Month: June 2017

Hello There!

My name is V and this is my first year participating in Pitch Wars . After reading some of the other amazing hopeful-mentee blogs, I decided to hop on the blog hop dance train.

Now, let’s get down to business … to defeat the Huns. No, no, sorry. PitchWars. No Huns.

About OF BLOOD AND STONE

Adult – Dark Fantasy

December 1922, Sophie Baker wakes up naked and alone in the shed of a London rooftop garden. Through her own stubborn actions, she’s been accidentally turned into a Vampire and left to die by her lover. Having escaped the sun’s rays, she now has to hide from the Vampire Council that will kill her for her unsanctioned turning. Alone in the city, her only friend is a lady doctor who helps her get the blood that she needs to survive and occasionally argues about jazz musicians.

In order to combat boredom and loneliness, Sophie takes to the rooftops of London with her newfound Vampire strength. There she meets a family of Gargoyles including the grumpy and powerful, Gabriel. This ancient race also lives in hiding, both from the Vampires and humans, and reluctantly takes Sophie under their wing(s). That is until Sophie learns that her old lover is still killing his feeders. Sophie has to make the choice to learn to fight and risk herself to keep others from suffers the same fate she narrowly escaped or protect the fragile existence she’s built hiding on London’s rooftops.

As a Mentee

I grew up outside of New Orleans, which helped fuel my love of Gothic and Dark Fantasy, as well as my love of tasty seafood. I’ve been in love with stories and books for most of my life. While Of Blood and Stone is my first completed novel, it will not be my last. I’m hooked and want to do everything that I can to improve my writing and storytelling.

Consequently, I think PitchWars is an amazing opportunity to work with an experienced mentor and learn as much as possible. While I do work very hard, I believe in being silly, enjoying humor (both light and dark), and puns. So many bad puns.

Full disclosure: I know that the market is fairly oversaturated with Vampire stories, but that is not going to stop me from trying to make this particular one as strong and entertaining as I can possible make it.

Also, my grammar is terrible, but I’m working hard on it.

About Myself

I live and work in Seattle, Washington and, consequently, am an avid eater of citrus Vitamin D gummies. Despite the gloom, I’ve fallen completely in love with Seattle. It’s a beautifully nerdy city.

Interesting Tidbits

• Able to do a Skeksis voice from The Dark Crystal.
• Fenced in high school and desperately miss it.
• Spray painted gold and silver dinosaurs as party favors for my wedding.
• My miniature Schnauzer is named Millennium Falcon, but goes by Millie or the hellhound depending on her mood.
• Once wrote a poem dedicated to the spider in my car.
• Know probably more of The Princess Bride than is really good for me.

Favorite books

Picking my favorite book would be like asking to pick my favorite child. I don’t have children, but, still.

• The Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern
• Saga – Brian K. Vaughn
• The Dark Jewels Trilogy – Anne Bishop
• Kindred – Octavia Butler
• Matilda – Roald Dahl
• Cinder – Marissa Meyer
• Interview with a Vampire – Anne Rice
• Sunshine – Robin McKinley
• The Girl with all the Gifts – Mike Carey

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“So Matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone.” ― Roald Dahl, Matilda

Growing up, my parents surrounded us with stories. They would read to us, tell us fantastic tales on long car trips where my sister and I were the heroines, and take us to the library over the summers to participate in summer reading programs. I fell in love with stories. I fell in love with being transported to other worlds, going on adventures, and meeting new and exciting people.

One of my favorite books (and movies, for that matter) was, and still is, Matilda by Roald Dahl. While I have been blessed with a wonderful family, being a shy child myself, I still identified strongly with Matilda and her love of reading. Books are some of the easiest friends you will ever make. It took me until high school to really find my own nerdy quirky tribe, and until I did, I sustained myself with books.

Looking back at Roald Dahl’s work and Matilda, in particular, one of the things that drew me was that he never spoke down to his audience. Even though he was dealing with tough subjects like child neglect and abuse, he did it in a way that is understandable without being overwhelming. He challenged us to seek help both through adults like Miss Honey, and through our inner strength.

At the start of this post is one of my favorite quotes from the book, but another one that I love is “She sat there in a blaze of silence.” To me this evokes so much emotion with such a simple line. You can picture Matilda almost glowing in perfect contentment, and all from so few words.

My love of Matilda is one of the reasons I want to write my own stories. They may never “nurture young minds” but they may entertain, and if I’m very lucky, maybe they will grow someone else’s love for books and tales.