Every other Wednesday, I’ll be showcasing authors who got an agent in the last couple of years. If you’d like to be a part of this, let me know in the comments or contact me via Twitter @judi__Lauren

I’m so excited to be interviewing Ashley Hearn today! Not only is she an awesome human being, she’s funny and incredibly generous with her time. We both mentored in Nightmare on Query Street in October and we’ll both be mentoring in the upcoming FicFest contest! And then I found out we both intern at the same publishing company! So basically she also has great taste. She signed with Christa Heschke with her Southern Gothic MS The Sumerlin Curse. Welcome, Ashley!

What was the hardest part about writing your book?

The Sumerlin Curse is steeped in Gullah folklore and Lowcountry history, which means research, research, research. The Gullah Geechee are decedents of freed slaves who settled in the Lowcountry and retained many aspects of their African heritage, including their practice of hoodoo. The story’s plot, while channeled through a Southern gothic lens of horror, magic, and mysticism, is rooted in the very real issue of the Gullah Geechee’s land and culture becoming endangered due to coastal development. Making sure I’ve treated these cultural details with respect is something I’ve focused on with every draft.

Ohhh that sounds so good! How did you meet your agent?

At Midwest Writer’s Conference in Muncie, Indiana!

I actually didn’t sign up for an agent pitch session at the conference, but after a client of Christa’s overheard my practice pitch, she figured my book would be right up Christa’s ally. She introduced us, and Christa and I hit it off immediately—we’re both huge Green Bay Packers fans! At some point over the conference weekend, I mentioned my travels through Lowcountry Georgia and South Carolina and how they pertain to my Southern gothic WIP. She emailed me a few weeks requesting the manuscript once my revisions were complete.

Do you have a rough number of how many queries you sent out before being offered representation?

The short, and misleading, story is that my first query for The Sumerlin Curse turned into an offer of rep. The long, and more truthful, story is that between query number one and my eventual first offer, six months passed along with thirty or so rejections/ no-responses.

#ProTip: Don’t query too early! I sent out a few queries in May of last year (my offer came in August) and while one of those turned into my first offer, it caused me a real headache when I had to nudge agents who had seen different drafts. It worked out for me in the end, but the whole process could have been much smoother.

Also, The Sumerlin Curse is the second manuscript I queried. My first, a YA contemporary fantasy, found some success with contests, but failed to gain traction in the query trenches. I stopped querying it after about thirty rejections and no real answers on how to fix it. Shelving it was the best decision for me, though, because starting a new project really helped me see how much I’d grown as a writer from book one to book two.

Without saying too much, you’re not the only person in this interview who queried too early. What inspires you to write?

Wow. So many things. I was born and raised in Georgia, so this particular story was inspired by my fascination with the coastal south. I also love fairy tales—1990’s Disney girl at heart!—and for The Sumerlin Curse, I wanted to twist some of my favorite tropes with the Deep South’s history.

In general, though, I’m just a fan girl. I love falling in love with characters, worlds, and magic systems. I crave stories that stick with you long after that last sentence. That’s why I started writing fan fiction in high school. I just couldn’t leave my favorite worlds and characters behind. Now that I’m writing original fiction, that’s the feeling I hope to inspire in my readers.

A lot of writers I know got their start in fanfiction! Can you tell us a little bit about your creative process? Where do you get your ideas and characters?

Each story has been different so far. But I think research is my key jumping off point. Everything I write about is something I want to learn about (and am passionate enough about to spend a considerable amount of time with).

Book one was mostly inspired by research I did on folk magic for a paper I wrote in college. Book two had its roots in shelved book one. I recycled some elements of the folk magic, and then once additional historical research gave shape to the plot, I found the characters, villain, and subplots all fell into place.

I also have two future ideas I hope to draft in 2016. One is a YA fantasy inspired by Islamic Persia. Obviously, I love folk magic and I’d love to learn more about alchemy. The other is a LGBT Southern gothic romance, exploring my interests in gender identity politics.

Ohh hopefully 2016 is a great drafting year for you! Many people have jobs along with writing. How do you balance that schedule?

The truth? No clue. And if you ask my boyfriend, he’ll probably say I don’t.

At the moment, I work full time as a producer for The Badger Sports Report, which is the football and basketball coach’s TV show for the University of Wisconsin. I’m also an intern for the fabulous Kate Brauning at Entangled Teen, and I nanny for a ten-year-old aspiring gymnast and twelve-year-old competitive dancer. It’s a full schedule without writing.

There are a few things that help me though:

• Mondays are MY day. I put in a few hours of work in the morning, and then have the entire afternoon and evening to write. Knowing I have this one day to knock words/ revisions out helps for when other things pile up later in the week.
• Setting personal deadlines. I’m almost always overly optimistic, but striving for a deadline is a great motivator.
• Word count goals. Like having mini-deadlines. I love Scivener, and when I’m drafting I use the word count tool to track my daily progress. I like to strive for and average of 1000 words per day. I’m a pretty slow drafter.
• My critique group. We submit every week through Google Docs and meet every week on Google Hangouts. I cannot emphasize every week Critiquing around 10k words per week on top of everything else I’ve got going on is a huge commitment, but having that weekly deadline is a massive kick in the pants. No one in the group wants to be the only person who doesn’t submit that week.

Is there a fictional character or book you wish you had created? Why?

The Harry Potter series, because it lead me to my earliest experiences with fan culture, and fandom, as I mentioned above, is one of the many reasons I write speculative fiction for children and young adults.

 

What do you enjoy most about writing?

Being a god.–Amen to that

No really, I love it when characters worm their way into my head and heart and I get to spill their stories out onto the page. Plotting is fun. But characters are why I write—they’re why I read too, which is not a coincidence.

Can you describe your MC(s) in three words each?

George: cursed, creative, chimera

Grace: stubborn, Geechee, rootworker

Before you leave, would you share the first sentence of your query that got you an agent?

Absolutely.

Sixteen-year-old George Sumerlin is a boy, no matter what he looks like.

Thanks for joining us, Ashley!

Ashley Hearn is a producer for the Badger Sports Report, the football and basketball coach’s television show for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is an addictive coffee drinker, a Gilmore Girls fanatic, and a proud Gryffindor. When she ferrets away enough gas money, she can be found scouring the Georgia and South Carolina Sea Islands for ruined plantations, folk magic, and a fresh story. She can be found on Twitter and at www.ashleyhearn.com

Every other Wednesday, I’ll be showcasing authors who got an agent in the last couple of years. If you’d like to be a part of this, let me know in the comments or contact me via Twitter @judi__Lauren

I’m so excited to be interviewing Layla today. We met through Nightmare on Query Street, when I worked with her on her query and first 250 for the contest. I later on got to read her entire manuscript for Four Tragedies and it was so amazing! I fell in love with her characters and writing style and can’t wait to have a physical copy of her book. She signed with Laura Bradford of Bradford Literary in December and I couldn’t have been happier for her! Welcome, Layla!

What was the hardest part about writing your book?

Initially, finding time to write, but then a job change freed up writing hours. Once I completed a draft of Four Tragedies, the hardest part was having enough patience to get the query draft right. It was very tempting to save time and do a combined developmental/copy edit. Instead, I followed the advice of my crazy-good freelance editor, Kristi (@PickyEditor), who recommended separating the two edits and taking Angela James’s Before You Hit Send editing workshop. With developmental and class edit notes in hand, I killed more than a few darlings (bye-bye beloved prologue), whipped my MCs into shape, reined in the wandering body parts, and cleaned up my dialogue and action tags. In doing so, I trimmed my word count by 12,000 words and reduced the cost/time for the subsequent copy edit. In the end, I was confident with my query draft, and I was able to quickly turn around my agent’s relatively few revisions.

How did you meet your agent?

The usual cold query/slush pile process. I’d done my research, and I knew from Laura’s author list, sales, and tweets, that she’d be a great fit for Four Tragedies and me. A mutual love of food and being in the same time zone were bonuses! Our intro call went well, we were on the same page about where Four Tragedies and my writing could go, and I was thrilled to accept her offer of representation.

I’m so happy for you! Do you have a rough number of how many queries you sent out before being offered representation?

25 cold queries and 5 contest requests.

What inspires you to write?

Everything around me. My one grandmother was an English professor. My other grandmother was from a Southern farming family, all born storytellers. She also religiously watched her soap operas (my grandfather too), so I was spinning romances in my head from an early age, usually of the fanfiction variety. Now, it’s places, people, and experiences that inspire me to write, and an overwhelming need to read and write something other than legal documents all day long.

Can you tell us a little bit about your creative process? Where do you get your ideas and characters?

I typically get the story hook first, either from a place, person, experience, or song. Then my MC’s voice and some dialogue start rumbling around in my head. I’ll write down bits and pieces until I get the title, at which point I’m committed. I’m a planner, so I’ll next do detailed character sketches and an outline. When I’m ready to write, I start with the emotional beats (opening scene, last scene, love scenes, dark night, climax), then I go back and fill in the rest (usually dialogue first and then action).

Ohhh a planner. You guys amaze me. Many people have jobs along with writing. How do you balance that schedule?

Like many writers, I’m also an attorney. After years in the big firm rat race, I recently hung out my own shingle. It’s made all the difference in the world. I cut my billable hour goal by 600 hours (without taking an income hit). That’s 25 more days worth of writing right there! I’m still subject to client demands, but I can control the legal workflow and timing much better. I keep my early mornings, evenings, and weekends free for writing, and NaNoWriMo events are great for getting big chunks of words on the page.

Is there a fictional character or book you wish you had created? Why?

Sansa Stark, from Game of Thrones, so I could rest assured she gets her happily ever after.

Kristen Ashley’s Luke Stark, so I could put him in ALL THE BOOKS.

What do you enjoy most about writing?

I enjoy crafting stories that are set in places I love and filled with characters inspired by people I know. Every place you see in one of my stories is based on someplace real. The fictional town of Hanover in Four Tragedies is inspired by Southport/Oak Island, North Carolina. I spent a lot of my childhood summers with family and friends on the NC coast. Charlie’s house is based on my aunt and uncle’s beach house, Annie’s my grandmother’s, and anyone who knew my grandfather will recognize a lot of him in Abel.

Can you describe your MC(s) in three words each?

Charlie Reddmann – Strong, Protective, Loyal

Hayes Keller – Cunning, Protective, Dedicated

Before you leave, would you share the first sentence of your query that got you an agent?

University professors are dying in Hanover, North Carolina, and their murders bear a striking resemblance to the deaths of Shakespeare’s wronged heroines.

Thanks for joining us, Layla!

Attorney by day, writer by night, Layla Reyne was raised in North Carolina and currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and three smushed-faced dogs. Writing romantic suspense and contemporary romance, Layla is inspired by her coast-to-coast experiences and delights in weaving the people she’s met and places she’s been into her stories for readers everywhere to enjoy. Layla is a member of Romance Writers of America and its Kiss of Death and Silicon Valley chapters. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and her website.

Every other Wednesday, I’ll be showcasing authors who got an agent in the last couple of years. If you’d like to be a part of this, let me know in the comments or contact me via Twitter @judi__Lauren

Today Kim Ventrella joins the Wednesday interview, and her book just sold to Scholastic! Congratulations, Kim! Read below to find out what the process was like and check out her announcement in Publisher’s Weekly.

What was the hardest part about writing your book?

The hardest part for me are the days when I’m not writing. My brain starts to fray at the edges if I don’t have the practice of writing to keep me in check.

Me too! I love meeting writers with the same problem. How did you meet your agent?

I sent a cold query. We’d never met before, but her info on Publishers Marketplace made me think we’d be a good match.

Do you have a rough number of how many queries you sent out before being offered representation?

Technically, I only queried The Skeleton Tree once, and it was to a different agent. That’s because the original query I sent to my agent was for another novel. She sent a request to revise and resubmit on that one, but her email also left the door open for me to send another manuscript entirely. That’s what I did, and she signed me on that one (after a revision).

Only one, that’s amazing! What inspires you to write?

The world can be a sad, confusing place, but the redemptive power of stories can change all that. In stories, my characters confront terrible things, but they always manage to triumph in the end. Whimsy, wonder, loyalty, courage and love prevail in my story worlds, despite all obstacles. Writing makes me a better, more resilient human being.

Agreed. Can you tell us a little bit about your creative process? Where do you get your ideas and characters?

I tend to start with the germ of an idea (i.e. what would happen if a skeleton grew in a boy’s backyard?) and go from there. I don’t plan things out ahead of time, I just write as fast as I can (and then spend a lot of time revising).

Many people have jobs along with writing. How do you balance that schedule?

I am the Children’s Department Manager at the Southwest Oklahoma City Library, as well as being a writer. It’s hard to balance my schedule sometimes, but I get up early and do all of my writing before I go into work.

Is there a fictional character or book you wish you had created? Why?

So many! The Imaginary by A.F. Harrold, for one; it reminds us to always be on the lookout for the extraordinary. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman; his grand vision of existence rings truer to me than any other theory (religious or otherwise). Pretty much anything by Neil Gaiman.

I heard your book just sold, can you tell us about that process?

It was exciting, surreal and SUPER nerve-racking. It was INSANE just to hear my agent say amazing things about my book, and then to have editors and publishers gushing about something I wrote…it was too much for my brain to process. Then, came the hard decisions. We got a pre-empt offer within 48 hours of submitting. It was a great offer, but (sigh, gasp, wave of panic!) we turned it down. The book then sold at auction, and I am so glad I had my fabulous agent to guide me through this process. She matched me with a wonderful editor at a wonderful house, and I couldn’t be happier (but boy was it a nail biter!).

Congratulations on your book sale, Kim! And thanks for stopping by today!

Kim Ventrella is the author of the middle grade novel, The Skeleton Tree (Scholastic 2017). When she’s not writing, you might find her working as a children’s librarian or fighting crime with her dog/superhero sidekick, Hera. She is a fan of whimsy, magic and weird stories of all kinds. She is represented by Brianne Johnson at Writers House and Mary Pender at United Talent Agency. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and her website.