Um, so WOW!!! I can’t believe it’s been over a year since I wrote a post. Feels like it’s time to reintroduce myself, provide some updates, and revitalize this blog. Without further ado, I’ll go ahead and get started in typical Tina fashion . . . with a list 🙂

highlights

-Participated in #WriteMentor 2018 with my kick-ass mentor Stuart
-Finished writing THE CELESTIAL SEAS
-Participated in #PitchWars 2018 with my legendary mentor Chelsea
-Spent 5 months overseas
-Met 3 CPs
-Met Rebecca Schaeffer (author of NOT EVEN BONES)
-Signing with my two ah-mazing agents Laurie and Karly at Fuse Literary
-Started working on another novel, THE SECRET CURRENCY
-Finished Battlestar Galactica and am now in emotional withdrawal

hi, again! it’s tina

Tina speaking here! I’m a 20-something year old writer who spends her time between Philadelphia, New Hampshire, and questioning her life choice of pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering. (I kid, I kid. Mostly. I still want to crawl under a rock and never come out during exam week but that’s a different story.)

YA sci-fi and fantasy holds a special place in my heart, though I’ll happily devour anything with an intriguing plot and lovable characters (including love-to-hate MCs–send me ALL your anti-heros!)

the writing journey

During the summer of 2018, I applied to Write Mentor with my novel, WARPERS. With Stuart’s help, we kicked the MS and submission package into shape. After that, it was off into the query trenches! Although WARPERS generated a fair amount of interest, there were ultimately no bites. In order to keep myself sane, I ended up putting WARPERS on hold so that I could focus on THE CELESTIAL SEAS.

Which brings us to the summer-fall of 2018, where I hustled to get my Moby Dick reimagining in space finished and edited for Pitch Wars 2018. And that’s where bookstore goddess Chelsea came into the picture–Chelsea not only understood the story and characters, she also had a clear vision of how to bring out the best of THE CELESTIAL SEAS. The next few months, we tore out and rebuilt huge swaths of the novel, and I am so, so happy with the results.

Eventually, it was time to send my book baby out into the querying jungle once more in early 2019. . .

Hello italy (and fellow cps)

January of 2019, I began my study abroad in Rome, where I met some of the coolest and sweetest people ever (and discovered a great love for Venchi gelato and limoncello). To make an amazing trip even more amazing, I was able to meet up with three members of my critique group–which still kinda blows my mind tbh–that I had the chance to meet not one, not two, but three of ’em in a whole freaking different continent. (Special shoutout to Tullio, Jack, and Marco for putting up with my general weirdness for an entire long weekend and giving me + friends a tour of Bari, Taranto, and Venice!)

travel-write-repeat

Not gonna lie–my writing is heavily influenced by events that have/are happening in real life–whether that’s large-scaled global issues or something as small as a random conversation I had during watercolor night (aka how the idea of THE CELESTIAL SEAS came to be). Anyway, I’ve had this YA (low) fantasy idea brewing in my mind for quite a while since 2018, but never got the chance fully develop it until now.

So naturally, I took my spring break to do exactly that. With the astonishing patience of Queen Jen and a healthy dose of inspiration from the catacombs of Malta, I managed to assemble a cohesive outline and began drafting THE SECRET CURRENCY, which I am still working on.

Another special treat a handful of weeks later is having the chance to grab some coffee with Rebecca, where I basically fangirled and talked about books/writing/publishing/crazy-travel-stories-and-accidentally-living-in-disputed-gang-territory.

And then from there, in March . . .

Signed with agents

Since the querying process can easily consume anyone’s sanity (real talk–I’ve queried 3 novels over the course of 4 years and it never gets easier–you just get better with the waiting), I’ve been working hard to distract myself with school, new WIPs, and travel.

And then things picked up in early March, when I finally got The Call. Fast forward 2 weeks, and I am ecstatic to announce that I am now repped by Karly Caserza and Laurie McLean at Fuse.

where things stand now

Well, after a 24+ hour travel ordeal yesterday (involving 1 changed flight, 5 delays, and 4 gate changes), I am happy to say I am back home in New Hampshire and reunited with Dingo Pup and Malibu the Cat.

I’ve recently turned in my latest round of edits to my agents (we’re getting reallllly close to pitching the novel to editors/publishers!), am still hard at work with THE SECRET CURRENCY, and am awaiting updates back on my summer dream job (everything was okay except they’re having issues with my background check–*sigh*–I SWEAR IM A GOOD PERSON AND HAVEN’T COMMITTED ANY HORRIFIC CRIMES GUYS).

In the meantime, I’m just gonna finish unpacking, relax, and see where this journey goes.

Cheers,
Tina