Pitch Wars Mentee Bio

Hello all!
Although I wasn't very excited to finally sign up for Twitter two weeks ago, now I'm like WOAH! A whole new world of connecting with published authors, writers, and agents has opened up! I LOVE it! And now, I'm hopeless addicted to checking my Twitter constantly. :o One of my most recent obsessions and broadened horizons has been through Pitch Wars, a contest where writers submit a completed manuscript to four mentor authors. Those mentors then choose an MS (manuscript) they believe has the greatest potential and support that writer in editing and all that jazz. ;) Those books go on to the next round of being presented to agents! I've heard TONS of success stories through this and I am super hopeful and excited to participate! WooHoo!!

So, for any mentors stalking mentees bios and/or blog, here is a little bit about me and my book, Speak! (and for any friends who don't know me that well, lol;)

About SPEAK

 





 





Quick Pitch:

           When Edith’s family and country are jeopardized by war, she rescues her father from the enemy king, discovers the mythical stories she doubted are true, and uses her words to persuade, hopefully ending the conflict.

Query:

Edith has spent her life hearing her father spin his stories. She always thought they were fictional, until he is taken hostage by the king of Renoria who seeks revenge. When her mother and brothers are recruited in the forthcoming war and she is left at home, she naively takes it upon herself to rescue him, confronting her skepticism and uncovering secrets about the past.

Braving the wrath of the vengeful king, Edith escapes with her father and a prince, who was also imprisoned. When they are trapped within the borders, they delve deeper into the country and uncover the world of stories Edith did not believe existed. On their journey, Edith comes to terms with her parents’ history, finds love in unexpected places, and develops her own talent of speaking her own tales. But will her ability be enough to stop two countries diving headlong into war?

A YA fantasy, SPEAK is complete at 90,000 words and in a similar vein as The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale and Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith.

 SPEAK has:

~Relationships: quirky & realistic family, sibling, and parent relationships; friends, friendship turned romance, enemies, misguided judgements, cheesy dad jokes!

~Courage: speaking out for others, facing fears

~Diversity: set in an Eastern European country (similar to Romanian & Bulgarian cultures, filled with foods that will make your mouth water!) and includes other ethnicities, such as the Roma/gypsy

~ Fantasy/World Building: 4 Races - Fae (gypsy elves), Humanas (humans), Mythos (dragons, dwarves, etc), Animale' (speaking animals)

~Lyrical imagery writing, leans to a brighter/fun read

~Edith: ENTJ; hobbies are cooking, reading, and talking

~Mystery: secrets about parent's past, in connection with two countries and the four races

~Sub-Genre: Adventure with political intrigue, coming-of-age, life threatening, feminine heroine, a little mystery, internal conflict: lying

About Me

My name is Rebecca Henry and I have been writing since elementary school when I decided that I wanted to be a mom, teacher and author when I grew up. English classes in high school bored me because we had to study classical literature (which I loved reading) and write about it (which I didn't enjoy, not much room for creativity :/) when I wanted to write my own stories. (I will admit now that studying Nathanial Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter and other classics have helped me in my writing!) Fast forward to 2016, I am a mom of two boys, 1 & 3 -year-old, a credentialed teacher (although I only work as a school substitute right now), and a writer in my spare time (haha! What's that? The time after the kids fall asleep and before I pass out of exhaustion, lol!) Also, I think I may be a bit ADD, lol...Which I will use in my newest novel idea (see what I did there! ;). My current projects are Duchess of the Seas, a fun pirate novella at this point, and a futuristic space novel for MG for my brother.
My hobbies are baking (I post recipes on my blog occasionally), party planning, and reading. I live in Alaska, which means I write a LOT in the winter, and "party" all summer: fishing with my husband, camping with the kids, 4-wheeling (my new favorite thing to do!) and hiking. My favorite food group is ICE CREAM, usually chocolate, but I've been fond of mint chocolate chip recently and vanilla with fresh picked blueberries!
Recent reads: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir and Hero by Alethea Kontis

~Rebecca Henry


Twitter ~ @moosenaroundak
Goodreads ~ Rebecca Henry
Blog ~ www.moosenaroundak.blogspot.com

Musical Inspiration

One of my favorite ways to imagine or plan out a story is on the long 3 hour drive to Anchorage in the summer. I just LOVE the high mountains covered in green life, the icy blue Kenai river rushing past and brief glimpses of free animals. My favorite are the swans at Tern Lake, turning on the Seward Highway. 

But not everyone can have this glorious majesty in driving distance to lure the muse. Pictures and videos are awesome but can never grasp the complete beauty of the wild. That's when I turn to music (especially in the winter when all the above is covered in a sheet of white snow and I refuse to drive).  

Thanks to my wonderful sister Christine (woot!woot!), I have expanded my list of heart-swelling, mind-blowing, and love-inducing musical playlists. Though some are great for sparking a new idea or working out a scene in my head, most are story-specific. 

Some of my favorites (I.e. You REALLY REALLY REALLY have to listen to these!!) are:

SUN - Thomas Bergersen

CHRONICLES - Audiomachine (epic!)

GLORY & FREEDOM - Michael W Smith

OPEN SKY - Iona

Anything by PIANO GUYS (love!)

Or HANS ZIMMER & HOWARD SHORE

And I am always looking for more music! What are your favorites? 

Pirates!

Hello!

From the feedback I received from my last post, I take it that pirates are popular and Duchess of the Seas is intriguing! Thanks Sharon, Nova and Jessie for your interest and excitement! You are inspiring me to continue writing this new novel! Duchess is my CampNaNoWriMo project (to finish writing a complete first draft in less than a month!) It's been difficult finding time to write during the beautiful Alaskan summer and, guiltily, it was been taking from my school work time. But when the muse is knocking, I can't ignore it...even at 3am! In the past two weeks, I've stayed up past 3am twice! (I can't blame the baby bear anymore, especially since he's been sleeping through the night finally. Yay!)

So, based on requests for MORE Duchess of the Seas and pirates, I am including an excerpt from Chapter 2! (Mind you, this is a first draft and needs work.) Enjoy!

Also, if you would like to read Duchess of the Seas in its entirety (Chapter 1 & 2), it is available on Wattpad, an online 'publishing' website. I will be sharing chapters as I write them.
https://www.wattpad.com/story/78102876-duchess-of-the-seas 

Credit: http://www.allmacwallpaper.com/mac-wallpaper/-Ghost-Ship/4422

* * *

My mind stole me back to the day I had met him, consequently the worst day of my life. A small drizzle poured misery over the world as I stood in my blackest dress and watched as the coffin was slowly lowered into the earth. I raised a handkerchief and wiped the constant flow of tears from the corners of my eyes. The reality that left me an orphan was still fresh and painful. Waide, a childhood friend, held an umbrella over me and whispered all would be tended to. With him by my side, I hadn’t needed to worry over the details of the funeral or the financials.

            I stepped forward, resting a rose next to the headstone and let the sky shed its tears for me. Knowing once I moved from this spot, my life must go on without my father, I remained where I was. Instead, I looked around at those who had come to grieve his passing. [Add in several family, relatives, family friends, etc] But just beyond, hidden in the shade of a silver birch tree, stood a man I did not know. He wore a dark tailcoat and hat and watched warily as the others left, some sharing a parting condolence as they passed. Last of all, he neared and lowered his hat. He had a square jaw with a sandy growth of beard on his chin, and messy blonde hair tied at the nape of his neck. Green eyes glanced up from a bronzed face, sympathetic and considering as he took my hand and shared his sympathy at my loss. I held my breath and gazed back. His words reflected knowledge of my father, but I had never met this man.

            Waide pushed next to me, taking my arm and pulling me back. “Excuse me,” he spoke coldly. “But we have not had the pleasure of your acquaintance, sir, and this is a solemn event.”

            “I apologize,” he bowed formally. “I am Reid Lachlan.”

***
 

The evening gatherings multiplied in the following weeks as the young women, especially Hazle, brawled for the young sea captain’s attention. I could say, with honor, I detached myself from this gaggle of females and engaged myself in other diversions while amongst my friends and acquaintances. Yet, I must confess, I constantly kept an open ear during Reid Lachlan’s tales and finally took on the official management of my father’s financial and business assets, mainly to speak with him alone again.

            He entered my father’s office, a little less formally attired. He wore an open blue jacket with a rumpled white collared shirt and carried water-stained journals in scrawled handwriting. “Good morning, Lady Castleton,” he said as he dropped the paperwork on the desk. “Here are the records, but I fear mine and my crew’s scribbles are unreadable.”

            I lifted a sheet and raised my brows as it crumpled under my touch. “I suppose you can just tell me.” He sat down in the cushioned chair with a grin, until I added, “Since all the other women in Doncaster are familiar with the commerce of my ship.”

            He leaned his elbows on his knees and glanced across the desk at me amused. “I am happy to oblige.” His open demeanor and candid smile drew me in. He shared his account of the past three years on board the Crimson Crest, describing foreign shores and exotic lands. I listened with abated breath and gazed at him as he spoke, feeling my heart spin wildly at his adventures.

            Hours had gone by before I noticed the time. We were leaned over a rough sketch he had drawn of the galleon, showing the damage it had sustained in its journeys when I noticed. “Oh dear,” I gasped. “Time has escaped us, Mr. Lachlan.” I glanced up from the drawing. Our faces were inches apart. My breath caught in my throat and lost myself in his green eyes.

            “Please,” he spoke slowly. “You may call me Reid.”

            I blushed. 

 *Thank you for reading! And, as you can see, I added two excerpts, because I just love Reid so much! Also, please ignore my notes where I will return later and fill in more detail.*

~Beca Henry

Chasing Dreams

Since I was five years old, I have known what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be a teacher, a mother (after marrying my prince charming) and an author!

I have achieved most of that list! I became a teacher in 2012, not when I graduated from CSU Fullerton with my teaching credential, but when I had my own classroom in Cedaredge, CO with the most amazing twenty students! Then in April of 2013, I accomplished my second dream by having the most adorable baby boy, Ben! (Of course, after marrying my one true love prince charming, Jon!) And in May of 2015, my life is going to change for the better again...

...with Baby #2!!! I am SO blessed!

Although those wonderful changes have distracted me from my next dream, I have never given up. I have spent many late nights staring at my computer, sometimes typing, sometimes diverted by Facebook or solitaire...but slowly completing the manuscript for my novel Speak. 

I finally completed it in July...only to realize that was just Draft #1. Three drafts later (and a couple more still to go), I have been sending out my query letter and the first chapters of my book to literary agents in hope that one would be intrigued in the story and represent me to publishers. I went into this process knowing it would be a long a difficult journey, and I wish this blog post is about good news, but it isn't. Not yet anyway. I have queried a dozen literary agents and received some disappointing responses. 

Here is a sample: "Thank you so much for your query. Unfortunately, however, this project doesn’t sound right for me. I encourage you to continue to submit elsewhere, and I wish you every success in your writing career. Thanks again for thinking of me."

And another: "Thanks so much for sending me your query.  I’m going to pass on this one because I found it didn’t spark my interest." 

Well, okay then. 

But this is the journey, and I am writing to document it! Someday, I will look back on this post and (hopefully) laugh! Until then, I will renew the revision process, going through draft after draft, and continue writing the sequel and other books. Because I am not writing to get recognition or money (ha!), I am writing to share a story of characters I have connected with and hopefully others can relate to. And I am still going to send out query letters.

In my most recent letter I send out, I decided to include why I wrote my book and what makes it different. Check it out:

"Young adult/middle grade fantasy fiction novels are always about a young character discovering their own strength while facing nearly impossible odds. My novel, Speak, follows that idea, but the similarity ends there.

I became so frustrated with numerous movies and a plethora of books where the parents of a character are dead, missing or useless that I decided to break that pattern. Over the course of several years and through multiple drafts, the novel Speak was developed. Although the story follows the main character, Edith Bell, a typical young girl trying to understand the world, her adventures lead her to discover her parent’s history. Not only does she travel foreign lands with her father and walk in the footsteps of her mother, but she also uncovers secrets of their past and learns that they have their own adventure.

Although Edith’s story starts slow, the comfortable circumstances of her life juxtapose the chaos and changes that soon follow. Her close knit family is separated when her father, a king’s advisor, is taken hostage, her mother must assist in creating a truce while her brothers are recruited to fight in the imminent conflict. Edith is left alone at home to take care of the house and animals. But her restless spirit generates a daring scheme: she decides to rescue her father herself.

This begins her first adventure, with many more following, as she travels a foreign country, discovers family secrets, learns the power of love and realizes she may be capable of more than she ever thought possible."

If you picked up this book in a store and read that on the back, what would you think? Would you want to read it? Feel free to comment below!