The submission window for the 2021–2022 SCBWI WWA Mentorship Program is still open, but only for a couple more weeks! We’re sharing interviews with each of our marvelous mentors to help prospective mentees get to know them better. Learn more about the mentorship program, including how to apply, here. Deadline: July 30!
Joy McCullough’s debut young-adult novel, Blood Water Paint, won the Washington State Book Award and the Pacific Northwest Book Award, as well as honors including the National Book Award longlist and finalist for the ALA Morris Award. Her debut middle-grade novel, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, is a Junior Library Guild Selection. In 2021, she’s releasing a picture book (Champ & Major: First Dogs), a middle-grade novel (Across the Pond), and a YA novel (We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire). Visit Joy’s website at joymccullough.com, and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
I like to mentor because . . .
Writing is solitary, but the kidlit community is fantastic and vital. My journey to publication was long, and I wouldn’t have made it without my incredible critique partners and writing friends. I continue to rely on them as a published author, and I love to pay forward all the support and friendship I’ve found along the way.
What can a mentee expect from your mentorship?
This is my first time mentoring for SCBWI, but I was a Pitch Wars mentor for five years. Based on that, a mentee can expect to do significant work, receive unlimited pep talks, and basically be stuck with me in the long term. I’ve been there, so I have so much compassion. But I’ve also had a seriously long road, and I’m going to be real with you.
What are you working on these days?
I’ve got picture book, middle grade, and YA books under contract! As well as theater projects! So I’m a little busy! I’m currently revising my 2022 middle-grade contemporary, (Not) Starring Zadie Gonzales, which is about a girl forced to spend the summer at her mom’s Bainbridge Island theater company, where she does NOT want to perform.
Besides writing, what’s something you’re good at?
Sewing and crochet! I started crocheting at the beginning of 2020 and throughout the pandemic I have made ALLLLL the adorable little animals. All of them. I’ve also sewn thousands of masks, and pre-pandemic I sewed clothes and quilts and toys.
What do you listen to when you create?
Nothing! I need absolute silence. I will occasionally use white noise, if I need to drown out household noise, but I prefer silence.
What qualities would your ideal mentee have?
Ability to take critique and work hard—but I suspect anyone signing up for a lengthy mentorship like this is not looking for a quick fix. Resilience—this is a tough business at every stage. A love of the process—more and more I’m realizing that while we do write books with an end product in mind, I have to keep my focus on the process. Enjoying it, challenging myself, learning from the difficulties. It’s all I have any control over.
What’s the writing advice you give most often?
Raise (or clarify) the stakes. People seem to have a good grasp on conflict—your character must have obstacles they’re trying to overcome. But what happens if they don’t overcome the obstacle? If the answer is that their life goes on pretty much the same, chances are you need to raise the stakes.
Brought to you by Suma Subramaniam and Jenny Tynes, SCBWI WWA Mentorship Program, and Dolores Andral, Pen & Story