#PitchWars 2019 #BoostMyBio

My name is Kara Rowan, and I am thrilled to be participating in my first ever Pitch Wars! I can’t wait to connect with the community, improve my work, and hopefully be chosen as a mentee!

About Me

I was born and raised in Michigan, and graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Communications and a minor in Creative Writing. From there, I moved to Chicago to pursue a career in digital marketing. I’m currently the Marketing Manager for a tech startup downtown, and while I enjoy my day job, my lifelong passion has always been writing.

It all started in the first grade with a Loony Tunes inspired story about a cat who befriends a wolf who keeps trying to eat her. From there, I carried notebooks of various sizes and styles to every class in middle school and high school, writing down all the stories in my head. At Michigan, I didn’t have time to write my novels, but picked it up again after I moved to Chicago. My “traditional” job isn’t enough for me anymore - writing is in my blood, and it refuses to be denied. For the past two years, I’ve been been tearing apart an old story and recreating it from the ground up.

The Story

That novel is Nuclear Spring, my futuristic YA story set in the Midwest after a nuclear war. Thanks to gene therapy, humans now have abilities ranging from making people sneeze to hearing the future. Mara, a nineteen-year-old with super strength, is just trying to get into an engineering college to escape her debt-ridden Midwest town. After only being accepted to one mediocre university, she’s abducted to work in an underground labor camp. She liberates other students, but during the escape her friend—and crush—Joel is killed, leaving her heartbroken. Arriving home, Mara discovers her parents and dozens of others are murdered in retaliation. And it’s all covered up. If Mara and her friends don’t stop the killers, millions more could die.

Writing Inspiration

Nuclear Spring is full of plot twists, a sprinkling of romance, diverse characters, POC, and LGBTQ+ representation. But I wouldn’t be the writer I am today without the authors who brought my childhood to life. Tamora Pierce, J.K. Rowling, James Patterson, and Christopher Paolini fostered my love for reading. Leigh Bardugo, Brandon Sanderson, George R.R. Martin and Tomi Adeyemi have kept me enraptured in adulthood. I can’t wait for others to read my story, and I’m so excited to hopefully meet more authors who can influence my writing as well!

Hobbies

Outside of writing, I have a huge love for sports. I’m a rabid college football fan (Go Blue!) and I played varsity softball in high school. I enjoy snow skiing, water skiing, dodgeball, hiking, boating, and being on a lake 24/7 if possible. I also play far too many video games. Current favorites are Overwatch (so many diverse and amazing characters!) Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Golden Deer for life), Spider-Man, Horizon Zero Dawn, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Breath of the Wild, and Civ 6. I have a lazy, fluffy cat named Midgy who sleeps next to me every night, and I adore living in Chicago.

Why I’d Be a Great Mentee

I’ve done a lot of soul searching the past two years - about my marketing career, what city I plan to continue living in, and what writing means to me. I’ve realized that my greatest professional ambition is to be a traditionally published author, and no matter the hurdles, I am in this for the long haul. I’m a fast learner, and will take all critiques and feedback to heart. I’ve done a lot of work to improve myself and my writing (podcasts, research, newsletters, articles, the online community) but I know I have so much more to learn, and that’s what I’m here for! If I’m given the opportunity to become a mentee, I will throw all my energy into being the best I can be, and hopefully one day take that enthusiasm to an agent and the Pitch Wars community in 2020 and beyond.

Thank you for checking out my profile. If you’d like to connect, follow me on Twitter or Instagram (@kararowanbooks) and I’d love to talk! Good luck to you with Pitch Wars this year - may the odds be ever in your favor!