I met Joyce Sweeney at Florida SCBWI meetings and through a writing course of hers I'd taken. In 2019, she edited THE MAGNIFICENT ROLLING ROXIE before I sent it out to agents. Afterwards, she always checked in to offer encouragement and ask how my submissions were going. She really loved my book, and was rooting for me! Joyce was the first one I hugged after I won my SCBWI Rising Kite Award in January 2020, and I ran across the ballroom to do it. I felt like she was in it with me 100%, and I wanted to share that moment with her.
At 7:15 one morning, Joyce sent me a text. "Could you please send me the full again, along with your query?" The address she gave was at The Seymour Agency. She was their newest agent!
Needless to say, I woke up fast. I laughed, I cried, I danced around on my roller skates. There is no better agent I could have in my corner than Joyce Sweeney!
BIO:
Jill Watson started her career as Associate Editor of True Confessions magazine. (Don't ask if the stories were real, she'll never tell.) After three years, plot twist! Jill moved over to the production end of publishing, where she managed Graphic Design departments at CBS, USA TODAY and a mutual funds company. She was also Type Consultant on fanzines for Amblin' Entertainment. Fun!
Every chance she got, Jill danced on her roller skates and in her cowboy boots. She appeared on several TV shows, as well as in a Top 10 Country Music video. All this, without the ability to hear the music well.
In 2017, Jill gave up the 9-to-whenever-o’clock life to concentrate on writing. Her first middle grade book, THE MAGNIFICENT ROLLING ROXIE, won a Rising Kite Award from SCBWI in 2020.
When she's not writing, Jill still dances on her skates. She also raises butterflies in her Florida garden and feeds two bunnies who visit every day. Jill is a member of SCBWI and the Central Park Dance Skaters Association. She’s represented by Joyce Sweeney.
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