Twitter: @sarahjoydrop
Website: https://sjcarlsonauthor.com/
Agent: Claire Anderson-Wheeler at Regal Hoffman & Associates
Published books: All the Walls of Belfast, my debut novel, will be released
March 2019 by Turner Publishing.
Genre: YA Contemporary
Bio: In my day life, I’m a school psychologist in an elementary school with a diverse, mostly low income population; I have also worked in middle schools. My professional areas of focus include supporting the success of children with behavioral and mental health needs and helping to promote resilience in children who have been exposed to trauma or toxic stress. Love–love!–working with kids. I have a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, a Masters of Science in Education, and an Education Specialist degree in School Psychology.
When my toddler is sleeping, I write Contemporary YA that incorporates social issues.
I’ve also had the privilege of traveling to seventeen countries on four continents so far. What can I say? I like going on adventures.
I live near Madison, Wisconsin with my husband and daughter.
Experience: I’ve been writing “novels” since I was twelve. Somewhere I still have a three inch binder with my very first attempt scrawled in pencil on loose leaf paper. I wrote my first query letter nine years ago for a 240,000 word monstrosity that, along with a few other manuscripts, will never be released from their virtual secret vaults. I learned volumes with each one I wrote.
I got serious about my writing perhaps eight years ago and started attending writing conferences, reading books about writing craft, working with developmental editors, and hooking up with critique partners. While living in Singapore for a year and a half, I had the opportunity to focus entirely on my writing, thanks to my wonderful husband.
I landed my agent from a Twitter pitching contest called #Pitchmas about three years ago. After signing with Claire, I had a few major life changes (moving from Singapore back to Wisconsin, going back to work full-time as a school psychologist, having my lovely daughter). It took about three years of heavy revisions, including basically re-writing the whole novel, but we went on submission February 2018 and now I have a book deal.
Before signing with my agent, I participated in a number of different writing contests, including Pitch Wars and Nightmare on Query Street. I was never picked, but gained so many writer friends. My squad helped get my first chapter, query letter, and synopsis ready. They assisted me in writing the pitches that helped me land my agent. So, needless to say, I’m a big fan of Twitter’s power to unite writers and help them build their craft J I am also a member of SCBWI.
Mentoring style: I’m…um…thorough and honest, let’s just say, because getting hard, constructive feedback and using it is really what pushed me to be the writer I am today. Be prepared for long developmental edit letters or lots of comments, with suggestions on what you can do. I won’t re-write things for you, and I may not give ideas for fixing everything, because I don’t want to change your voice or your story. I’ll also point out what’s working and make suggestions things that aren’t based on what I see as your strengths as a writer.
I feel one of my strengths is developing characters that feel real and creating authentic internal conflict that drives and is driven by plot, and then using that internal conflict to create dynamic relationships with other characters, which then can drive the plot.
Mentee style: In a mentee, I would like someone with an open mind and a query-ready manuscript who knows the heart of their story. I will say, for personal reasons, the sooner I can get the manuscript after you’re selected, the better, please J
What kind of novel would you like to work on? I’d like to see gritty YA contemporaries, particularly ones that show teens fighting to rise above difficult situations through their own resilience. I also love YA books that have a focus on social and mental health issues, as well as ones that open my eyes to different cultures or subcultures and other parts of the world.
Favourite novels: I love reading YA contemporary that deals with heavy, real issues that so many teens face. Some of my recent favs include Twelve Steps to Normal by Farrah Penn, The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith, I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios, and These Gentle Wounds by Helene Dunbar. I also enjoy books that show me new cultures and new parts of the world, such as Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick (a biography about growing up in Pol Pot’s Cambodia) and Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (which captures cultural conflict between rich Singaporeans and an American-born Chinese woman). Though, I will say my favorite book of all time is The Giver and I also have read Lord of the Rings many times.
Mentoring package offered: Full manuscript developmental edit report (1 read through and report only)
To read more about Sarah and what she wants, click here.
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