I realized it’s been a fortnight since I had posted anything, so it’s finally time for my PITCH WARS MENTEE BIO!!!
Pitch Wars, for those still unaware, is an awesome contest hosted by Brenda Drake where the mentees are chosen by authors and get a two month intensive mentoring. Last year I entered and didn’t make it in, but got some awesome feedback in response — which is why you should enter, too. You can also check out other mentee’s bios over here.
To keep it short and sweet and not to overwhelm anyone, I’m a YA writer living in Brazil. I’m on my last year of college and studying Literature and Linguistics, and I work in a app-development company that created a little word game called STOP. I’ve been writing since I was 14, when I started writing Percy Jackson and Anime fanfiction to pass the time. Some time later I realized that I wanted to write for a living, and this is how the journey began.
I mostly write speculative YA in the genres of fantasy and science fiction, but I’m a very eccletic reader, which means I’ll pick up literally anything independent of genre, which is why I love to write all different kinds of things – contemporary, thriller, romance, though my favorites will always remain fantasy and sci-fi, probably because there are a bunch of explosions in it.
This year, I have two projects that are query ready. I’m unsure of which one to enter, so I’ll be definetly waiting until the mentor list comes out. If you’re a mentor and are looking at this post: know that I’m a hard worker and I ALWAYS have a plan.
One project is my YA post-apocalyptic sci-fi THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT EARTH. It’s the story of a Latina pilot whose dream is to pilot a mission to space, but when the aliens arrive, everything in her life ends up going to hell. Teaming up with the rest of the survivors, Clover needs to battle her own PTSD and fears if she wants to save Earth from the aliens. TSAE is a book I wrote on a whim on one of my favorite speculative subject — aliens — and it’s also a #OwnVoices book. Like me, Clover is a bisexual Latina. Unlike me, she fights the aliens (I’d probably run as fast as I could and hide). There’s also a pinterest board for it, if you’re into that kind of thing.
My other project is a YA fantasy inspired by the Pre-islamic Persian Wars and it’s a retelling of the “Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves” tale in the 1001 Nights. It’s called THE GIRL OF A HUNDRED VEILS. It’s got an unlikable leading lady who’s willing to do anything to get what she wants, LGBT characters and it’s set in a land inspired by the Middle East. I worked with sensitivity readers to make sure I didn’t mess it up, because you know, who wants that? It’s full of twists and romance and evil villains and crazy magic and lush worldbuilding with palaces and food and the desert. It’s also on pinterest.
WHY PICK ME? I’m a hard worker and I love revisions, probably because torturing myself is great. I mostly need help with pacing in my stories – I work with a lot of characters and dialogue, so it often feels like the story is stuck. I also like to fangirl a lot over TV Series and books, so I’m sure we’ll have a lot in common already! I know a hideous amount of conspiracy theories and space science things, if you’re into that. Also, I’m funny, I swear.
Ten things to know about me:
- Slytherin to the core, and probably some more if you dig deep. Love my villains and unlikable female characters.
- I’m also a contest host, yay! I’m hosting Pitch América this August, a contest designed specially to boost Latinx voices in fiction.
- I love all things space/star related. That means both scientific and birth star charts (Don’t judge too much).
- My alien obsession probably started with Star Wars and Star Trek, both eternal favorites of mine.
- I speak three languages fluently – Portuguese, English and Spanish – and am currently improving my German.
- I run the Brazilian fan club for Sarah J Maas and her Throne of Glass series. Yes, this is how obsessed I am over it.
- I have listened to the Hamilton soundtrack over 56 times on my iTunes. Please send help.
- My favorite Marvel superhero is America Chavez, followed by Carol Danvers and Natasha Romanoff. My favorite DC superhero is OBVIOUSLY Wonder Woman.
- My favorite fantasy authors are Tolkien, Sarah J Maas, Renee Ahdieh, Sabaa Tahir, Susan Dennard and Jonathan Stroud. My favorite sci-fi writers are Asimov, Clarke and Jules Verne.
- I traveled to a bunch of different places, but first learned to speak and love English in Sydney, Australia, where I got bitten by a koala.
And just to finish off and keep things fun, here’s ten things you should read/watch/listen that involve aliens, excluding eternal classics like Doctor Who, Star Trek and X-Files.
- THE MESSAGE. This is a podcast available on iTunes about a bunch of people trying to decode an alien message. The problem? Everyone who listens to it gets a weird lung disease and dies.
- INDEPENDENCE DAY: Independence Day is my favorite alien movie, probably because it was also the first. It totally inspired me when it came to writing TSAE.
- ATTACK THE BLOCK: ATB might be one of my favorite alien movies, because it’s also so deeply human and throws some light on racism. Also, it’s got John Boyega. MUST WATCH.
- THE WHISPERER IN DARKNESS: this novella by Lovecraft is basically everything Lovecraft is famous for – super creepy setting and some horrible terrors.
- PACIFIC RIM: it’s giant robots versus giant aliens. Also, it’s one hell of a story and I love the human element of it.
- FALLING SKIES: Everything we ever asked for in alien-invasion TV show.
- THE 5TH WAVE: One of the best reads in alien invasion, EVER. It was absolutely unputdownable, because I desperately wanted to know what happened next. Also, I never guessed any of the plot twists.
- ALIEN: Super classic movie that for some reason not everybody has watched. Ellen Ripley is da queen.
- ENDER’S GAME: Ender’s Game is super twisty and has some great elements in there. I couldn’t put the book down.
- COWBOYS VS ALIENS: Everyone probably hates this movie except me. That’s OK. Appreciate Harrison Ford in a horse fighting aliens, though. BADDASS.
