The #PitchWars Mentee Bloghop!

Hello #PitchWars peeps! Welcome to Mermaids and Margaritas. I’m Becka, head mermaid and margarita-maker.

I live in Charleston, SC, although I’m originally from Lansing and Grand Rapids, MI (and married a boy from Detroit). Said boy and I have been married for 9.5 years (been together for 15) and have lived in Charleston for eleven. We have two American Staffordshire Terrier mixes (one is part Dachshund. I know: ouch!), three cats (one came with us all the way from Michigan!), and five chickens. Three of those baby chickens arrived in a box barely bigger than a shoebox three days ago, and I’m already in love with them <3

This year, I submitted a manuscript called SPEAK THE OCEAN, and you’ve probably guessed that it’s about mermaids. Creepy mermaids. My mermaids can’t grow legs and become human. In fact, they’re one of the apex predators of the sea (sharks can and do kill them, but not often). Just like in the original Hans Christian Andersen story, my mermaids turn into seafoam when they die, which is why it took so long for humans to find them (no bodies). Because of my background in fisheries biology, my fantasy story is very much grounded in science, right down to the feeling of the electroshocker.

In college I was a dumbass and electrocuted myself while trying to collect fish in a river. That shit HURTS. Which is why—if you’re the MC and you feel that—you’re reluctant to use it on anything else, even a fish. Especially a fish that looks pretty damn humanoid. And a fish that’s pretty damn humanoid doesn’t learn to be quiet if it’s not shocked every time it makes a noise.

I think you see where this is going. Actually, you may not, because StO isn’t a romance. It’s more like this:

Once more with feeling. And blood. Lots of blood.

The whole marine biology thing didn’t work out because I enjoy working in a lab with chemicals that change color and things that go BOOM on occasion. I’m now a nuclear chemist—NO I DON’T MAKE BOMBS. I actually protect you from the bombs that are being made. I test water, soil, vegetation, and tissue samples for radioactivity, PCBs, pesticides, and herbicides, to make sure the bad things aren’t getting into the water and food supply. I’m one of the good guys 🙂

I’m a Whovian, a Cylon, a level 74 Night Elf Hunter (although it’s been a while), and a My Little Pony fanatic (I no longer collect, but I pre-date the Bronies by about 30 years). I have somehow turned into a backyard farmer.

But I’ve always been a mermaid.

Finally, my amazing CP Michael Mammay (who is also participating in PitchWars, but doesn’t have a blog to do a fun post of his own), wrote a testimonial for me:

Hi. My name is Mike, and I’m also entering Pitch Wars. I’ve worked with Becka on writing for the last year, and I’d like to provide this testimonial on her behalf.

She once killed a man with her bare hands. Don’t worry, he was totally a bad guy. He was mean to a puppy or something. And she may or may not have a Pegasus for a pet. I’ve never seen it myself, but South Carolina is a small state, and people talk. Oh, you want to know about writing? She knows like ALL the words. Rumor has it that she wrote the dictionary.

Seriously, she’s great to work with and takes feedback better than anyone I’ve ever met. And you can trust me on that. Because I’m Batman.

Mike is an amazing CP, and anyone would be lucky to have him as a mentee. Mostly because he’s willing to keep that secret about what happened to the mean-puppy guy…

Wait.

You can find the other mentee bios by following this link.