Tag: Pen Parentis Fellowship

Welcome back!

My blog fell by the wayside this summer. June and July were filled with revisions for WHAT I WOULD DO FOR YOU, then I solo-parented for three weeks while Conor blew some stuff up. August was spent trying to soak in as much PNW sunshine as we could before school started. Blake Island, blackberry picking, trips to Seattle, art fair in Anacortes, out-of-town visitors, waterfall hikes, and ‘Feral Friday’ playdates. We are still a few weeks off from the true darkness, but I already miss my 9pm sunsets! There might be a few more dinghy trips left in the season, but I can feel the window closing until next spring. This changing of the seasons has thrust me back to reality and my to-do list, including an update here.

It’s hard though, because I don’t know what I should post and what I need to keep on the down low! This is a new stage in my writing career, and I’m trying to figure out the rules. What details can I reveal about the stages of my projects? I can tell you that my agent and I are happy with the final version of WIWDFY. We will be discussing the necessary revisions for GYBE, my YA sailing thriller, very soon. I also brainstormed a third project this summer that is a YA Irish folklore-inspired fantasy, and I’m waiting for feedback on the proposal to see if it’s a project worth continuing.

Books aside, I have tried to be brave and submit some short pieces of writing lately. Keep an eye out for a reflection piece I wrote for War Horse magazine coming out in October. I also just found out that a micro-fiction story I wrote for 101 Words was accepted this week! When I first started pitching, I was always so in awe of the other writers who had a lengthy bio. I am a writer with a bio now!

Speaking of updating my bio, I will soon pass along the Pen Parentis Fellowship crown to the 2025 winner who was chosen earlier this month! I can’t believe it’s been a year. SO much has changed, and I am incredibly thankful for my professional growth between then and now, and the people that have impacted and helped along the way. Hopefully by this time next year, I’ll be holding my hardcover book in my hands (and bawling my eyes out).

Love,

Taylor

Island childhood

Pen Parentis Fellowship

When I started drafting book #7 at the end of June, I did so to try and finish in time to attend the PNWA conference. However, nobody else knew that I quietly submitted a short story back in April to a literary organization that supports parent writers, Pen Parentis, for the chance to win a very prestigious fellowship. The odds of winning were miniscule, one in hundreds of submissions. I told myself that was fine, that writing my very first short story was prize enough in itself. This short story is what got the wheels turning to conceptualize my current novel.  

As I worked away all summer on this novel, a tiny voice wondered what if. What if I actually won? What if I could go into the conference in September with not only a new book to pitch, but also with an award-winning short story of the same topic? The 1/1,000 shot I could take the momentum from that and run with it kept me to my summer deadline. In case luck met opportunity, I wanted to set myself up for as many advantages as possible.  

Y’all. I got a call THE DAY AFTER I finished the first draft of my novel (70,000 words) informing me that I am the 2024 Pen Parentis Fellow.

I will pitch my book in front of an agent panel in ten days. I’ve been trying to get an agent for almost ten years. Is this the final sprint?

Love,

Taylor