Pitch Wars: About Me

Hey Y'all! I applied to do Pitch Wars this year! Since everyone else is doing it, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and share a little bit about myself in case you're looking for someone super awesome to mentor.

Instead of TELLING you how awesome I am, I figured I'd SHOW you, because I'm a good little Creative Writer.

I graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.

After graduation I moved to Atlanta where I got a job herding cats teaching preschool, and writing in my spare time.

My husband worked for the Atlanta Falcons, so I attended a bunch of NFL games and fed elephants with Matt Ryan.

(I know it's hard to see him in this pic, but that's his #2 right there behind the tree. I swear I wasn't being a stalker and hiding in the bushes. As you can see, Freddie Falcon and I are BFFs, so it's totally legit)

I have an annoying obsession totally healthy relationship with gifs. I mean, I love them like

For reals, they make me all 

because 

and sometimes I need to express them. So this is why I think gifs are

When I'm not hanging out on twitter, I enjoy spending time as an advocate for human-zombie relations.

And occasionally, I act as an ambassador on diplomatic missions throughout the intergalactic empire.

If you need any rum smuggled, I've got connections.

I don't really like to brag, but I've met some pretty famous people in my life, including but not limited to:

John Goodman

Regis Philbin

Barbara Walters

Liv Schriber

Johnny Knoxville

Hugh Jackman

Bryan Cranston

and Elvis.

I'm also super addicted to book signings, because I think it's fun to support fellow writers, and also to be able to meet my heroes and tell them how awesome they are. So here I am with some amazing writers I've met either at a signing or out in the wild:

@kelsnotchels, @meganwhitmer,

  @fizzygrrl, @clairelegrand, @rachelsearles, 

@trishaleighKC, @MissDahlELama

Angi Black

Steph Funk, Virginia Boecker

Megan Orsini, Megan Whitmer, Angi Black

Laurell K. Hamilton

Maureen Johnson

Michael Knight

Ally Carter

Another thing I really love to do is travel. I lived in Wales for a semester in college. I've also visited France where I saw the Mona Lisa and met Quasimodo.

And there was that one time when I was visiting my brother in Wisconsin and had an encounter with a Hodag.

Oh, and I met Jaws too, but that didn't go so well...

When I moved from Georgia to California, my friends were concerned I'd turn into a tree hugging hippie, but that hasn't happened. At all.

Out of all the crazy activities in my life, my favorite thing to do is write. The X-Files was a huge influence in my life, so I really enjoy creating stories with a good murder (or 12) and some kind of paranormal element.

Scully and Beckett are my heroes (heroines?), so every story I write needs to have a tough chick who can hold her own against whatever she might encounter.

This past year, I've spent revising my manuscript THE SHIFTING DARKNESS. It's been torn apart and put back together, so you should know that it's in really good shape and I'm also not afraid to beat my own words into submission.

And if ALL OF THAT didn't convince you how how badly you need me as your mentee for Pitch Wars? Maybe my gangsta friend Kelsey Macke can do it... watch here. I'll wait.

Isn't she bad ass?? I totally wouldn't be anywhere at all with out the support of my incredible CPs like Kelsey! She and the rest of my critique partners have helped me take THE SHIFTING DARKNESS from the 65k she mentioned in the video all the way up to it's current word count of 77k. 

I've shed blood, sweat, and tears, and I'm damn proud of this ms. I need a mentor who will love my characters and story as much as I do. Someone who can help me spit-shine my ms so I can present it in the best way possible to the awesome agents, because I fully intend to be the WINNER OF PITCH WARS.