Rajani LaRocca's Blog, page 34

The Second Annual JPST Writing Retreat!

The best part of being a debut middle grade author is the wonderful friends I’ve made along the way. And once again, I was lucky to reconnect with some of my best author friends — Chris Baron, Jessica Kramer, Cory Leonardo, Josh Levy, Gillian McDunn, Naomi Milliner, and Nicole Panteleakos — at the marvelous, majestic, magical Highlights Foundation. We soaked in the beautiful views, enjoyed amazing food and drink, played games (some of which included plastic pig pieces), talked about the ups and downs of writing and publishing, and laughed deep into the night. I’m so very grateful to call these supremely talented authors my friends, and we hope to continuing making this retreat an annual event!

Middle Grade Marketing Tips in PUBLISHERS WEEKLY!!

I was honored to be one of the middle grade authors featured in Publishers Weekly talking about marketing tips for middle grade authors! I’m no expert, but I was happy and honored to share what I’ve learned during my debut year! You can read the full article here.

 

My Interview on the Writers’ Voices Podcast!

I had so much fun being interviewed for the Writer’s Voices Podcast! I loved talking with Monica and Caroline about MIDSUMMER’S MAYHEM, baking, and writing. You can listen to the podcast on YouTube or on the Writers’ Voices website.

My TWEENS READ Interview with Blue Willow Bookshop!

I am over the moon to be heading to TWEENS READ in Houston, TX this October!! In preparation for this incredible book festival, Blue Willow Bookshop interviewed me about writing, baking, and MIDSUMMER’S MAYHEM! Read the interview here.

The MIDSUMMER’S MAYHEM Teaching and Discussion Guide!

I’m excited to share the teaching/discussion guide that I created for MIDSUMMER’S MAYHEM!! I hope teachers, librarians, and readers of all types find the activities and questions fun and thought-provoking! Here is is!! You can find the guide on both my “Novels” and “Author Visits” pages as well.

Midsummer’s Mayhem Teaching and Discussion Guide

Kids’ Baking Contest at Belmont Books!!

Years ago when I was first drafting MIDSUMMER’S MAYHEM, little did I know that I would get to go to a fabulous independent bookstore and hold A Kids’ Baking Contest inspired by my book! That’s what happened today, and it was more fun than I could have envisioned. I spoke about and read from MIDSUMMER’S MAYHEMA, and then twelve young bakers brought in exquisite, creative baked goods to be tasted by me and two fellow judges. We were blown away by these young bakers’ skills and vision, and it was incredibly difficult to decide on the winners! The winning entry: delicious and incredibly inventive lemon bars with white chocolate and mint! The young baker got to take home a big basket full of equipment and ingredients to make several MIDSUMMER’S MAYHEM recipes!! Second place: exquisite lemon cupcakes filled with perfectly tart lemon curd. Third place: a towering, impeccably moist chocolate pumpkin cake!! A wonderful time was had by all!!

A Meet and Greet at Barnes & Noble in Burlington, MA

I spent part of my afternoon at my local Barnes & Noble in Burlington, MA, where I got to meet so many wonderful kids who love books and baking!!

 

The Pitch Wars 2019 Team PITA Mentor Wish List!

Welcome to Pitch Wars 2019!! This year, we 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, a foodie 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 MG, MUCH ADO ABOUT BATTING, is coming in summer 2021. Her debut picture book, SEVEN GOLDEN RINGS, will be published by Lee & Low Books in Summer 2020. She is represented by Brent Taylor of TriadaUS. 

Remy Lai writes and draws stories for kids. She lives in Brisbane, Australia, where she can often be found exploring the woods with her two dogs. Her prose/graphic novel hybrid PIE IN THE SKY, about two brothers who move to Australia and face a language barrier, was published with Henry Holt/Macmillan in May 2019. Her next MG, FLY ON THE WALL, is forthcoming in May 2020. 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: mentors who 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! Mentors who 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. Mentors who 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 mentee from Pitch Wars 2018, Kathryn Powers, has to say:

“Even a year after being chosen, 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. “ 

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 STAR-CROSSED by Barbara Dee and THE SIMPLE ART OF FLYING by Cory Leonardo. Give us smart kids, like THE WESTING GAME by Ellen Raskin. Give us emotionally rich stories, like CATERPILLAR SUMMER by Gillian McDunn and WHERE THE WATERMELONS GROW by Cindy Baldwin.

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

Great Baking Book Event at Red Balloon Books!

On a rainy Monday night in September, I had an amazing visit to Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul, MN, where I participated in a “Great Baking Book Event,” inspired by my middle grade novel, MIDSUMMER’S MAYHEM, and (of course) the Great British Baking Show! I talked about my story, read a little from my book, and then took part in a high-stakes, high-pressure, incredibly fun “Technical Challenge,” competing against fellow middle grade author, Heather Bouwman! A couple of young readers judged our creations, and I was (very narrowly!) crowned STAR BAKER! This was followed by a madcap scavenger hunt to find the napkins that some fairies had stolen, and then a book signing! A wonderful time was had by all! This is an absolutely astounding independent bookstore, and if you are ever in the area, you should pay a visit!

LoonSong 2019

This September I returned for the second time to beautiful Elbow Lake Lodge in Cook, MN to gather with other writers for an incredible retreat called LoonSong. Created by Debby Dahl Edwardson, this retreat was nourishing for both the mind and spirit. The faculty this year included Elizabeth Partridge, who wowed us with all kinds of information on writing nonfiction; Varian Johnson, who gave us fantastic ideas on plotting; Marion Dane Bauer, who supplied us with all kinds of insight on writing picture books; Holly West, editor at Feiwel & Friends and Swoon Reads, who taught us about character development and why “fangirling” is a very good thing; Brent Taylor, agent at Triada US (and my agent!) who discussed perseverance in publishing and how to cultivate it; Mari Talkin, who led a fantastic novel critique group; and Maura Stokes, who made sure we all knew where we were going and ran the tech spotlessly. I was lucky enough to speak a couple of times myself: first joining Varian on a diversity panel, moderated by Debby; and then a presentation with Brent on the author-agent relationship. I saw a few old friends (including fellow PitchWars 2017 friends-I-hadn’t-met-in-real-life Emily Taylor and Elizabeth Runnoe!), and made so many new ones. We learned, discussed, read, ate, and laughed together. We even went out on a boat and gathered around a bonfire! I can’t wait to return.