#Pitchwars Mentor Bio

Welcome to my blog! Penmad says it all. I'm a mentor for adult PitchWars entries for the second time because it was so much fun last year.

About me:
A New Englander now living in the warm, sunny Peach Belt, I'm in the middle of a three-book cozy mystery contract for Annie's Publishing. I'm also seeking rep (again) for other mystery and YA writing. I recently became an Assistant Editor for Entangled Ignite (formerly Suspense).

What I'm looking for:
Adult mystery, suspense, Gothic, thriller, chick-lit, and women's literature. I have a fondness for great settings, interesting occupations, fine arts, antiques and architecture, food, weather, humor, and secrets of all kinds. My tastes are pretty eclectic so you might find me reading a cozy mystery, a thriller, a literary mystery, and a funny chick-lit domestic all in the same week. Historical is fine, so is contemporary but I'm not the right person for fantasy or paranormal, unless it's light--like a haunted house. I don't usually read military or political thrillers and espionage leaves me cold.

How I work with writers:
I am kind and encouraging and look for ways to improve the flow, pace, and power of your book. To prune so its greatness can blossom. Polish so it shines. Pitch it so it sells.

For submission guidelines, go to www.brenda-drake.com.

Secret Letter: M

Fabulous agents:
    

1.       LouiseFury – Bent Agency

2.       SuzieTownsend – New Leaf Literary

3.       NicoleResciniti - The Seymour Agency

4.       JohnM. Cusick – The Greenhouse Agency

5.       SarahLaPolla – Bradford Literary Agency

6.       VictoriaMarini - Gelfman Schneider Literary Agency

7.       JessicaSinsheimer - Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency

8.       Pamvan Hylckama Vlieg - Foreword Literary

9.       QuinlanLee - Adams Literary

10.     JenUdden – Donald Maass Literary Agency

11.     EmilyKeyes – Foreward Literary

12.     Brianne Johnson – Writers House

13.     CarlyWatters – P.S. Literary

14.     LanaPopovic and Natasha Alexis - Zachary Shuster Harmsworth

15.     MollyJaffa – Folio Literary Management

16.     EvanGregorgy - Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency
17.     Stefanie Lieberman - Janklow & Nesbit Associates  
18.     Rena Rossner - The Deborah Harris Agency

Fantastic mentors:

The Alchemy of Setting

When choosing a book, setting is something that can definitely draw me in. We all have personal favorites but I love gorgeous natural locations, old buildings, rich cultural activity, interesting businesses or hobbies, and atmosphere. One of the pleasures of reading is entering into a fully realized world that you can see, smell, taste, and hear. Feel.

I lived in New England most of my life, in Maine and New Hampshire with frequent visits to Vermont. Now that I live in Georgia, I enjoy excursions to New England through both reading and writing. I have to say I like reading about snow much more than I did living it! New England is a setting rich in history, weather, beauty, and architecture. The resort history of the White Mountains inspired two of my historical works. Other settings are just as fascinating, though. I have a YA set in Hollywood and adult books set in Oregon and Arizona. I also plan to set something in Italy, where my ancestors came from.

Setting influences character and plot, of course, as I like to work within the constraints of the possible. I spend almost as much time researching as writing, finding that I need to be fully grounded in my location before I can write about it. Yet creating effective setting doesn't mean pages of description. Rather, choose details that best evoke your setting, then use them to flavor action and narrative and dialogue.

Here is an excerpt from Blame It on the Aliens, published in the Live Free or Sci Fi anthology.  The characters drive through a depressed mill town to go fishing.

         “Man, this place is depressing,” Matt muttered as we cruised past decaying apartment houses and boarded-up storefronts.  Here and there, yellow tape guarded the charred, collapsed carcasses of those that had burned.

            But I was almost more unsettled by what was missing: the behemoth bulk of the pulp mill with its 300-foot stacks and multi-acre sprawl. All demolished and trucked away. A lone chimney standing in a tidy patch of grass the only testament to more than one hundred years of transforming logs to pulp to paper to prosperity.

            I stepped on the gas. Hopefully the fish hadn’t left as well.

            A couple of hours of drifting on the smooth mercury surface of Success Pond had the tranquilizing effect I’d hoped for. It was dead quiet, the only sounds occasional birdsong or a duck quacking as it flew over. So late in the season, no one else was on the water. The camps lining the shore were already shuttered and tucked in for the winter.

            I cast my line into the water, watching the gold spinner spiral down into the clear shallows of the cove. We’d only caught a couple of smallmouth bass so far, all under the limit, so we tossed them back.

Which settings do you find most compelling--as reader and writer?

Note: The photograph was taken outside the mill town in the story. Those tiny islands are all that remains of boom piers - guides for logs sent down the Androscoggin River.

The Alchemy of Emotion

I have noticed something mysterious as both writer and reader: the way emotion is transmitted through words. It isn't just the words used or their arrangements. Often they are quite ordinary words.

I've read beautiful works that left me cold. And in contrast, I've read clunky fiction that engaged me and evoked feeling. I'm convinced that the writer has to feel the emotions before they will be conveyed. Certain things that I've written--alone or in partnership with my husband--provoke tears or laughter upon multiple readings. That is odd because you would think familiarity would dull any reaction. This happened recently with the poignant voice-over to our coming of age story, Up the Tracks. I choked up like a dork when reading it to my husband.

Only my readers can tell me if I succeed. But what I consciously do when writing a high-intensity scene--be it love, reconciliation, sadness, fear, or anger--is put myself in my character's head as much as possible. Sometimes I even act out the physical movements, pretending I am acting a role in a film. Sort of. In my writing room. Good thing I don't write erotica. The neighbors and the cat might object, though my husband might not.

I'm curious if others have the same experience--as readers or writers. 

Blame It on the Aliens

Actually, thanks to editor Rick Broussard, honcho of Business NH Magazine and the NH Pulp Fiction series. He selected my story, Blame It on the Aliens, for this science fiction roundup of stories set in New Hampshire.This is a special milestone for me, as my supportive late Dad wrote some sci-fi of his own.

Jake is skeptical about the UFOs that his unemployed friend, Matt, is seeing. Until they go fishing. Inspired by rumors and stories of North Country sightings.

Publication date for Deadly Garland!

This is probably an announcement only another writer would understand, but I'm thrilled to report that my first cozy mystery for Annie's now has a name and a publication date.

Deadly Garland is due 2/7/2014!  This is a big milestone as it's my first full-length fiction. Deadly Garland is set in a small coastal Oregon town and features a murder at a Christmas tree farm. Appropriately, it takes place in December.

I also learned that Blame the Aliens, a short story I wrote 18 months ago for NH Pulp Fiction will be published in the Live Free or Sci-Fi anthology in October. Hope to post cover and links soon. This will be my first published short story.

Meanwhile, I've been doing a lot of business articles for Skyword and CPAmerica.  I enjoy that, too.

Thursday's Children: Inspired by Scholastic Book Club

For today's post, I thought I'd do another "blast from the past." How many of you had Scholastic Book Club while in elementary school? A recent post about their revamp made me remember this particular inspiration.

In addition to gifts at birthdays and Christmas (we always got books from my omnivorous reader parents), the book club let me pick and buy my.very.own.books! Remember, this was before Amazon, chain book stores, or even many independents. Rural Maine.

I remember studying the list closely, reading each description carefully. Sometimes one--maybe an author fav or featuring haunted houses, secrets, or witches--would grab me immediately. Other times I would have to mentally break a tie between several possibilities. Kind of like studying a restaurant menu and hoping you pick the best dish and are not disappointed.

I usually had enough money to buy two or three at a time. We handed in our slips and I'd hope I had made the absolutely best choices.

Then the waiting began. I'd almost forget about the whole thing when one day, a familiar cardboard box would be on the teacher's desk, that delightful odor of paper and fresh ink emanating from it.
He or she would pull them out and call our names to get our order.  My last name began with "B" so I was near the beginning! Yay!

I'd grab those precious new experiences and take them back to my desk. Then, I admit, I would begin reading. Secretly. Under my desk. Who cared about all the boring stuff?

I had my books.

These great screen shots are from jl.incrowd's flickr site.

Thursday's Children: Inspired by CPs

I'm heading out to the query trenches again with a brand-new shiny project, my YA mystery Perfect Enemies. This time I have the good fortune to have critique partners to beta-read my work! I met these lovely ladies through a contest earlier this year.

One of my partners wrote a glowing letter that I treasure. (the other is still reading) She got it! She loves exactly what I was striving for - vivid characterization and the MC's YA voice. *hugs* My mystery is "perfectly eerie but fun." Yes!

By now, I should know that this business is so incredibly subjective. But it's still difficult to "subject" your darling to rejection. It's all too easy for self-doubt--about writing ability, the project, even your bio--to creep in.

So, here's a shout-out to CPs everywhere! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

P.S. in other news, I now have contracts for three adult mysteries through Annie's. Fun.