WELCOME:
Hello potential mentees! I’m Paris Wynters. This is my first year as a mentor for Pitchwars and I will be focusing on the ADULT CATEGORY.
ABOUT ME:
I write Romance and SFF. I’m represented by the wonderful Tricia Skinner of Fuse Literary Agency. I'm also the author of HEARTS UNLEASHED.
I live in New York with a wonderful teenager who plays travel hockey. I am mixed race and I suffer from a rare genetic disorder called Hemachromatosis. I am a teacher and have my M.S. in Biology. I am also a Search and Rescue technician and canine handler. My son is also a certified SAR Tech II. My canine partners live with me, and yes, I do have HR in my house. Makes for interesting conversation and adds a creep factor to those who visit.
I love to travel, ride street bikes and dirt bikes, and pretty much do active and X-game type activities. I’ve been on a shark dive, practice trapeze, participate in Crossfit (I used to compete in Figure), practiced Muy Thai and Kali for seven years, and took airplane flying lessons. I love video games (currently a Fortnite fanatic), Deadpool, and am a huge fan of Halo. Though, there will be hell to pay if 343 follows through on this Cortana/Master Chief love story, and if they make her good again.
WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR:
First and foremost, anything to do with Search and Rescue. I’m a certified SAR Tech II and a canine handler for live find and HRD. One thing I dream about is a book portraying Search and Rescue correctly.
I’d also love to see manuscripts involving Mongolian culture and Mongolian main characters (#ownvoices manuscripts preferred).
Sci-Fi
I'm looking for Space Operas, Robot/A.I. stories, and Genetics/Bio based stories.
Skippy from Expeditionary Force is one of my favorite characters of all time and I LOVE FIREFLY. I also love Ghost in the Shell, TAU, Extinction, and Ex Machina.
Fantasy
Specifically, I’m looking for manuscripts along the lines of Labyrinth, Willow, Legend, Ladyhawke, The Princess Bride, The Shape of Water. I also love DRAGONS (um, my dog's name is DROGON afterall).
I enjoy Dark Fantasy as long as it doesn't involve topics from my DO NOT WANT list.
“True love is the best thing in the world, except for cough drops.”
- Miracle Max
Romance
I LOVE ROMANCE. I write it, I read it, I devour it. Here is what I am looking for when it comes to romance:
Contemporary
RomCom
Sci-fi Romance
Romantic Fantasy
Erotic Romance only (no erotica)
Historical: must be NON-REGENCY/NON-VICTORIAN/NON-WESTERN
I'm okay with all heat levels. Though I lean toward steamy, I have enjoyed some clean romances.
Horror
The only caveat here is don’t include gore for the sake of gore. But I would love to find a manuscript featuring…um…gulp…DOLLS.
Miscellaneous:
I love a good adventure story (Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider)
I love good science/medical thrillers a la Michael Crichton and Robin Cook.
I am okay with hunting as long as it’s not trophy hunting.
Regarding Heroines: Don't give me Wonder Woman (I dislike her). Give me Sarah Connor, Ripley, or Mazikeen (and Ella).
WHAT I'M NOT LOOKING FOR:
YA, MG, NA
Non-fiction
Memoir
Graphic Novels
Paranormal/ Paranormal Romance
Time Travel
Dark Romance
Romantic Suspense/Mystery
Eating Disorder manuscripts
Zombies, Vampires
Manuscripts involving rape/sexual assault/abuse/ (not even off-screen)
Trophy Hunting
#Metoo manuscripts
Family sagas or multi-generational manuscripts
Inspirational or religious-themed manuscripts
Manuscripts involving abortion and stillbirth
Main character is a proud drug user or struggling with addiction.
Anything that's already been published. A self-published book is considered published.
If I've critiqued/read your manuscript before, I kindly ask you choose another mentor.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Skills
Big picture edits, plot holes, character development
Tightening language. Reducing unnecessary words and filtering. Finding your filler words. Deepening POV
Hands-on mentoring
Line-edits
I’m constructive, thorough, BUT to the point (I’m blunt).
Brainstorming/someone to bounce ideas off of and problem solve
Communication Preference:
Email is my preferred method. Text is awesome, too, as long as we remember time change differences and schedules. Phone calls would have to be scheduled. I’m not a Skype/Facetime person.
Thank you for reading, and I can't wait to see your words in my inbox! If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to me on:
Twitter: @pariswynters