Got My Agent.

Thank you so much for taking part in this blog series, Kate!

Any questions? Ask below!