I’m very excited for my inaugural post for the Debutante Ball, and for the opportunity to introduce myself and my debut novel, Becoming Bonnie. So, Hi, I’m Jenni, kid wrangler by day and author by night. And, as you may’ve guessed from the title, my novel is about Bonnie Parker, as in half of the infamous Bonnie and Clyde...
Continue reading » I'm very excited to be part of the Class of 2017 for The Debutante Ball, a group blog for up-and-coming authors making their debut in the literary world. Please keep reading for the official Press Release. PRESS RELEASE: The 2017 Debutante Ball to feature a down-in-the-dumps dumpee, an accused black teen, a rape survivor, an ancient Roman gourmand, and an American outlaw. It's official, for Pitch Wars 2016, I'll be working with the insanely talented Sarah Van Goethem on her young adult Speculative Historical Fiction novel, Sassafras Road. In a few words, here's what the story is all about (but trust me, it's so much more than this. Sassafras Road is raw and gut-wrenching and funny and sweet and simply amazing): In 1924 a four-year-old girl vanishes from Sassafras Road. In 2000, a four-year-old girl is found in the exact same spot. In 2012, sixteen-year-old Ada Mae Baker stumbles upon Sassafras Road, falling back in time to 1936 and into her old life, unlocking memories she had long forgotten. YA agents, we can't wait to share the story with you in the Agent Showcase <3
Gimme your high-concept
Plain and simple, if you can explain your book in one sentence, no matter the genre, I wanna see it. Being able to understand your story so quickly, and get me excited about it, is a really appealing thing for me.
Here's an example, using my CP's book: a kid-friendly parody of the television show Breaking Bad, where an honor student grows in popularity by hawking essays under a pen name. Yes, please! And another example, using my own: the untold story of how seventeen-year-old Bonnelyn Parker becomes half of the infamous Bonnie and Clyde duo during the 1920s. I hope you'll say, "yes, please!" And here's a quick article defining 'high concept' by Rachelle Gardner.
HERE's WHAT Else I'm AFTER...
The genres I tend to pick up are fantasies and historicals, though I'm open to all genres if the concept/setting has me itching to read on. Like... books that drop me in a new place, a new time, or a new world. That's not to say that contemporary novels can't fit this mold as well. If you have a setting/situation that's atypical (think how Pitch Perfect immersed people in its acappella world), chances are you'll have me sitting up a bit straighter.
I also adore retellings. There's just something so interesting about taking the familiar and giving it your own unique spin. Marissa Meyer killed this in her science fiction series, The Lunar Chronicles. I was also completely captivated by Megan Shepherd's historical fantasy series, The Madman's Daughter. Other elements I'm drawn to (in no particular order):
Probably not the best fit for...
Generally speaking, I don't typically pick up books that include nightmare-inducing horror, non-human-like aliens, half-humans (think: centaurs. I'm okay with fae, mermaids), zero romance, or strong themes of suicide, rape, or school shootings. So, if your book aligns with those elements, I may not be best for you. BUT I betcha there's a mentor out there who is thinking, "Jenni, you're a fool." And, they're probably right.
WHY PITCH TO ME?
I'm a rather passionate, tireless person, who is surrounded by words (and a 6-month-old, two-year-old, needy goldendoodle, supportive husband, and carbs). I'm a copywriter for an advertising agency. I'm a freelance editor. I blog for Kick-Butt Kid Lit. I've got a book I'm super proud of coming out from Tor/Macmillan. And I also have a little something new I'm anxiously waiting to talk about...
Besides that, I've been through the ropes of pitching and querying, heartbreak, fist pumps, finding an agent (twice), heartbreak, fist pumps, revising, being on sub, the good fortune of having my dreams become a reality, and working with an amazingly talented big 5 editor. And, I'm really excited to help my mentee on his/her journey to publication. To get a better idea of my editing style, check out my 500-word critiques on voice and setting. You can also get to know me a little better through this interview, which includes my plan of attack for my mentee's manuscript. And just so you know, if you work with me, you're stuck with me. My Pitch Wars family grows larger every year and I wouldn't have it any other way.
eally important announcement: When submitting, please donate. I won't see a penny of it (nor should I; I'm contributing my time/energy to an awesome cause: your career). Likewise, Brenda and her admins won't profit from your donation. Your hard-earned money will go toward offsetting the high financial and time-related costs of running this one-of-a-kind contest.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll consider pitching to me. Just like for the mentees, there's A LOT of stiff competition out there for the mentors, as you'll see in the bios below. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or chat with me @jennilwalsh.
Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Thumb-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site. If this widget does not appear, click here to display it. Kind of crazy, but the potential release date for Becoming Bonnie—that tells the untold story of how Bonnelyn Parker became half of the infamous Bonnie and Clyde duo—is May 9th, 2017. That is exactly ONE YEAR away. I'm so excited for readers to step into the Roaring 20s with Bonnie Parker. So I say, we celebrate the one-year mark with... books! To help get ya in a roaring mood, one lucky winner will receive FOUR novels releasing in 2016, all set during the 1920s. The rules are simple: add Becoming Bonnie on Goodreads. If you already have, that works too. Just fill in the verification within the Rafflecopter below. For bonus entries: tweet the giveaway (you can do so once a day for extra entries). *Contest is over. The Rafflecopter has been removed. Thank you to all who entered!* The Night Circus meets The Peaky Blinders in Lee Kelly's new crossover fantasy novel. Magic is powerful, dangerous and addictive - and after passage of the 18th Amendment, it is finally illegal. It's 1926 in Washington, DC, and while Anti-Sorcery activists have achieved the Prohibition of sorcery, the city's magic underworld is booming. Sorcerers cast illusions to aid mobsters' crime sprees. Smugglers funnel magic contraband in from overseas. Gangs have established secret performance venues where patrons can lose themselves in magic, and take a mind-bending, intoxicating elixir known as the sorcerer's shine. Joan Kendrick, a young sorcerer from Norfolk County, Virginia accepts an offer to work for DC's most notorious crime syndicate, the Shaw Gang, when her family's home is repossessed. Alex Danfrey, a first-year Federal Prohibition Unit trainee with a complicated past and talents of his own, becomes tapped to go undercover and infiltrate the Shaws. Through different paths, Joan and Alex tread deep into the violent, dangerous world of criminal magic - and when their paths cross at the Shaws' performance venue, despite their orders, and despite themselves, Joan and Alex become enchanted with one another. But when gang alliances begin to shift, the two sorcerers are forced to question their ultimate allegiances and motivations. And soon, Joan and Alex find themselves pitted against each other in a treacherous, heady game of cat-and-mouse. A Criminal Magic casts a spell of magic, high stakes and intrigue against the backdrop of a very different Roaring Twenties. Saga Press, February 2, 2016 ISBN: 1481410334 The bestselling author of A Hundred Summers, brings the Roaring Twenties brilliantly to life in this enchanting and compulsively readable tale of intrigue, romance, and scandal in New York Society, brimming with lush atmosphere, striking characters, and irresistible charm As the freedom of the Jazz Age transforms New York City, the iridescent Mrs. Theresa Marshall of Fifth Avenue and Southampton, Long Island, has done the unthinkable: she’s fallen in love with her young paramour, Captain Octavian Rofrano, a handsome aviator and hero of the Great War. An intense and deeply honorable man, Octavian is devoted to the beautiful socialite of a certain age and wants to marry her. While times are changing and she does adore the Boy, divorce for a woman of Theresa’s wealth and social standing is out of the question, and there is no need; she has an understanding with Sylvo, her generous and well-respected philanderer husband. But their relationship subtly shifts when her bachelor brother, Ox, decides to tie the knot with the sweet younger daughter of a newly wealthy inventor. Engaging a longstanding family tradition, Theresa enlists the Boy to act as her brother’s cavalier, presenting the family’s diamond rose ring to Ox’s intended, Miss Sophie Fortescue—and to check into the background of the little-known Fortescue family. When Octavian meets Sophie, he falls under the spell of the pretty ingénue, even as he uncovers a shocking family secret. As the love triangle of Theresa, Octavian, and Sophie progresses, it transforms into a saga of divided loyalties, dangerous revelations, and surprising twists that will lead to a shocking transgression . . . and eventually force Theresa to make a bittersweet choice. Full of the glamour, wit and delicious twists that are the hallmarks of Beatriz Williams’ fiction and alternating between Sophie’s spirited voice and Theresa’s vibrant timbre, A Certain Age is a beguiling reinterpretation of Richard Strauss’s comic opera Der Rosenkavalier, set against the sweeping decadence of Gatsby’s New York. William Morrow, June 28, 2016 ISBN: 0062404954 Set in the glamorous 1920s, A Fine Imitation is an intoxicating debut that sweeps readers into a privileged Manhattan socialite’s restless life and the affair with a mysterious painter that upends her world, flashing back to her years at Vassar and the friendship that brought her to the brink of ruin. Vera Bellington has beauty, pedigree, and a penthouse at The Angelus—the most coveted address on Park Avenue. But behind the sparkling social whirl, Vera is living a life of quiet desperation. Her days are an unbroken loop of empty, champagne-soaked socializing, while her nights are silent and cold, spent waiting alone in her cavernous apartment for a husband who seldom comes home. Then Emil Hallan arrives at The Angelus to paint a mural above its glittering subterranean pool. The handsome French artist moves into the building, shrouds his work in secrecy, and piques Vera’s curiosity, especially when the painter keeps dodging questions about his past. Is he the man he claims to be? Even as she finds herself increasingly drawn to Hallan’s warmth and passion, Vera can’t suppress her suspicions. After all, she has plenty of secrets, too—and some of them involve art forgers like her bold, artistically talented former friend, Bea, who years ago, at Vassar, brought Vera to the brink of catastrophe and social exile. When the dangerous mysteries of Emil’s past are revealed, Vera faces an impossible choice—whether to cling to her familiar world of privilege and propriety or to risk her future with the enigmatic man who has taken her heart. A Fine Imitation explores what happens when we realize that the life we’ve always led is not the life we want to have. Crown, May 3, 2016 ISBN: 1101905115 Sometimes life gives you cotton stockings. Sometimes it gives you a Chanel gown … Dolly Lane is a dreamer; a downtrodden maid who longs to dance on the London stage, but her life has been fractured by the Great War. Memories of the soldier she loved, of secret shame and profound loss, by turns pull her back and spur her on to make a better life. When she finds employment as a chambermaid at London’s grandest hotel, The Savoy, Dolly takes a step closer to the glittering lives of the Bright Young Things who thrive on champagne, jazz and rebellion. Right now, she must exist on the fringes of power, wealth and glamor—she must remain invisible and unimportant. But her fortunes take an unexpected turn when she responds to a struggling songwriter’s advertisement for a ‘muse’ and finds herself thrust into London’s exhilarating theatre scene and into the lives of celebrated actress, Loretta May, and her brother, Perry. Loretta and Perry may have the life Dolly aspires to, but they too are searching for something. Now, at the precipice of the life she has and the one she longs for, the girl from The Savoy must make difficult choices: between two men; between two classes, between everything she knows and everything she dreams of. A brighter future is tantalizingly close—but can a girl like Dolly ever truly leave her past behind? William Morrow Paperbacks, June 7, 2016
ISBN: 9780062403476 Give me a moment to catch my breath after writing that headline.
My agent, Stacey Glick, joked, "when it rains, it pours," and that's because only four days after selling Becoming Bonnie to Bess Cozby at Tor/Macmillan, Edyson Entertainment said they'd like to extend an offer to make Becoming Bonnie into a TV series. Seeing your novel on TV or in film is every author's dream and I am beside myself with giddiness to *maybe* one day see Bonnie, Clyde, Blanche, and Buck come to life on the small screen. I don't have many details to share right now, but I'll be sure to provide updates if/when they become available. In the meantime, here's the official TV option announcement from Publishers Weekly! First and foremost, I'd like to thank my agent, Stacey Glick, for making it possible for me to even write that headline. Her enthusiasm and dedication to this project is something in which I'll be forever thankful. So what is this project? Becoming Bonnie is my debut historical novel that tells the untold story of how church-going Bonnelyn Parker becomes part of the infamous Bonnie & Clyde duo doing the Roaring 20s. It also happens to be my debut! Wahoo! I am beyond excited to be working with Bess Cozby from Tor/Macmillan, releasing Becoming Bonnie through their Forge imprint in Spring 2017. I was secretly pining for Bess ever since Stacey pitched her, and I couldn't have been happier when she proclaimed how she loved Bonnie as much as I did/do. Without further ado: here is the official book deal announcement from Publishers Weekly *squees* I'd also like to give special shout outs to my husband, Matt, my mom, Susanne, and my author friends, Carolyn Menke and Megan Herman, for their encouragement and support. God knows I wanted to give up many times. He also wouldn't let me. I'm thrilled to announce that I have signed with Stacey Glick of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management for my part origin story/part epic crime novel (currently titled BECOMING BONNIE) that tells that untold story of how church-going Bonnelyn Parker becomes half of the infamous Bonnie and Clyde duo.
Huge thank you to Stacey for loving Bonn as much as I do. I can't wait to share this story with you all and I hope to gush over more details in the near future! |
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