Pitch Wars - #PimpMyBio

I'll probably fluff this out from time to time. I have been mostly focused on getting my entry ready for Pitch Wars. As a result, I hadn't thought about participating in PimpMyBio. But here goes --

Who am I?

I am a mom of two, a 13-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son. I work full-time outside of the house as an attorney. I have degrees in law, of course, and multiple degrees in business.

Our household is a British-American one. More specifically, I am American and my husband is a citizen of the United Kingdom. As a result, our children are dual citizens. I met my husband while attending the University of Sheffield, while I was studying for one of my law degrees. During that time in addition to doing my best to be a hardworking law student, I traveled throughout England and Scotland (Wales, I didn't get to - a disappointment). I also traveled to France (a bus ride through from Calais), Germany (Munich - gorgeous city), Italy (Rome and Milan), and Belgium (Brussels and Bruges). Some of my best memories are of driving through the Highlands in Scotland. Yes, I did endager a bunch of people by trying to learn to drive on the other side of the road. It was also districtating passing by such beautiful landscape and having to keep my focus on the road.

I don't know if this makes me unique in any way, as a Pitch Wars hopeful, but I am a self-published indie author. Although I know some authors look down upon self-published authors, I have no regrets about self-publishing. It has allowed me an incredible freedom to write whatever I want without worrying about publisher preferences or thoughts as to what might sell. So, I hope my status as an Indie isn't held against me. However, it is what it is and I don't want to get into that debate, nor am I going to justify why I chose this path (at least not beyond the freedom issue). Suffice it to say that I respect each person's choice of path as the one best suited for him or her and I hope others will treat me the same. I have noted a handful of other indie authors participating as well, so that does give me comfort.


Why PitchWars?

I came upon PitchWars for the first time last year when the results were being announced. Even though I had no hat in the ring, I watched the preannouncement shows. It rose my curiosity and inspired me to dive in and learn more. As a result, last year, I decided that should I have a manuscript ready in time for the next PitchWars, and not long before PitchWars, I might enter. It was "might" because, in addition to my concern about being accepted as an Indie, I would also need to have a manuscript ready in a closely-timed fashion. There was no way that I could write a book months in advance and sit on it. I would suspect other hopefuls might not want to sit on a manuscript for long without querying to agents.

That being said, if my book is selected for PW, I am committed to being patient and to seeing the process through - wherever it leads. Moreover, I know the odds for getting selected are high, so I would consider myself very fortunate to be able to work with an experienced author and to learn how to be better. I am a firm believer that we can always learn more and improve no matter how far we have come and how much experience we have. For me, I have no illusions that I am the best - not by far. I know I have weaknesses and I work hard to find the means to address them and improve. I am always seeking for my next book to be better than the last, and I am always seeking ways to learn new techniques. So, I would be very grateful and honored, if I am chosen. If not, of course, I will go on and may very well participate again next year.

Why I Write?


As to the big question of why I write - that is a hard one to answer. There is just no one answer to that. One reason is that I have always loved books. I was that kid (many, many years ago) that read the whole book as soon as it was handed out in class. I was that kid that stayed up late to finish a book. I am that adult who has read The Mists of Avalon multiple times - including while studying for the bar exam (as a reward to keep me going).

Also, I write because I want to create. I find it rewarding and also stress relieving to immerse myself into a character and his or her story. It is also amazing when someone enjoys the story and reports that back to me.

What do I Read?

I have read books from or about: classic English Literature, Fydor Dostoyevsky, Ian Fleming, legal thrillers, romance novels (not anymore but in the past probably 60-100), Nancy Drew, fantasy, and non-fiction topics of interest. I also really love finding really old books to peruse. I once found a book from the early 1900s in a Catholic College's library (in the basement) about ghosts, demons, etc. (a shocking find) that included some really interesting views. I think I might go back someday and get that book and use it as inspiration for some fantasy tale - but I digress.

My interests as a reader is directly correlated to my writing style. I like to write my books the way I like the books I read to be. I am very interested in a character's thoughts and motivations for doing things - much more so that what the room the individual is in looks like. That might be why I enjoyed Fydor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment so much.

If the story interests me, I can be very forgiving of my pet peeves appearing in a book if I love the story. One example is that I loved a particular fantasy series, but I didn't like the over-description that was in that book. If it needed to be described to understand the story, it was good, but I really didn't need two pages of description of the contents of a house to understand that it was cluttered. That being said, I would never post any negative review of that book to reflect that I felt the description was more than I liked. I feel that you can't please everyone and I can't expect a book to match all of my tastes perfectly. So, if an author has hooked me with a clever story and likable characters, I'm generally all in. By the way, I love that author that I used as an example without providing the name  and will read anything she writes.

How do I create? 

I first start with an idea for a character and a challenging situation for that character to be in. Once I feel like I know the character well, I start putting him or her in the situation.

I don't outline. I am a panster. If I were to outline, I would die - I mean it. (No, not really, but I don't think I can write that way). As I write, I generally know where the character is going. However, I don't necessarily know the specific points in the journey along the way, although I usually have a general sense of the ending. The order in which I write that journey also varies, although I usually start with the beginning. I write the scenes as I know them. They may be in the beginning, the middle, or the end. Sometimes when I am about halfway through, and the ending becomes clear to me, I stop and write the ending. Then I write the middle with a clear eye as to how the story is ending. Sometimes, I stop and go back and scrap an idea and write a new one, or sometimes I add a step in the journey.

It is really exciting to me when my characters surprise me. I also like to add layers to the story and hidden messages. I would really like my books (most of them at least) to have something in them that causes people to think and that inspires discussions.

I also tend to write more mature MCs in my middle grade in the sense of intelligence. Not to brag - but I tend to use my own children as models. They are bright and very interested in intellectual discussion. So, I find it hard to think of children, intellect-wise, as other than little adults. That being said, as a Mom, I cannot include certain topics in my book and I abhor violence and gore. If something aggressive is needed, I tend to try to include just enough that the point is made. After all, I can't offer sanitized books to today's kids. They would find those boring. At the same time, if someone wrote me a review and said that I freaked his or her kid out with my writing, I would feel bad. It's just the way I am.

My favorite MC is the quirky kid who just doesn't fit in for some reason or another. Those kids, to me, are hereos.