Romancing the Genres

Hi everyone! 

I am Young Adult and Middle Grade author Barbara Binns, writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for adolescents and teens. As my tagline says, I write Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them.  

Welcome to June at Romancing The Genres.

I recently volunteered to be a mentor to an aspiring author, as part of a pilot mentoring program set up by KidLitNation (http://kidlitnation.com/home/own-your-voice/mentorship-program/)

In 2016, Urania Smith and I worked together to fund the attendance of three aspiring authors to an Illinois SCBWI conference. This picture shows Urania and I plus the three scholarship recipients. Urania went on to co-found KidLitNation. That organization continues to provide conference scholarships. They also hold monthly informational webinars, and now, is setting up this mentorship. I continue to contribute to the scholarship fund, presented one of their webinars last year, and now will be one of their first crop of mentors.

Part of me is eager to begin sharing my knowledge in a new arena. The rest of me is gripped with terror that this person will discover that I know nothing, that my career is where it is solely because of luck. This is a six-month commitment, so I need to put aside the impostor syndrome trying to own my head, and use my knowledge to help another author move along their path. Currently I and two other mentors are evaluating writing samples and trying to determine who we might be compatible with.

For the past few years I have made presentations to school children about writing and courage, to librarians, parents and teachers. Today, June 12, I will be making a presentation to writers about writing cross-cultural fiction. I love teaching almost as much as I like writing. I've been a critique partner. And now, I am ready to conquer new territory in helping others.

 Picking a mentee is not quite like picking a significant other. It’s not even like picking an agent (and yes, I will need to discuss finding and using an agent with my mentee.) It’s a little like the Voice during the blinds. I get to see the writing, ask them a little about their hopes and work ethic, and what they expect from a mentor. Once I find someone whose expectation for the relationship matches mine, we’ll hook up.

A mentor is not a teacher or critique group,  not a writing partner or beta reader.  This is one person who has been through the door trying to help another get past the threshold. I hope to be a brain to pick, an eye to guide, an ear to listen and an arm to give a push in the right direction. I plan to challenge him or her to do more, maybe more than they think they can. Most of all, I will be a loud voice in their cheering section.


I would love to hear from any of you who have been in a mentor/mentee relationship. Someone who helped you on the path to achieving your personal goals? Please comment on how the relationship worked for you. And, if for some reason the relationship didn't work out the way you wanted, share that too. I want to hear both the good and the bad.