2021 Mentee Interviews

Tell us a little about yourself. Who are you, what do you write, and what are you working on right now?

As a little girl, I always had my nose stuck in a book. My love of reading and writing led to a master’s degree in English Lit and later, to ghostwriting visionary books for executives about the impact of technology on society. I’m a fan of the Oxford comma and have a complicated relationship with the semicolon; I tend to overuse it. I’m thrilled to be here; I’ve been trying to get OTHERWORLD mentored for years (I just did a tally, and there are 83 versions of this manuscript on my hard drive!).

Middle grade fantasy is my sweet spot. Besides my WTMP revisions, I’m finetuning a submission package for my lower middle grade fantasy/mystery, MONTYSAURUS. It’s a story about a nine-year-old nonbinary MC who’s followed home from the museum by a gummy-worm-loving, foppish dinosaur. Together, they set out on the Great Halloween Egg Caper—staying overnight at the museum, breaking into the lab, and freeing a flock of chickensauruses from the diabolical Dr. Mal E. Volent. I’m revising the query letter and finishing off a batch of illustrations for the book.

I love all things nature (especially livestreams of otters), and live in Elmira, Canada, with my husband, daughter, two dogs, and Evie the Wondercat.

What kind of stories are you interested in exploring in your career as an author?

Recently, I realized I’m a hopeless romantic (or maybe I just finally admitted this to myself) and had the overwhelming urge to write a YA love story, so I might give that a try. I’ve also been plotting a psychological thriller that combines modern-day cyberbullying with a narrative modeled after Henry James’ TURN OF THE SCREW. I’ve written some nonfiction and would love to see them published in a collection of humorous personal essays à la David Sedaris or Mindy Kaling. I’m writing a book of stories about Irish emigrants who came to Canada in the mid-1800s to escape the potato famine. The stories are all so inspiring, I’d love to eventually write a book about my family history.

What's the best thing about you as an author?

Tenacity, maybe (I mean, 83 versions!). Seriously, though I would say flexibility. I am open to learning and improving my craft and this includes doing what it takes to make my stories stronger. Don’t get me wrong, there were many moments (at 3 a.m.) when I felt like I couldn’t make the revisions my WTMP manuscript needed, or I didn’t know how I was going to pull them off, but I stuck with it (so yeah, tenacity too). I have so much to learn, it’s a constant process, but the process intrigues me and the learning is (for the most part) fun. It’s really tough to find the balance between maintaining the integrity of your story and feedback from critique partners, beta readers, editors, etc. This comes with experience and programs like WTMP are gamechangers because the mentors are so accomplished and the goal is to work together to improve a manuscript, you learn so much along the way, you learn how to be a better writer.

How have you developed as an author during this mentorship period? Is there anything that you didn't think before about the craft that you think now?

O.M.G. The. Edit. Letter. Receiving the dreaded edit letter and working through that alone was an amazing experience—and invaluable practice for the “real world.” All of my mentors’ suggestions were incredible. ALL OF THEM! (Swoon, thump.) The revision process has been daunting, exhausting, and exhilarating. Like ripping apart your favorite sweater and then re-knitting it, following a different pattern but keeping what you loved most about it (so many dropped stitches!). Before being a part of this program, an edit letter was a distant hope, something I didn’t have to think about. My mentor Christyne calls the revision process The Valley of Despair (ha!) and both she and Maria reminded me that they were in it with me as they revised their own work, and that there were blue skies ahead. That meant a lot. It’s so important to have that kind of support at any stage in the writing process because it can be incredibly lonely. My mentors taught me so much about plot, character, theme, and audience. Most importantly, I’ve learned to keep my audience front and center at all times, something that seems obvious, but that I dropped in places in my novel.

If every book is a book baby, then it takes a village to raise a book. Are there any people who stand out to you as people who helped you in your writing journey?

I have to start with my mum (where I started), who is my alpha reader and has read every single version of this book. And my dad who filled our lives with adventure and taught me the value of integrity. My husband, who also read multiple versions of this MS, and my brainstorming muse, Will. My beta readers—Lily (my daughter with her limitless imagination), Renee, Lindsay, Kiera, Avaleigh. Kelly, my first critique partner who taught me a lot and introduced me to Janice Hardy’s Fiction University. My first writer’s group, which I was lucky to be a part of because it included published authors Heather Smith, Kristin Ciccarelli, Anna Humphrey and others who were super accepting and talented. I adore my current writer’s group (one of the members is actually an WTMP mentor, shhhhh): Anita, Kat, Sam, Sylvia, and Kiley. Such an inspiring and talented group of women, I hit the writer’s jackpot with them. And my lovely “Team Blue Skies” WTMP mentors, Maria Linn and Christyne Morrell, who have been incredibly patient, professional, insightful, and supportive. My grade 7 student teacher, Mr. Bellows, who said I would “one day be a writer.”  How many words do I have left? Because I could go on…

What do you think is the biggest necessity for a group of writing friends?

A balance of kindness and honesty, and a commitment to meet regularly (at least monthly). Plus agreement on a process, even if it’s a loose one, like half the group brings 10 pages to read at each meeting, etc.

Any parting words for young writers looking for guidance, or a community?

I recommend finding a writer’s group that you can meet with regularly to keep you focused. They are the best because they force you to write, you gain so many different perspectives, and you get a handful of critique partners at your disposal! Plus, you get the chance to form lasting relationships with fellow authors. I met my current writer’s group through The Write Cohort: https://www.thewritecohort.com/. We are from different countries and various time zones and meet remotely, which is easy to do with technology and doesn’t limit what we get out of it. We don’t just share our writing, we also discuss where we are in the process, upcoming conferences, good books, and other resources. It’s a writerly treasure trove!

There are many online communities you can tap into, from entire websites committed to craft like K.M. Weiland’s Helping Writers Become Authors and Literary Rambles, to writing services like Lit Service, Manuscript Academy, and mentorship programs like this WTMP. You can even jump on Twitter and check out all the hashtags there. I’ve seen tweets from people looking for critique partners or betas in PitMad tweet threads.

And Kia Kaha! Which is Māori for “stay strong” (my kiwi husband taught me this phrase) because writing takes perseverance.

What about your own craft, interests, and abilities drew you to your mentee and their work?

We felt we would be most effective at mentoring the type of story we’re both drawn to reading and writing: a middle-grade novel with at least some element of fantasy. Liz’s story charmed us with its unique premise and lush, intricately drawn world-building, and her writing made us confident she had the skills to mold and refine her manuscript in any direction she chose. Our experiences taking our own stories apart and putting them back together again (Maria as a former writing program mentee and Christyne as a debut author working through edit letters and deadlines) has made us passionate about the rewriting process—and empathetic about its sometimes-nauseating ups and downs! 

Do you have a message for anyone interested in your mentee's work?

We are proud and amazed at how bravely Liz tackled her rewrite. When faced with a variety of editing forks in the road, she consistently chose the path that would result in a better book, rather than the one that meant the fewest changes to her original manuscript. Her willingness to let go of anything that didn’t serve her story is something we all struggle to learn as writers. And throughout it all, she maintained such a positive attitude! Anyone interested in Liz’s work already knows her writing is a joy to read, and rest assured, working with her is an absolute joy as well.