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.