Newsletter

September, 2018 Newsletter (Vol. I Issue 1)

Thank you for visiting my website and subscribing to my newsletter.  September marks my first official newsletter!  As you know, I am at the beginning of my journey to becoming a published author, so I appreciate your support and hope you enjoy these monthly updates. 

A lot has happened in the last month, starting with The Writer’s Digest Conference in NYC in early August.  In addition to attending some amazing sessions on the craft of writing as well as the marketing side of being an author, I participated in the Pitch Slam.   This was an hour-long session wherein participants pitched their books (in three minutes!) to literary agents.  I pitched Queen of the Late Bloomers to six agents and four were interested in either partial or full manuscripts.  So, I call that a success. 

I’m excited to report I’ve heard back from an agent who requested a full manuscript.  She said after reading three chapters of Queen of the Late Bloomers, she wants to read more – Yay!  She emailed to let me know she’ll be working her way through a couple of manuscripts, including mine.  No problem, I can wait.  My beta readers have said the book builds momentum and only gets better in the later chapters, so knowing an agent is interested in reading the whole thing made my day! Check out my website for a new blog post by “Ruthie” – the main character. 

The week before classes started at Wabash College, where I’m on faculty, I spoke at an event called “The Ides of August.”  Ides is an opportunity for faculty to present their research and creative work.  So, I chose to read excerpts from my second book – Charlie Mad Dog Madison – it was my first public reading!  You can learn more about Charlie on my website linked above. 

With the start of a new school year, I’m immersed in a full schedule of classes, including two methods classes:  middle school methods and English language arts methods.  This work informs my blog called, “Teens and Teachers,” so please share my website with your teacher friends and teenage readers because I have a blog just for them.

Even with a busy schedule at Wabash, I’m carving out time to write and staying involved with an amazing online community of writers through https://thewritepractice.com/.  Each week writers from all over the world upload drafts of book chapters, poems, short stories, blogs, and then provide feedback and support to each other.  

I’ll end with another heartfelt thanks for your support and for taking time to read this newsletter and reading my blogs on the website. I look forward to hearing from you there in the comments section!   Please encourage all the teens and tweens and teachers you know and any other readers of young adult and middle grade fiction to check out my website and read my blog posts.  

Happy reading and here’s to a productive and colorful autumn,

Michele

January, 2019 Newsletter (Vol. 1 Issue 2)

Thank you for hanging in there with me on this journey of becoming a published author.  Coming off a productive summer of writing, I began the 2018-19 school year with ambitions to blog and to update you in newsletters at the beginning of each month.  Well . . .  as tends to happen in my life as a professor at Wabash College, my students and classes consumed me in all the wonderful and challenging ways teaching at any level does.

So, the last blogging and newslettering I did was back in September.  That’s the bad news. 

But the good news is, January marks the beginning of my sabbatical – thank you Wabash College. And I’ve developed a work plan for the next several months that allows me to focus almost entirely on my writing with some course development sprinkled in along the way.    

More good news - I’m happy to report the agent, who requested and read the full manuscript of Queen of the Late Bloomers, responded with very positive feedback in a lengthy commentary. Her notes helped me see places in the plot that need revised and identify ways the story can be more concise.  I’m still amazed and so grateful for the time she took to write such a detailed response to my work.  AND she said I can query her again once revisions are complete. 

So, priority one is to rework Ruthie’s story, which I’ve already begun doing.  You’ll see a glimpse of the changes in Ruthie’s most recent character blog.  Check it out: https://michelepittard.com/characters-1/blog-2 and let me know what you think in the comments section.

Again, thanks for your support and for taking time to read this newsletter and my blogs on the website https://michelepittard.com/home.       

Happy reading and here’s to a productive sabbatical, despite the gray, cold Indiana winter.

Michele

February, 2019 Newsletter (Vol. 1 Issue 3)

Hi everyone,

I’m happy to report January was a productive month for me as I made good progress on revisions to my middle grade novel, Queen of the Late Bloomers!   

Here’s a sneak peek at the newly worded premise for the book: 

Ruthie, an awkward, late blooming teenage girl, whose dad died when she was 7, wants nothing more than to just be normal with a normal family.  Hoping to leave her flat-chested, paranoid, ridiculous self back in middle school, she tries to start high school in the comfortable realm of the down low.  After an impulsive new hair style and a disastrous first day fashion faux pas topped off with the return of her grade school nemesis, Robbie Mason, Ruthie’s convinced her life could not get worse.  Then her best friend decides to have a boyfriend and begins partying with the orchestra geeks.  In the meantime, Ruthie’s alcoholic grandma moves in, her brother’s letters from the Air Force stop coming, and the panic attacks are back. 

To learn more about the book, check out Ruthie’s new blog: https://michelepittard.com/characters-1/blog-4.  Would love to know what you think.  Just drop me a note in the comments section.

Thanks again for your support and for taking time to read this newsletter and my blogs on the website https://michelepittard.com/home.       

Happy reading,

Michele

March, 2019 Newsletter (Vol. 1 Issue 4)

Hi Everyone,

Progress with my writing continues during these cold, gray Indiana winter days.  Sabbatical is such a luxury!  I’m trying to take advantage of every minute and I’m happy to report I finished revisions to my young adult novel, Queen of the Late Bloomers and have sent it to an agent who requested the full manuscript!   While awaiting her response, I continue to query other agents and build my platform through social media – both are standard operating procedures for aspiring writers.  So, please feel free to forward this newsletter or this link https://michelepittard.com/home to all your friends! 

You might have noticed I sometimes refer to Queen of the Late Bloomers as a middle grade novel and sometimes as a young adult novel.  Sorry for the confusion!  Finally, after digging a little more into how folks in publishing differentiate between middle grade and young adult novels, I’m 100% sure Queen of the Late Bloomers is a young adult novel. 

Marie Lamba, a guest blogger for “The Writer’s Dig” says that middle grade books typically have between 30,000-50,000 words, contain age-appropriate content, and are intended for readers 8-12 years old.  While young adult books typically have 50,000-75,000 words, contain more mature content, and are intended for 13-18 year olds. 

To read Ruthie’s new blog (which is really chapter 3 of the book!), click this link: https://michelepittard.com/characters-1/blog-5 I would love to know what you think, so drop me a note in the comments section.

To learn more about my second book, currently titled Charlie Mad Dog Madison, click this link: https://michelepittard.com/maddog

Thanks again for your support!       

Happy reading,

Michele

April, 2019 Newsletter (Vol. 1 Issue 5)

Hi Everyone,

The best parts of this process of “building my platform” are connecting with other writers and finding new resources and opportunities to get my work out into the world.  So, as I dip my toe in the vast social media ocean of Twitter, I’m discovering the value and power of hashtags.  Here are a few that have lead me to some really interesting opportunities: #amquerying, #writingcommunity, #amwriting, #YA, #pitmad. 

For example, on March 7th, I participated in #pitmad, a Twitter event for writers to pitch their completed manuscripts using only 280 characters.  We are allowed to tweet three times over a 12-hour period and are encouraged to create slightly different tweets that introduce the main character (MC), say what the MC wants or needs, describe his/her obstacles, and explain what happens if the MC doesn’t get what he/she wants.  Whew!  That’s a lot to say in only 280 characters!

In case you missed it on Twitter (follow me @mmichelepittard), here’s my third tweet pitching Queen of the Late Bloomers: “Lying about the panic attacks and her alcoholic grandma, who just moved in, is exhausting. But if Ruthie’s best friend and the boy who drove her nuts in elementary school find out, she’ll lose the only two people in her high school who know she exists.”  #pitmad #YA #MH (mental health).

I was excited to get some retweets from fellow writers, which is what we want to attract the attention of agents.  During #pitmad, though, writers are not supposed to like other writers’ tweets because “likes” and “comments” are reserved for agents, indicating an invitation to query them. 

When I’m not on Twitter, I continue to work on my current WIP (work in progress – another thing I’m learning about Twitter is the necessity of acronyms).   You can read the first chapter of Charlie Mad-Dog Madison on my website: https://michelepittard.com/characters-1/8acg4ks7pewwb8b3ejxtesddfp67h6.  Remember, I want to know what you think, so drop me a note in the comments section.

Thanks again for your support!       

Happy reading,

Michele

 May, 2019 Newsletter (Vol. 1 Issue 6)

Hi Everyone,

During the endless April showers, I continued to query agents, revise my query letter, and research agents.  I'm looking for someone who will be as excited about Queen of the Late Bloomers as I am. I also sent the manuscript to a couple of beta readers (a.k.a., people I know who read YAL and who promise to give me constructive criticism).  I’m grateful to these folks and eager to hear their feedback.

The real fun recently, though, has been the work I’m doing on my second YA novel – Charlie Mad-Dog Madison (still a preliminary working title).  Told from a 12-year-old boy’s point of view, this book is challenging me in ways the first one did not and I’m loving it.    

You can read the second chapter “Come On, Freddy Mercury” on my website: https://michelepittard.com/characters-1/h293y6mblsywxjce8axbxd2nyp73fd.  Let me know what you think in the comments section. Thanks again for your support!       

Happy reading,

Michele

P.S.  I’m still building my “platform” and would love to have you follow me on twitter.  And feel free to share my website link with your friends and colleagues.

https://twitter.com/mmichelepittard

https://michelepittard.com/home

 June, 2019 Newsletter (Vol. 1 Issue 7)

Hi Everyone,

The sun has returned to Indiana renewing my energy toward my second YA novel.  As you know this WIP (work-in-progress) is told from 12-year-old Charlie Madison’s perspective.  So, as I write and figure out how to end the darn thing, I’ve also been busy doing research. 

See if you can guess – from the list below – why any of these things would be important to the plot, setting, or characters in this book.

·         MLB players – past and present

·         Music – what kids these days like and a bunch of other genres and time periods

·         African American families’ Thanksgiving traditions

·         U.S. Presidents and other stuff I should remember from 8th grade History class

·         Organ donation

For more clues, read the draft of my third chapter called, “Jesus, Joseph, and Mary” that’s up on my website: https://michelepittard.com/characters-1/523arp5yaz5kka3exgd2537bp84bgg.   

I’d love to know what you think, so drop me a note in the comments section. Thanks again for your support!       

Happy reading,

Michele

https://twitter.com/mmichelepittard

https://michelepittard.com/home

 July, 2019 Newsletter (Vol. 1 Issue 8)

Hi Everyone,

Good news! I figured out the ending for my second novel (still titled, Charlie Mad Dog Madison), which means I finished the manuscript! This was one of my sabbatical goals and since my sabbatical officially ends today, I consider this a win.

I’ve also completed the first round of edits, which were aimed at making sure the plot sequence and narrative arc match the ending. I feel good about the detail I added to Charlie’s character, and decided to change his age. Originally, I imagined Charlie to be 12 and in middle school, but I think it works better for him to be 14 and a freshman in high school.

So, now the painful and tedious work of querying begins. I’ve decided to take a break from querying agents for my first manuscript until I have time to go back and retool my pitch and query letter for it. I’ve learned it’s pretty common for an author to have his/her second or even third manuscript published before the first one. So, fingers crossed for Charlie!

I can say from my experience that Charlie’s story came together in a much more succinct way than Ruthie’s story did. Probably because I planned better for the second book. Despite struggling with the ending, I created a book plan before I even started writing and pretty much followed it throughout the process. I’m not giving up on Ruthie, but will focus my efforts on this second novel for the time being.

If you’re following along at home, here’s the 4th chapter from Charlie Mad Dog Madison called, “Dreams”: https://michelepittard.com/characters-1/yyczhsxxm2ew8wcpc98apwsdn87cgm. This was a hard one to write, so let me know what you think. Just drop me a note in the comments section of my website.

Thanks again for your support!

Happy reading,

Michele

https://twitter.com/mmichelepittard

https://michelepittard.com/home

August, 2019 Newsletter (Vol. 1 Issue 9)

Hi Everyone,

First, I’m excited to introduce you to Pearl, one of the most important secondary characters in my second YA novel - Charlie Mad Dog Madison.  In the latest character blog, Charlie and Pearl meet during a forced lunch together at school.   https://michelepittard.com/characters-1/29w3ze4hdjxzd5dnyagxnxasmdggr4  When I imagined this book, back in the planning stages, I saw Charlie very early and he evolved as I wrote, but Pearl came to me later and I’m so glad she did.  She’s quirky, but rock solid in so many ways.  I hope you like her as much as I do.  Be sure to let me know what you think by dropping a note in the comments section of my website.

Second, as I gear up to return to Wabash College after a productive and enjoyable sabbatical, I am excited to work with my group of freshman advisees as we explore happiness as the topic of my freshman seminar.  This means, with my other teaching and faculty development responsibilities, I will have less time to devote to my writing.  So, while I return to my other passion – teaching – my next newsletter won’t come until October. 

Here’s to a happy, healthy fall – yes, fall is coming quickly because, for me, as soon as the semester starts, it’s fall. 

Thanks so much for your support!       

Happy reading,

Michele

https://twitter.com/mmichelepittard

https://michelepittard.com/home