As a Pitch Wars alumnus and indie author, I’m pleased to participate in the Pitch Wars 2018 Indie Blog Tour! No, we haven’t time-travelled back to 2018 (one can dream). Fellow indie author and Pitch Wars 2018 alumna, T. C. Duck gathered a bunch of us PW authors who’d gone indie and suggested (then organized) a reunion blog tour during which we reflect on our Pitch Wars experiences, our post-Pitch Wars writing journeys, and the legacy of the program on our work.
Over the next three days, Before We Go Blog will be hosting interviews from three 2018 mentees!
Check out all the other great guest posts, reviews, and spotlights here!
ABOUT PITCH WARS
“Pitch Wars was a volunteer-run mentoring program where published/agented authors, editors, or industry interns chose one writer each to mentor our a month to three months period depending on the year. Mentors read the entire manuscript and offered suggestions on how to make the manuscript shine for the agent showcase at the end of the mentoring period. The mentor also helped edit their mentee’s pitch for the contest and their query letter for submitting to agents. Some mentors participated as solo mentors while others paired up with a co-mentor.” – From Pitch Wars founder Brenda Drake’s website.
INTERVIEW
For anyone who may not know you, can you introduce yourself to readers of Before We Go Blog?
Hi! I’m Tasha, and I write both sci-fi and rom-coms. I indie published my Itaska High series, which chronicles the romantic shenanigans of a high school marching band. In my free time, I like to play music, video games, and volleyball.
Can you tell us a little about your PW entry?
My PW entry was STARLING, a space opera about a space scavenger whose brother was abducted by a science cult. He’d do anything to get him back, including kidnapping an escaped princess and returning her for the ransom money. The only problem is that the girl posing as the princess isn’t who she seems…
What was the mentorship and showcase experience like for you?
It was interesting! The mentorship part was very helpful. I had two mentors, Lindsey Duga and Melissa Erin Jackson, and they were both lovely. I actually got to finally meet Lindsey in person for the first time this year! The showcase was a little rough – I didn’t have much in the way of agent requests. It was hard not to notice those in my PW class who were having lots of success and to be jealous of them. Honestly, I’ve learned that’s a lot of how publishing is. Being able to stay in your lane and celebrate the little successes.
Can you tell us about your post-PW experience(s)?
I ended up getting an agent through regular querying a while after PW. We went on sub and heard pretty much nothing from editors, unfortunately. It was tough waiting months and months for responses. COVID hit, and I decided to write and self-publish a book that was for me – something my teenage self would have wanted. That book, AS YOU WERE, became the first in my series. I eventually ended up leaving my agent, but I’m still open to traditional publishing for my sci-fi novels. However, I’ve really enjoyed the opportunities my rom-com series has opened up for me. I’ve been able to teach workshops, meet some really amazing people, and gain a lot of confidence (and make a bit of money, which is always nice!).
I decided to write these books for a young me: a band kid whose identity was wrapped up in academics, fanfiction, and sci-fi.
Is the PW legacy still felt, in your estimation (either personally, or in a broader community sense)?
That’s an interesting question! I think so, but maybe not to the scale it felt it would be at the time. It felt like the end-all-be-all for a young writer like me. And industry professionals certainly participated and paid attention, but that was only a small subset of the agents and editors out there. PW and similar contests have their role, but sometimes it’s too easy to get caught up in the excitement rather than hunkering down and writing more books.
Your award-winning work has been called romance for nerds. As a nerd (or geek, depending on your preference!), what’s special for you about writing in (and for) that space?
Like I said earlier, I decided to write these books for a young me: a band kid whose identity was wrapped up in academics, fanfiction, and sci-fi. There’s obviously been a bit of a geek renaissance over the past few decades, and it’s been so fun to see people embrace the many passions that make them happy. It’s special to be a part of that–to write books that are unapologetically nerdy while still having lots of romance and kissing and all that good stuff.
What’s coming up next for you as an author?
I’m turning back to my sci-fi roots! I’m currently drafting a manuscript that I call a “cozy post-apocalypse”–basically The Last of Us meets Legends and Lattes. I am having an absolute blast with it, and I’m hopeful that there will be a readership for a book like that. I haven’t decided whether to go indie or trad, but if you’d like to follow my journey, be sure to find me on Instagram and TikTok at @author_tasha.
Tasha’s Books!
To seventeen-year-old Hannah Wright, band is everything. As drum major of the Itaska Marching Raptors, she feels responsible for their tiny, underfunded program.
When a schoolwide competition is announced, Hannah is determined to win the cash prize and save her beloved band. There’s only one problem: her main competition comes in a freckled, charming package named Eli Marshall, a.k.a. the star of the theater program.
…a.k.a. the guy she just broke up with.
After moving nine times in twelve years, Kendall Mathis is used to being the new girl. Her foolproof method? Turn up the collar on her leather jacket and don’t let anyone get close. Soon she’ll be off to college and a life shecan finally choose for herself. She just has to get through senior year at Itaska High without any distractions.
Enter Jaz, a cute, outgoing drummer whose favorite thing to be is distracting. Kendall tries to keep her at arm’s length, but she’s no match for the sheer power of Jaz Whitaker on a mission.
After sparks fly at band camp, the two make a bet with a prize Kendall can’t pass up. And despite all her efforts to win, Kendall finds it harder than expected to keep from falling in love with Itaska–and the girl who won’t leave her alone.
For fans of Casey McQuiston and Rachel Lynn Solomon, Marking Time is a new queer rom-com filled with teen angst, marching band shenanigans, and a grumpy/sunshine romance.
Author Bio
Tasha Christensen is a writer, teacher, and researcher based in Colorado. Her Itaska High series chronicles the romantic shenanigans of a high school marching band in Minnesota. The first book, As You Were, won the 2023 Indie Author Project contest, and she was honored as an RMFW Writer of the Year finalist in 2024. She co-edited the short story anthology Wild, and her fiction has been featured in award-winning collections andjournals. She recently received her MSc in Digital Anthropology from University College London. In her free time, she enjoys playing D&D, perfecting her volleyball serve, and exploring the Rocky Mountains with her husband and two daughters.
Find out more about Tasha’s work on her website.
