A chat with Jolene Perry part two

Thanks to those of you who posted your pitches below! I hope the feedback helped you.

Now for part two of Jolene Perry's awesome interview. (She's pictured here with her two lovely kids.) Please continue to post your two-sentence or Twitter pitch in the comments - rules are below.


7. How was The Pub Call different from The Agent Call?
Very different. The Pub call was HUGE. WAY HUGE - even though they're a smaller publisher. The more I learn about them, the happier I am that I ended up with them. Their distribution is INCREDIBLE for being smaller. That was, again January of 2011
The agent call - I had my head on a lot more straight when Lauren called me. That was June of 2011. I was still shaking with excitement, and then, as happens often, I had more than one offer. I knew, because of friends like Kelley, that finding an agent was simply another step. I ADORE Lauren, I love how enthusiastic she is, and how hard she works.


8. You're working on more projects (a LOT more projects) Tell us how the process of writing now is different than it was for The Next Door Boys.
I'm a better writer by far. I'm not sure that my process is really any different. I write the major scenes and events first, I rarely write in order. I write the end before I hit 10,000 words. It generally needs to be changed up a bit later, but it gives me a place to get to. I tried the whole starting on chapter one on my last two projects, and I find that I just get irritated, and that I lose steam. I think the biggest thing is that I'm MUCH better at self-editing than I used to be. I can see my mistakes, and how the story could be made better so much more clearly. Not all of them (SO important to have good critique people)

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9. You're on the 'board' of For the Love of Contemporary, a new blog aimed at (in case the name didn't give it away) YA contemp. Talk about the start of this idea and how it evolved.
Kelley mentioned off-hand that she'd thought about doing a group blog dedicated solely to contemporary, and that we'd only talk about stuff we LOVED. Later that day I made the blog header and sent it to her, and a week later we'd asked a few friends to join with us. All are VERY talented, published authors. I've read everyone's book but Kelley York's which comes out this December. If I had to choose one genre to read forever, that would be it. I love stories that take place in the real world.


10. How does managing this blog and your blog, affect your writing schedule? I mean, you've got kids, right? Do you never sleep? :)
I don't sleep nearly as much as my body wants me to. Seriously.
My number one is keeping on top of email. Also, once your blog gets to a certain point, it sort of runs itself. I think it was more work when I only had 100 followers than it is now. I have people whose blogs I almost always visit, and of course I pop by those who visit me. It all works. I've slowed to three days a week on my personal blog, and I'm only in charge of a few items a month on the contemporary blog. So, it all works. Some days I ignore my blog in favor of writing, but usually I'm in and out in both. As soon as my fingers slow on my keyboard while in my current project, I'll bounce into email, check and answer a couple, and then go back to my WIP.


Bonus: 11. And now...for everyone who doesn't live where we do - share the best part of living in Alaska. 'Cuz we know they're all jealous. Er...until winter hits anyway. :))
I have to remind myself of the best parts OFTEN, lol.
I run into people I know when I go into Wasilla. I live on two acres and can see no other homes from my backyard, but I can see all of Hatcher's Pass, which is just beautiful. We get moose in our yard all the time. I LOVE to go snowmachining (snowmobiling to those out-of-staters) and there's LOTS of time for that. I also love how quiet it is. When Mike was in law school we lived behind the Walmart off the corner of Tropicana and Pecos in Las Vegas. It was NEVER quiet. So, I love that. It's also just beautiful. It doesn't matter if I head north up the highway, or south, it's just a beautiful place to live.

Agreed!

Now, to recap, please post your pitch in the comments using this format:

Title:
Genre:
Pitch:
Email:

And critique at least three other pitches (assuming that many are posted). The drawing Monday will determine a winner to discuss with Jolene the kind of short critique desired. Good luck!