Adiba: Though I have never been a mentee, I have been a mentor! I was an R7 mentor for Author Mentor Match, and a mentor for the inaugural round of Avengers Of Colour, a mentorship programme for authors of colour. Along with helping my mentees with their manuscripts, I have also aided them through querying and submission processes. I’m the author of THE HENNA WARS, which has been well-received by readers and has two starred reviews, and the upcoming HANI AND ISHU’S GUIDE TO FAKE DATING.

Image of Gabriela Martins and Adiba Jaigirdar on a pink background, with a rainbow image to one side

As a queer Bangladeshi Muslim author I also have a unique perspective on writing and publishing, and as a mentor to multiple marginalised writers I have experience in the hurdles that authors come up against in publishing. 

When I’m not writing, I love reading extensively and playing video games. I’m represented by Uwe Stender at Triada US

Gabhi: Hi! I'm a kidlit author and linguist. My debut novel LIKE A LOVE SONG will be published by Underlined/Delacorte in summer 2021. I haven't had the experience of formally mentoring yet, but! I have been a teacher for the past ten years! Like Adiba, I am also a queer creator. I'm from the south of Brazil, and Latinidade is a topic very dear to me. I also have two cats, which is not super relevant for my CV, but I feel is extremely important to mention. Their names are Fitz and Simmons, they snuggle each other and me a lot, and we also spoon. They're the LOVES OF MY LIFE, along with languages and traveling, two things I love almost as much as my babies. (I am one of those women who call their pets children. I can't even pretend to be sorry.) I am represented by Chelsea Eberly at Greenhouse Literary

LET'S GO TEAM RAINBOW!!!!

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BECAUSE WE ARE THE BEST MENTORS. No jk. (Unless…?) 

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We've both been through publishing- and life-rejections enough times that we know what it's like. We want to hold your hand through the nerve-wrecking process of revising and querying, and hopefully going on submission as well. We've been friends for years, and during our friendship, we've cheered each other on hard. We want to extend that cheerleading to you, as well as offer our experiences in revision, querying trenches, and submission, to help inform your choices as well as possible.

#TEAMRAINBOW GO!!!!