*VERY LUKE SKYWALKER
FACE*
I WANT TO BE YOUR MENTOR
I am so stoked to get to read your words this year and absolutely cannot wait to dive innnn. SCROLL ON, HUMANS, and let’s see if we’re a good match for each other, and why
you want ME to train you in the ways of the Force.
PART ONE
BIO
So first, a little about
yours truly. I am Brianna Shrum. I’m a YA author from Denver, Colorado. I’m
totally obsessed with gaming (tabletop and video games) and superheroes, and I
love all things dark, magical, and strange. My first novel, NEVER NEVER, a YA
crossover retelling of Peter Pan from Hook’s POV, came out in September of 2015
from Spencer Hill Press. My second, HOW TO MAKE OUT, a YA contemporary romantic
comedy, came out from Sky Pony Press September 2016! I am repped by Steven
Salpeter at Curtis Brown. ^_^
MY EDITING STYLE
I will give you in-depth
critique, honesty (but not brutal honesty; I don't think you have to be brutal
to be honest. I WILL tell you in no uncertain terms exactly what I think needs
to be done and why, and will not shy away from any of that stuff big or small,
but I’ll also gush over everything I love) and ideas on the big and little
things in your book. My specialty is CHARACTER, RELATIONSHIPS, and TENSION.
These things are my greatest loves, and the things I’m best at! Though I’m always
down to help you with atmosphere, world, and plot if that’s what you need! I’ve had success with
contests in the past, so I’ll bring that experience to the table to help make
your entry shine!
PART TWO ~aka~ THE GOOD STUFF
My Wishlist!!
So this year, I’m
mentoring YA, and I’ll be looking for TWO THINGS within that category: Fantasy,
and Contemporary. Nothing outside of YA
fantasy or contemporary this year, folks! There are some amazing mentors who are
looking at those other things!
SOOOO, within YA fantasy
and contemporary, there are several things that I just LOVE, cross-genre, and I
will die of happy if I see them in my inbox.
*GIVE ME YOUR “TOO MUCH"
If you have written
something and said to yourself, “Oh lord. This…this might be too much” I want
it. If it is TOO edgy or your characters are too unlikable or this is a topic that is just TOO wild or controversial or...any number of
things. I want it.
*ANTI-HEROES, VILLAINS,
BAD BOYS, BAD GIRLS, like yes. Puh-lease.
I loooove, more than
anything, characters who are conflicted, who are bad, who want to be good but
don’t know how to be, who are straight-up wicked. Give them all to me,
please. I love me a good hero, too! So don’t count them out, but delicious
villains, and anti-heroes, and grey morality are my crack.
*TENSION
Give me TENSION. Sexual tension, friend tension, stakes that have the world at its end—what I want, ultimately, is something that makes me feel breathless. Where it’s tense enough I can feel it on my skin.
*SEND ME YOUR QUEER TEENS PLEASE OK
That is all. Please to send them
*ROMANCE IS AWESOME
(The world I like to live in is one in which the 2016 election never happened and ZUTARA SAILED)
I’m just a sucker for it. That is all. PARTICULARLYYYYYY UNLIKELY/IMPOSSIBLE ROMANCE. I’m super into hate-to-love, also. Or forbidden romance. Or slowwwww burrrrnnnnn. WHEW. SLOW BURN. Honestly most kinds of romance I love. PARTICULARLY if that romance has some tEeTh. And by that, I mean figuratively, I love all kinds of romance, but do have a particular soft spot for those with an edge. (I mean. Literal teeth are also fine though. Just putting that out there.)
(P.S. do you see what I did there? With the word "have"? That is perhaps an important word for a certain scavenger hunt and you should probably mark it down but hey I don't know your life and can't just tell you how to live it.)
NOOOOOTE, WRITER HUMANS, THAT UNDERLIES EVERY SPECIFIC GENRE REQUEST/TROPE LOVE/ETC.: DIVERSITY IS IMPORTANT
TO ME
I have a very hard time believing worlds (in ANY genre) that are all white, all allocishet, all abled. Like. That just doesn't feel real to me. I would love to see casts
that are culturally, racially, ethnically diverse. Representation
of any number of genders, disabilities, sexual orientations, underrepresented religions, everything. Authentic
experiences of marginalized people, be it *about* a specific marginalization or
about a marginalized character and/or cast where that marginalization does not
drive the plot, are always extremely welcome and wanted here.
SPECIFIC GENRE WANTS
YA Contemp
I adore contemp of a
million different types, and tend to gravitate toward it when writing. This
year, I’m looking particularly for contemp on the edgy side of things. I like
things that ask hard questions, that draw out deep emotion, that aren’t afraid
to just smash through politeness and boundaries and hit hard with authenticity. Characters
with grit and heart and lots of voice, whether they’re prickly or loveable,
I love.
YA that deals with major social or political issues, I am super here for
as well. So, I am all about the lighter side of YA too, especially if there’s a
stellar romance at the core. And grittier, older, edgier YA is my bread and butter BUT
THAT BEING SAID: IF YOUR BOOK IS QUEER, I DO NOT CARE if it’s edgy or not.
If you’re telling a story about an ace kid or a bi kid or a non-binary kid or
two girls falling in love or or or—I want it. Legit, I am thrilled to read
anything, edgy and gritty or light and sweet or dark and emotional, if it’s a
contemp about queer kids.
YA Fantasy
Fantasy was my first love, and we’re, like, basically in a
committed relationship now, so.
I am NOT LOOKING FOR: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal,
or Contemp Fantasy unless that contemp fantasy involves time travel
ORRRRRR a totally kickass setting. Somewhere weird or cool or, idk. Something
with the atmosphere of Maggie Stiefvater a la The Raven Boys or The Scorpio
Races, or something set in Alaska, possibly. Because I love Alaska. SO YEAH,
contemp fantasy ONLYYYYY if the setting is super kickass or it involves time
travel. The rest of these things are great, just not in my wheelhouse!
PLEASE SEND ME YOUR:
*Epic fantasy
*Crossover YA fantasy
*Historical Fantasy
*Monsters
*People
*Fantasy with humor
*Time Travel
*MAGICCCCCC
*MAYHEM
I’ll list specific comps down below, but basically, give me yo
fantasy, lovelies!
BOOKS I LOVE-slash-SEND THINGS LIKE THIS TO ME PLEEEEASE
EITHER GENRE: A contemp OR fantasy that felt like Stranger Things in any way would be kickass. Man. How great was Stranger Things tho
Fantasy
*A Darker Shade of Magic/ A Gathering of Shadows/A Conjuring of
Light
*SIX OF CROWS/CROOKED KINGDOM
-oooh yaaaaaasssssss the antiheroes! The world! THE KAZ BREKKER
-A+++ multi
POV too
*And I Darken
*The Scorpio Races
-The Atmosphere.
*Outlander
*The Winner's Trilogy—PARTICULARLY The Winner’s Crime (I believe that’s book 2)
-Fantasy does not necessarily need magic to be fantasy, yo!
*Shadow and Bone
-SPECIFICALLY THE DARKLING OK
*AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER
-Zutara is the ONLY SHIP FIGHT ME
*DRAGON AGE OMG DRAGON AGE THOUGH I am Bioware trash
*The Princess Bride
*Red Rising
-technically
sci-fi I think, but the characters in this, particularly the side characters,
are phenomenal
*Star Wars: ROGUE ONE
-GIVE ME
REVOLUTIONARIES and people who change the world or are willing to fight for who and what they love.
Contemporary
* Literally ANYTHING by Carrie Mesrobian
-The VOICE in her books is
unbelievably great
*Jellicoe
Road
* The
Hate U Give
* More
Happy Than Not
-This is technically a spec fic but
the voice and the feel is so contemp that I’m adding it here as an example of a
feeling that I LOVE.
* Far
From You
-The darkness in this was super well
done, but I’m looking for anythingggg that can tell a story with as INTENSE
emotion as the romance and relationship between these girls. MAN.
*Such A
Good Girl
*99
Days
-Honestly anything by Katie Cotugno
*When
Dimple Met Rishi
* Alex,
Approximately
* Simon
vs. the HomoSapiens’ Agenda
*Gena/Finn
*Breaking Bad (the show)
*Breaking Bad (the show)
Random Facts About Me/My Interests That Might Help
*I am a Gryffindor or a Slytherin. I can’t currently decide
which but I dunno, I’m pretty fighty.
*I play the violin (Both acoustic, and this badass electric
viper violin). Music SLAYS ME.
*I will fall just DEAD IN LOVE with a character with realllllll
power and relationships that play with that idea. Destroy me with power dynamics.
*I love twisty politics and intrigue.
*I LOVE FIGHTY CHARACTERS. Prickly, harder to love at first but WONDERFUL characters like Ronan Lynch, Cassian Andor, Starbuck (girl Starbuck). LOVE. THEM.
*If I could invite 7 characters over for a fictional dinner, 1
being seated to my left, 7 being to my right, and all the places in between
being situated around the table, I would invite: 1. Nina Zenik 2. Uncle Iroh 3.
Zuko 4. Starbuck (in the newer Battlestar Galactica. I’m completely in love
with her.) 5. Mad Sweeney 6. Sevro 7. Cassian Andor
*I like spiders, and snakes, and monsters, and worlds with claws.
*My fave scenes to read and write are one-on-one murder, fist
fights, and the moments just before a kiss. Because they are intimate and
reveal character like whoa.
That’s about it, friends!
Feel FREE to ask me any questions over on Twitter (my username is
@briannashrum) and HAPPY PITCH WARS-INGGGGG!
I will leave you now with some gratuitous gifs of Cassian. May the Force be with you.
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