#PitchWars Updated #pimpmybio

It is PitchWars time again! This bio was initially posted in June 2016, and updated in July 2017 in preparation for PitchWars.



If you are familiar with #PitchWars, a word of warning. This post is gif-less. Not that I dislike gifs. I appreciate all the gifs that other writers have to offer. I just choose to abstain, myself.


If you are not familiar with #PitchWars, a different word of warning. You may find this blog post confusing. Or incredibly fascinating. The purpose of this post is to introduce myself to other writers entering #PitchWars and to the mentors that will be working (potentially) with us.

#PitchWars is a contest for writers with a finished, polished novel manuscript. We submit a query, and a writing sample to a handful of mentors (I wish we could submit to them all!). Each mentor chooses a mentee to work with. These amazing mentors guide us newbies through revisions and an agent round. The goals? Connect with other writers, make my novel the best it can be, and maybe have an agent fall madly in love with it!

Some stuff about me:
I have called Colorado home for the bulk of my adult life (previous homes were in California, Kansas, Florida, and Texas). I am married and have three human boy children, and two feline boy children.

I will hold a tarantula in my hand and be perfectly fine. Show me a tiny, dainty little spider, however, and I will lose my mind.

I attended a high school of the performing arts (theatre major, woot!). I started college as a double major in theatre and premed (yep, I am that crazy). I then dropped premed to focus on theatre (I am also sometimes indecisive). A year later, I transferred schools and changed my major to wildlife biology (This is how you take six years to get a bachelors degree).

I also have a masters in cell and molecular biology, which is what I use to pay the bills. I work as a food safety microbiologist during the day (Salmonella, Listeria, and E coli are my co-workers), and write slightly off-kilter stories at night.

My #PitchWars manuscript:
My manuscript is a modern-day, young adult retelling of the Greek Cassandra myth. If you aren’t familiar with that one, Cassandra is a mortal given the gift of foresight by Apollo. She doesn’t cooperate with Apollo’s advances, so he adds a curse- no one believes her warnings. Gods can be jerks.

Want to stalk, I mean, meet the other contestants? Click here.
Want to stalk me on Twitter? @sumomcgrath