This year all the slushies are judges and vice versa. In 2017, the pages with the seven highest scores of each age category will be posted here on larawillard.com/blog, tagged and linked by genre.
(So yes, if there’s a seven-way tie for seventh place, we would have thirteen pages.)
Let’s get to know your pg70pit slushies for 2017! We’ll start with Twitter profiles and then some getting-to-know-you questions and answers.
Middle Grade
Elizabeth Buege, @ekbuege
Reader, writer, book editor. Drawn to beautiful words, magical stories, & the scent of fresh paper. #revpit, #p2p16, & #shoreindie editor + #pg70pit judge.
JD Burns, @jdburnswrites
MG Reader and Writer. Currently on submission with my MG Fantasy. Rep’d by @R_EliseWrites of @GoldenWheatLit.
Ari Schweieters, @arischwieters
We thought you was a toad—Delmar O’Donnell. Writer, Jesus-follower, Hamline MFAC candidate.
Young Adult
Meghan Barrett, @MegBarrett316
Meghan is Lara’s intern from last year and needs a Twitter Bio but subscribes to Yoda’s advice: “Do or do not. There is no try.”
India Hill, @booksandbighair
A writer awkwardly stumbling around NYC. Social Media Fellow @HBO. Bylines in TeenVogue, Essence, and Sesi. ΔΣΘ. Matthew 5:16 ✨. Rep’d by @hroot
Kosoko Jackson, @kosokojackson
A Slytherin wearing Wonder Woman’s tiara. Period piece junky. Spy genre trash. @Rockthevote Digital Associate. Repped by @louisefury
Kaleigh Walter, @kaleighwalter
Reader, writer, editor. Currently on sabbatical in France attempting to write a novel. It’s not nearly as glamorous as “Midnight in Paris” makes it seem as I have yet to meet Tom Hiddleston.
Adult
Byron Graves, @byrongraves
Ojibwe | Author | #WCNV 2016 Finalist | 2017 WITM Mentee | Seeking representation for my novel The Distance
James Stryker, @JStryker21
Author of #SIMPLICITY #BOY – @ninestarpress #ASSIMILATION – Pan Macmillan, #70pit16 slushie, #FosterDad & puglet slave. #WNDB #LGBT Rep’d by @inthesestones
Nicole Tone, @NicoleATone
Pub. Director @REUTSpub • writer, editor, coffee snob, Slytherclaw • Bylines @hellogiggles @Britandco @Femsplain etc • Contact: ntommasulo@gmail.com
All of the Above
Lara Willard, @larathelark & @LaraEdits
wordherder & story addict | fiction & comics editor @LaraEdits | copy writer & designer | there’s a million things I haven’t done
More About Us
Most-used emoji
Elizabeth—❤️
JD—What’s an emoji 😉
India—💕
Kosoko—😫
Kaleigh—😂
Byron—😂
James—:D
Nicole—🙄
Lara—😍 🤓 😘
First job
Meghan—Summer nanny
Elizabeth—As a kid, it was helping an elderly neighbor; post-college, it was teaching Spanish.
JD—Dishwasher – just like Rodney Copperbottom’s dad!
India—Cashier at CiCi’s Pizza!
Kosoko—Cashier at a Health Food store
Kaleigh—Babysitting
Byron—Commercial Fisherman
James—Customer Service Representative at a call center
Nicole—Florist
Lara—Preschool teacher’s aide & newspaper intern
Current job
Meghan—I am a Reading Corps Elementary Literacy Tutor
Elizabeth—I’m a freelance book editor & a homeschool co-op secondary writing teacher
JD—Get up – eat – work – help kids with homework – skip sleep to write – repeat.
India—Digital + Social Media at HBO!
Kosoko—Digital Media Associate for Rock The Vote
Kaleigh—Grant Writing for MN Nonprofit
Byron—Account Executive & Author
James—I’m a Senior Supervisor for a customer service call center. I do a lot of project management, design/graphics for trainings, and data analysis.
Nicole—Freelance editor and writer
Lara—Freelance editor by night, website copy and design consultant by day.
If you had entered this year, what would be your 7-word code name?
JD—An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small (Thomas Hardy, “The Darkling Thrush”)
India—Okay, ladies, now let’s get in Formation! (Beyoncé, “Formation!”)
Kosoko—The landlord’s daughter, the landlord’s black-haired daughter (Alfred Noyes, “The Highwayman”)
Byron—I’ll tell you how the sun rose (Emily Dickinson, “I’ll Tell You How the Sun Rose”)
James—none about me save in the shadows (Ezra Pound, “In Durance”)
Nicole—”& crowned herself the mother-f—ing queen” (Amanda Lovelace, “How’s That for a Happily Ever After?”)
Lara—I like their lady horse swagger, after (Ada Limón, “How to Triumph Like a Girl”)
7-word description of one of your main characters
JD—Quiet boy discovers he is a wood-troll.
India—A black girl who loves to read.
Kosoko—A witty, sarcastic talented linguist in Kosovo
Byron—Sarcastic, cynical, witty, brilliant, apathetic, jaded, righteous
James—Balances dealing drugs, eating disorder, alternate personality.
Nicole—Witch who doesn’t know her own strength
Lara—Tween Chicana BMX racer bestowed embarrassing superpower
Best 69th page from your bookshelf
Elizabeth—The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
JD—Jane Eyre
India—I’m going to go on a limb and say any Harry Potter book.
Kosoko—American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Byron—Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
James—Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Nicole—White Oleander
Lara—Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Dream writing retreat location
Meghan—Oxford, in the same bedroom in the same house I lived in while I was studying abroad.
Elizabeth—I probably wouldn’t leave Minnesota–I want cool, fresh air, along with trees and water–and ideally a dog or some cats to keep me company.
JD—Under the stairs of the Dursley’s residence.
India—Somewhere with a view of the ocean… matter of fact, ON the ocean. Perfect weather where I can lay down for hours and write to the waves crashing agains the sand.
Kosoko—In Dublin ireland, across the street from a pub, and a short distance from The River Liffey.
Kaleigh—A screened-in porch next to a body of water.
Byron—Dagobah
James—When I write I really need to focus and block everything out, so my dream writing location would be what would probably drive many people crazy. I would love to write in a cleanroom. No windows, no noise – not even anything on the walls. Just a nice, hermetically sealed, soundproofed, cleanroom. Just me, a desk, and the brain. 🙂
Nicole—A waterfront cottage in Seattle with a fireplace and windows and a desk facing the Puget Sound.
Lara—Howl’s Moving Castle, minus the fire demon and Howl, with the door opening to my house, to the Scottish highlands, to that bunny island in Japan, and to the New York Public Library on 5th.
Lara Willard 