Mentor: Kim Smejkal

by | Sep 17, 2017 | Mentors (R3) | 0 comments

@KimSmejkal

AGENT
Daniel Lazar, Writers House

WRITES
Dark Fantasy/Contemporary Fantasy/Light Sci-Fi

PUBLISHING STATUS
In Revisions

BIO
Kim Smejkal lives on beautiful Vancouver Island, Canada with her husband, two loud (and homeschooled!) kids, and a nervous puppy. She writes dark fantasy and science fiction for young adults and is represented by Daniel Lazar of Writers House.

PUBLISHING BACKGROUND
I’ve been writing seriously for about five years now, and my path towards publication has been long and winding. I’ve written five books: one got me an offer from a small press (which I turned down for various reasons), one landed me my first agent and we went on submission (but I had to pull it from consideration when that agent left the business), one I barely queried because I knew it would never be ready, another I queried heavily (and still love) but the premise wasn’t marketable enough to garner agent interest, and now, PHEW, my fifth got me a fabulous mentor in Pitch Wars last year, and then I signed with my new agent shortly afterwards. We’re currently working on revisions and I hope to be on submission soon.

EXPERIENCE
I’ve been deep in the writing, critique, revision, and querying world for a solid five years now, and have accumulated a lot of different experience along the way. Read my publishing background and you’ll see what I mean: dealing with a small publisher, multiple stints in the query trenches, being on submission, a not-great agent experience, and now a second, better agent experience. A lot has happened to me on this roller coaster.

I’ve helped critique partners with their stories and queries (two of which are now published authors!) and have received a lot of feedback on my own work. Being mentored in Pitch Wars last year was wonderful for showing me how mentorship works and how valuable it can be.

And during these past few years, I’ve also networked with many other writers. I can’t claim their experience, but these additional stories help with my perspective and add to my knowledge about the industry.

OVERVIEW
Send me your incredible YA fantasy–high or low, whimsical or serious–with unique and memorable characters. My biggest criteria is emotional resonance: if you can make me cry or laugh or get really pissed off, you win forever. 🙂

I love the weird and fantastical. And give me grey areas: good guys who act like bad guys, bad guys that make you doubt whose side you’re on, and stories that reflect the complexity of the world (even if that world is made up).

When I first began working towards publication, I was idealistic, naive, and, quite frankly, I didn’t know what I was doing. The up and down rollercoaster was so disheartening that I almost gave up. More than once.

Then…I had a fabulous experience with Pitch Wars. My mentor was incredible and taught me so much about the revision process, and, more importantly, it was fantastic to have someone firmly rooting for me and my little book to succeed. With all the rejection in this business, it’s invaluable to have someone believe in you.

I want to help a new author avoid some of the mistakes I made, cheer them on with their successes and commiserate with them about setbacks, and basically be the person I needed five years ago. 🙂

  • Fantasy
  • Sci-Fi
  • Magical Realism/Fabulism
  • #ownvoices
  • LGBTQIA
  • Urban/Contemporary Fantasy

My first and strongest love will always be fantasy. Whether it’s a complex high fantasy with incredible world-building or a contemporary story with a fantasy hook, I love books with speculative elements.

As for science fiction? Light sci-fi is best. Anything *too* science-y and you might lose me.

I WILL PROVIDE:

  • Edit Letter (Big Picture developmental feedback)
  • Line edit (dropping notes into a Word Document)
  • Freestyle in chat

WORKING STYLE
I’m willing to commit for the long term and adapt our relationship along the way. I’m relatively accessible and tend to respond quickly.

In terms of my mentoring style, I tend to go through books first as a reader: I look at the pacing, the romance, the characters, and the emotional feel of the story. Then I’ll reread with a more critical eye, making big picture suggestions for plot and character development, or pointing out any stylistic issues in the writing (hey, we all have our foibles).

I’m willing to help on as many revisions as needed to make the story as strong as possible: from multiple edit letters down to line editing. I’m also open to helping with brainstorming on a more casual level. Really, whatever the mentee and the book needs!

IDEAL MENTEE
My ideal mentee will be open to suggestions, ready to brainstorm, and willing to put the work in. Revisions can be heavy and intense–much more than moving commas around–and I’d like someone who is ready to butcher a few darlings for the greater good.

SEND ME:

  • LGBTQIA+ characters
  • girls front and center
  • feminist themes
  • This might be a little too specific, but I’d love a book with boy characters who subvert toxic masculine stereotypes (anything that pushes back on traditional gender stereotypes, really).

I love darker stories, morally ambiguous characters, and books that push boundaries in style, theme, or tone.

Great world-building and unique hooks are an added bonus.

And if you can fit a delicious romance in there, all the better! I looooove a strong romantic subplot.

DO NOT SEND ME:
There are no tropes on my Must Die list. As long as you execute them well, I’m open to pretty much anything.

No, amend that. I have one big pet peeve: girls who are mean to other girls just to be mean to other girls. Or even worse, they’re mean to each other over a boy. That trope can die.

And I can appreciate a good sword fight, murder, or escape scene, but if your book is VERY action-sequence heavy, I might not be the best mentor for you. I tend to like my conflict more subtle and underhanded.

FAVES
My favorite authors include Patrick Ness, A.S. King, Leigh Bardugo, Octavia Butler, A.G. Howard, Laini Taylor, Marie Rutkoski (she’s on my list forever for creating The Winner’s Curse), and V.E. Schwab.

I love superhero shows (currently bingeing The Defenders), camping, hiking, and hunting for beach treasures, and I have an unhealthy obsession with Alt-J ∆.