Rajani LaRocca's Blog, page 26

A STAR from Booklist for SEVEN GOLDEN RINGS!!

I was stunned and delighted to learn that SEVEN GOLDEN RINGS has received a STAR from Booklist!!

A Whole Box Full of SEVEN GOLDEN RINGS!!

I was so thrilled to open the huge box full of finished copies of SEVEN GOLDEN RINGS that I promptly forgot what month it was!!

An Honor from the Massachusetts House of Representatives!

I was stunned and thrilled to get this citation from the Massachusetts House of Representatives and a personal note from my own state representative, Tami Gouveia, in congratulations for MIDSUMMER’S MAYHEM winning a Massachusetts Book Award Honor!

A Beautiful Book Giveaway to Thank Joy McCullough!

Three years ago, I entered Pitch Wars with my book, MIDSUMMER’S MAYHEM. I was nervous, and I didn’t expect to get in, but I figured I didn’t have anything to lose by trying. And then, at the end of August, I found out that Joy McCullough had chosen to mentor me! Her suggested edits weren’t easy, but they were so insightful…and right. And over the next two months, I worked harder than I ever had to revise and polish my story. Then, after a whirlwind showcase, I signed with my wonderful agent, and MIDSUMMER’S MAYHEM became my debut novel, published in June 2019.

But beyond the incredible opportunity that Pitch Wars presented, it gave me wonderful friendships—including my friendship with Joy, who is a supremely talented playwright and author. I was lucky enough to travel to her Seattle launch of her stunning debut YA, BLOOD WATER PAINT, a novel in verse about the 17th century Italian artist, Artemisia Gentileschi. We baked cookies together, and I watched in awe as she talked about her remarkable book.

In summer 2019, when I went to the west coast to promote MIDSUMMER’S MAYHEM, we baked again (cookies and brownies this time). And at wonderful Third Place Books, Joy was “in conversation” with me and my friend Chris Baron to introduce our books to the world.

Joy has read each of my novels before I sent them anywhere, and she’s helped me make them better. I can’t thank her enough for her support and her wonderful friendship.

And so, of course, I asked her to read and blurb my forthcoming novel in verse, RED, WHITE, AND WHOLE. And here’s what she had to say:

And so, to thank Joy for being the most wonderfully supportive author, mentor, and friend, I’m giving a way a chance to win one of her books! There will be TWO winners, and each gets to choose among Joy’s incredible MG and YA books, both published and forthcoming:

BLOOD WATER PAINT, the acclaimed young adult novel in verse about the painter Artemisia Gentileschi.

A FIELD GUIDE TO GETTING LOST, Joy’s debut middle grade novel about a girl with a passion for science and a boy who dreams of writing fantasy novels must figure out how to get along now that their parents are dating.

WE ARE THE ASHES, WE ARE THE FIRE (coming February 9, 2021), a contemporary YA novel in prose and verse about a girl struggling with guilt and a desire for revenge after her sister’s rapist escapes with no prison time.

ACROSS THE POND (coming March 16, 2021), a MG story about a girl who moves from the U.S to Scotland about new beginnings, burgeoning friendships, and finding your flock.

To enter to win, you can:

Comment here
Head over to my Twitter and retweet/comment there.
Go to my instagram and comment there.

I will choose the winners at 7 PM ET on Thursday, October 1!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pitch Wars 2020 Team PITA Mentor Wish List!

Welcome!

Welcome to Pitch Wars 2020!! This year, Remy Lai and I are mentoring Middle Grade.

What exactly is Pitch Wars? It’s a mentoring program for unagented writers. You can read more about it here.

We’ll get to our wish list in a moment, but first, a little about us, your potential mentors.

Who are we, and why are we here?

Rajani LaRocca writes middle grade and picture books. She practices medicine and lives in the Boston area with her family and impossibly cute dog. Her middle grade debut, MIDSUMMER’S MAYHEM, an Indian-American mashup of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and competitive baking, was published with Yellow Jacket/Little Bee Books in June 2019. Her next middle grade, RED, WHITE, AND WHOLE, a novel in verse set in 1983 about the daughter of Indian immigrants caught between the worlds of her family and her school, will publish with Quill Tree Books/Harper Collins in February 2021. Her third middle grade, MUCH ADO ABOUT BASEBALL, is coming in June 2021. Her debut picture book, SEVEN GOLDEN RINGS, will be published by Lee & Low Books in October 2020. She is represented by Brent Taylor of TriadaUS.

Remy Lai writes and draws stories for kids. She lives in Australia, where she can often be found exploring the woods with her two dogs. She is the creator of PIE IN THE SKY and the newly published FLY ON THE WALL, both of which are graphic novel/ prose hybrids. Her middle grade graphic novel debut PAWCASSO is forthcoming in May 2021. She is represented by Jim McCarthy of Dystel, Goderich, & Bourret.

We are both Pitch Wars 2017 mentees who benefited immensely from our mentors and the Pitch Wars community, and we are SO EXCITED to be paying it forward again as mentors this year! As mentees, we learned a ton, revised our butts off, laughed and cried and commiserated and celebrated together even though we’re literally on opposite sides of the world. Our mentee will get our best advice, our stalwart support, emails, and twitter posts and gifs for good measure. We will help you and root for you during the revision process, through the agent round, and beyond. We hope to forge a lifelong relationship with our mentee, just like the ones that our wonderful mentors share with us.

What’s it like to work with us?

We are #TeamPITA—the concept, not the bread.

We will be Pains In The A** in the best possible way. We will go through a thorough developmental edit with you, encompassing plot, character, and theme. We will give you our best, maybe even painful, suggestions for edits, but who will never tell you what to do. Because your book is your book!

We will listen patiently to your complaints during the revision process, but who will tell you that we know you can do it, so get to it. We will guide you and hold your hand during the agent showcase, querying, and beyond.

But don’t just take our word for it. Listen to what our previous Pitch Wars mentees have to say.

Here’s Kathryn Powers, our 2018 mentee:

“I STILL can’t believe that Rajani and Remy picked me to be their Pitch Wars 2018 mentee. They helped me take my manuscript from a complete mess to a polished novel I was proud of, always pushing me to dig deeper and find the heart of my story. We had a lot of fun together, from brainstorming via group calls to sending each other late-night goofy gifs. But it wasn’t all fun and games, so be warned. Rajani and Remy will make you work HARD—probably harder than you have on any project in your life. But if you keep an open mind and your nose to the grindstone, you’ll be amazed what you can accomplish with Team PITA at your side. I’m forever grateful to call Rajani and Remy my mentors and friends.”

And here’s Maria Linn, our 2019 mentee:

“Team PITA is a dream mentor team! Rajani and Remy are both amazing writers and gifted editors. They’re super generous with their time and feedback and knowledgeable about the publishing industry. Never prescriptive, their editorial style focused on asking me tough questions about my story and then helping me think through various possible solutions when I got stuck. With their support and guidance, I ended up pretty much rewriting my whole manuscript, leaving me with a much better book at the end. They were wonderful advisors and cheerleaders during the showcase and were there to help me navigate the querying process every step of the way. If you have a MG manuscript, I highly recommend subbing it to Remy and Rajani!”

So…what are we looking for?

First, we are VERY interested in working with creators from groups who are traditionally underrepresented in publishing. We’d love to see more diversity in the stories kids get to read.

In general, we are looking for middle grade stories with humor AND heart. We find that the best middle grade has both. Make us laugh and cry, like STAND UP, YUMI CHUNG! by Jessica Kim and SOMETHING TO SAY by Lisa Ramée. Give us smart kids, like SAL AND GABI BREAK THE UNIVERSE by Carlos Hernandez and THE WESTING GAME by Ellen Raskin. Give us emotionally rich stories, like EFRÉN DIVDED by Ernesto Cisneros and A WISH IN THE DARK by Christina Soontornvat.

There is more to our wish list! To see more of what we want, check out Remy’s blog here.

Still have questions? I’ll be part of the MG #AskMentor Twitter Chat on Thursday, September 17 at 8 PM ET and the MG Mentor video chat on Saturday, September 19 at 2 PM ET. Feel free to tune in and ask away!

A Massachusetts Book Award Honor!

I’m thrilled that MIDSUMMER’S MAYHEM is a Massachusetts Book Award Honor title in Middle Grade/Young Adult category!! The story is set in a fictionalized version of my hometown of Concord, MA, which has always felt magical to me. My friend Kip Wilson‘s YA novel in verse, WHITE ROSE, earned the other Honor, and Lynda Mullaly Hunt‘s SHOUTING AT THE RAIN is the winner! I’m honored to be among these incredible authors!! Learn about all the other winners, from adult through picture books.

The Soaring 20s on KidLitTV!

KidlitTV hosted members of my debut picture book group, The Soaring 20s, on their segment On the LOOKOUT for Kids’ Books, Fall 2020! To find out more about my fellow creators’ debut books, a few secrets, and some advice for kids, see the whole post here, or check out the individual videos below!

 

 

Cover Reveal for BRACELETS FOR BINA’S BROTHERS!

I am delighted to show the world the cover of my forthcoming picture book, BRACELETS FOR BINA’S BROTHERS, gorgeously illustrated by Chaaya Prabbhat and coming April 20, 2021 with Charlesbridge!

The story involves one of my favorite Indian holidays—Raksha Bandhan, also knowns as Rakhi, which celebrates the bonds between sisters and brothers. The amazing Tara Lazar hosted the cover reveal on her blog, and you can check out the interview here!

RED, WHITE , AND WHOLE ARCs Arrive!!

It’s such an incredible moment as an author when you get to see the manuscript you’ve worked so hard on in book-shaped form for the first time! And when the Advance Reader’s Copies (ARCs) are as beautiful as the ones for RED, WHITE, AND WHOLE, it’s even more wonderful. This is what is feels like to hold a book of your heart in your hands for the first time…and I’m overwhelmed with joy!

Find out more about RED, WHITE, AND WHOLE, add it to Goodreads, and see preorder links here!

Proud to Be a 2021 WNDB Mentor!

It’s so important that children’s literature reflects the beautiful diversity of our country and the world. We Need Diverse Books has worked toward that goal since 2014, helping to foster change so that all children can see themselves in books. I’m honored and excited to announce that I will be a Middle Grade Mentor for the 2021 We Need Diverse Books Mentorship Program among an incredible list of talented creators!

Applications are open from October 1-31, 2020. You can find more information here and read the mentors’ bios here!