Part of a series introducing the Mentors for the 2019-2020 SCBWI-WWA Mentorship Program. This post introduces two Middle Grade Mentors, Suzanne Selfors and Mark Maciejewski. To apply for the mentorship program visit here: https://wwa.scbwi.org/2019-mentorship-program/. Application Deadline: July 30, 2019.
Mentor: Suzanne Selfors
Suzanne Selfors is a national best-selling author who writes for kids of all ages. She’s received six Junior Library Guild awards, earned starred reviews from Kirkus, School Library Journal, Library Media Connection and Publisher’s Weekly.The Sasquatch Escape won the WA State Book Award, was an Amazon Best Children’s Book. She’s won a Cybils award and been on numerous state lists including the Texas Bluebonnet list. Though her books can be found all over the world, she lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest where she hopes it is her destiny to write stories forever after.
Q: Why do you like to mentor aspiring writers?
I had some amazing mentors when I made the scary decision to stop fantasizing about being a paid writer and to actually try doing it. These were published authors who accepted me into their writing group despite my unpublished status. I know how important it is to have a seasoned writer as a cheerleader.
Q: What does being a successful published professional look like to you?
Being a writer and being published are two completely different conversations/worlds/realities. Each has its up and downs. Each is stressful and joyful and frustrating. Being published won’t make everything great, but it certainly has been good to me. I hope it will be good for you, too.
Q: What can a mentee expect from your mentorship?
I’m not going to line edit, check your spelling, etc. That would be a waste of our time. My skills are plot and pacing. I’m a whiz at plot, and I’ll help show you were yours is lagging, or lacking, etc. I’m also a whiz at commercial fiction. I also love historical fiction, FYI.
Q: What are you reading?
I’m reading a collection of stories by Roald Dahl that I picked up at his museum in England. I’m also reading a biography on Dr. James Barry, a woman who took on a male persona so she could go to medical school and practice surgery in the early 1800s. Fascinating.
Q: What are you working on these days?
I’m finishing the text on a graphic novel, my first. And I’m working on a television script.
Mentor: Mark Maciejewski
Q: Why do you like to mentor aspiring writers?
So many amazing people welcomed me into the world of writing for kids and helped me learn the ropes. I want to do the same. Plus I have been the beneficiary of some amazing critique over the years. It’s a huge part of writing success and I love passing on what I’ve learned.
Q: What does being a successful published professional look like to you?
The dream is to write full time, but for now I love connecting with the kids (and adults) who’ve read my books. So far all six of them have nice things to say.
Q: What can a mentee expect from your mentorship?
I love to collaborate and talk a lot about plot and character. I’m also big into mining humor out of the work. When I get invested in a manuscript I live in that world, so expect a lot of ideas flying back and forth.
Q: What are you reading?
I’m reading several friends’ books, the Sven Carter series by Rob Vlock, Project Me 2.0 by Jan Gansei, I just received an ARC of Stuart Gibb’s new book Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation which is fantastic. I just finished Ms. Bixby’s Last Day by John David Anderson, and lots of comic books.
Q: What are you working on these days?
I’m working on a new middle grade novel about a kid who becomes a viral pariah after his dance proposal goes horribly wrong. It’s a cross between Frindle, Superbad, and The Social Network for middle grade.