Astrid Scholte's Blog

Part onePart twoPart threeWe've made it! It's the final post in my series on how I got an agent and book deal. Thanks for sticking with me. Now onto the exciting part!My first offer of representation was via email from Hillary Jacobson at the incredible ICM Partners. She told me how much she loved my book and wanted to jump on a call to discuss representation. For over five years I’d been working towards this goal and I couldn’t believe I was this close to achieving it. I quickly wrote to Hil...

Part onePart twoYou're still with me? Great! Let's continue.I should've been excited for my first Pitch Wars request, but instead I was filled with dread. I mistakenly thought the mentors made their decision on who to mentor based off the first chapter, query and a synopsis, which would have provided me with two more weeks to polish the manuscript before I had to send the full. But I was wrong. They wanted the full.Now.Lesson ten:make sure you know a competition's rules before entering.But FO...

Part OneLast week I began the story of my publishing journey. Settle in folks, because we still have a ways to go…At the end of 2014, I’d shelved my first complete manuscript, DREAM OF ME, and turned my attention to a significantly better manuscript, my YA fantasy, SEASONS OF STONE. But I wanted help this time, I wanted to fix any weak points before querying. I signed up for a weekly writing workshop withNicole Hayes(an amazing YA author) to highlight the holes in my plot and any weaknesses i...

I’ve long dreamed of the day I could write this post. The day I could write the words:My book is going to be published!!!No, I'm not crying, there's something in my eye...But it's been difficult to put fingers to the keyboard and actually write this. Perhaps it's because this moment, this declaration, means so much to me. It means my dreamshaveandarecontinuing to come true. How do I encapsulate that feeling? But I’m a writer, right? I should be able to do this.Warning:this is going to be a lo...

Hello!I've extracted myself from my writing cave to write a quick update on what's been happening over the last few months. It's been such a whirlwind! If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you'll already know I was chosen as a Pitch Wars 2016 finalist for my new manuscript, working title: THE MURDER DISK.Pitch Wars is an amazing competition for authors hoping to be published. All you need to do is submit a query letter and the first chapter to 4 mentors (or 6 if you donate to the competit...

Ever since I was a child, I've loved maps. They weren’t merely a tool for visualizing a fictional land, but something tactile to help transport me into the world I was reading about. The maps further connected me to the story, allowing me to imagine how I would traverse the environments myself.I mostly read adventure novels where kids would explore distant countries, different eras and far-off locales. The illustrated maps were my favourite part. I would study each and every detail carefully...

The process of writing a book is different for all writers. Some begin with a character or a voice which begs to be written. But for me, it’s the whisper of a concept—either the idea of fictional world, or an impossible scenario my characters will find themselves in. And concepts never arrive full formed—how useful that would be!—but rather are fluid, morphing from one thought to another until something sticks.This process of brainstorming, or daydreaming, can take months before I put fingers...

Happy Halloween everyone! As you probably know, Halloween is one of my favourite times of year. Although I grew up in Australia, I spent some of my formative years in the USA, which is why I believe Halloween is a justified celebration. In the States, we’d visit a pumpkin farm and pick the perfect pumpkin, just like hunting for the perfect Christmas tree.Halloween is slowly becoming a recognized holiday in Australia and this year Coles, Woolworths and Aldi all sold carving pumpkins. I couldn’...