I am very excited about this interview! I know, I say that every time, but I mean it! Today I am stoked to introduce you to a newly discovered talent, Jamie Harrington. She's one of us. Wrote some books, got through the horrid edits, mastered a query, and snagged herself an agent named Victoria Horn. But the thing that makes Jamie stand out is not only her awesome YA voice or insanely obsession with World of Warcraft, it's her winning attitude.
1.You got your agent, Victoria Horn, seriously how are you feeling right now?
Freaked. I never actually imagined it would happen to me, ya know? I wrote my book, hung out with friends on the internet pretty much every waking moment talking about how we were someday going to HAVE agents… but there was always that nagging thought in the back of my mind that it would never happen. It did though, and I still can’t believe it—but that doesn’t make it any less awesome.
2. Ah, I so cannot wait for our days to come! You're writing Young Adult, something you crossed over to. What made you explore the other side?
The first novel I ever wrote (back in January of this year) was a story about a fresh out of college girl. Everyone that read it said she talked and acted like she was fifteen. When I really examined the book, I realized they were right, but she sounded like a pretty great fifteen year old. Then I looked at the last five books I’d read… all Young Adult. It was one of those total epiphany moments where the lights all flash on—and I started Sketch. After about two pages I knew the YA was the genre for me.
3. Well you took some excellent advice because YA works so good for you. Why do you think your main character, Sketch, is relatable to Teens today?
I love Sketch McGee. She’s so fun, and at the same time she’s a total badass. She has an annoying older brother that’s all sorts of perfect, but she’s just a normal girl—scared to talk to boys, has a best friend that she can confide (almost) anything to, and a super cute car that I wish I drove. I think that’s what makes Sketch great, she’s just one of us.
4.We like characters we can find ourselves in, and I'm sorry but I am a sucker for kick-ass female characters. What do you think the hardest part of writing your novel was?
For me, I had this GREAT idea for a story. It sort of popped in my head and I KNEW I had to write it, but I was scared I wasn’t good enough to tell it. It was like the idea was so awesome that I worried I wouldn’t live up to it. I did a lot of research and a LOT of reading to try and be good enough at the actual craft of writing a YA novel in order to help my book reach its fullest potential.
5. Again, time and time, every writer says reading is the key to write well. You had an awesome query fixed up, some stats were mentioned in Elana's Johnson From The Query To The Call. When you were getting all those partials and fulls requested, did you ever think this was the book that would get you in the business?
I knew from the second I started writing Sketch that it was the book that was going to get me an agent. That sounds a little more egotistical than I want it to, but I just knew it. It’s just such a fun story, and I love the idea of teenage super villains. =D
6. Not at all, I think we can all look at our storylines and just know which one is it. Just out of curiosity, since a lot of writers imagine this, what do you and your agent envision the cover to look like?
I don’t want to think about my cover too much, because I keep hearing that you get pretty much no say in that. I would hate to have my heart set on one thing, and then be heartbroken over a perfectly fine cover just because it isn’t exactly what I’d imagined.
7. Always thinking ahead, such a smart girl. Did you ever feel like giving up with writing? If yes, what made you keep going?
I think everyone feels like that from time to time. It’s a very life consuming thing, and it takes a lot of energy and focus away from other things that are very important. But, I had great friends that texted, twittered, facebooked, emailed, chatted in person, etc. with me and they all kept me from giving up on the idea of seeing my book in print.
8. Those are the kinds of people I love and adore. So what's the best thing for fellow writers to remember?
It’s a numbers thing. The more queries you send out, the more partial requests you are likely to receive. But—don’t be in a hurry… take your time and do it right. Write a fabulous query and edit the holy hell out of your book. Also, network your ass off. I am not kidding. Be the happiest, bubbliest, cutest person ever on the internet. It’s your job to sell yourself, and no one wants to work with a snarky whiner. So twitter, blog, guest post—do it ALL. Make real time for that stuff, and consider it work, because it is.
9. Great advice, agents are saying to make your presence known on the web for more exposure. You're a social networking fiend! How do you manage all the blogs/twitters/emails?
It’s a part of the job. I needed to meet people, make friends and connections in the biz, and I needed crit partners and writer buddies. All that social networking stuff is great for that. I spend a good hour going through my google reader subscriptions every day and comment on anything that I find interesting. I talk to people all day long off and on with twitter and facebook. But—it takes up time. People need to remember that stuff isn’t just fifteen minutes a day. You need to integrate that stuff into your writing time, and a quick browse through twitter might just be the jump start you need to get your creative juices flowing. I know writers are in general very introverted, but you need to practice anyway for your book signings… so get to tweeting!
10.Book signings, oh the dream! Are there any other current projects we should know about that we can see in your future signings?
I am working on a YA Romantic Comedy, IRL, it’s about an internet addicted socially awkward 16 year old girl that gets sent to the mountains to be a camp counselor for the summer. She falls for a granola loving yoga posting hottie but the gamer geek boyfriend from home isn’t so cool with that. It’s a really fun novel to write, because I am somewhat of an internet addicted gamer geek myself.
11.YA Romantic Comedy, all some of my favorite things. Random Time! If you could live in one, only one, video game it would be...
Mario Freakin’ Galaxy. That game has some of the best world graphics I have ever seen. It’s beautiful to look at, challenging to play, and just all around fantastic.
A big thanks and *hugs* to Jamie. It's so much cooler when you know someone and they get a chance to live the dream we're all chasing. I couldn't be prouder because I know she struggled with which tense to go, and yes this girl can pull first present tense in my personal opinion, which we all know how hard that is to do! This girl's got some mad skills so watch for her name--she will be well known.
I hope we all get here, seriously, and with all the outstanding help we can find online, workshops, contests, blogs, and even agents some fear, it's no doubt eventually it will happen. Here's the winning query that got Jamie a whole lotta requests and her personal links.
Her Fun Blog!
Her Tweets!
The Query for Sketch
Dear Secret Agent (Wo)Man,
I read in an online article that you were looking for teen fiction with a unique voice. I hope my manuscript lives up to your expectations.
Compared to super speed and mind reading, sixteen-year-old Sketch McGee’s ability to draw the future makes her a pretty lame villain in a family of super-bads. It’s all she can do to make it through a day of high school, much less mastermind evil plans. But, everything changes when the new guy, Chase Fairway, steals her heart—which is quickly broken when she discovers he’s the obnoxious new do-gooder in town flying around mucking up her family’s life of crime.
Drawing the future turns out to be a little bit cooler when she learns she can also shape it however she wants. Goodbye do-gooder, hello perfect bad-boy boyfriend Chase. Life is great, until she figures out he’s a whole different kind of bad guy.
Not bank-robbing, diamond-stealing evil like her family, but murderous psychopath evil. Suddenly her drawings of a man standing over her dad’s lifeless body make perfect, horrifying sense. Chase plans to kill her dad.
Governed by her emotions and struggling to control her powers, she has to find a way to erase her mistakes and create a new future without Chase as her boyfriend, or watch her father’s death—in real life.
SKETCH, a YA Superhero complete at 60,000 words, is available upon request. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you so much Jamie for sharing and good luck! Cannot wait to start promoting for Sketch when it's time.
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