Queries, Qualms, & Quirks

Fantasy Author R.R. Virdi joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss the cover his mom designed, the difference between indie and trad, seeing the sign at Barnes and Noble, the importance of asking questions, how delays snowball, and how publishing is different for everybody. R.R. Virdi is a usa today bestseller, two time dragon award-finalist and nebula award finalist. He is the aut...

Middle Grade Author Esme Symes-Smith joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss genre labels, the two-glass-of-wine query, how NaNoWriMo prepared them for publishing, inspiration from Tamora Pierce, waiting for the other shoe to drop, the fanfiction gateway, making excuses for yourself, Esme Symes-Smith grew up in the Southwest of England, got their degree in Literature and Creative...

Young Adult Author Laura Taylor Namey joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss learning to write a novel by writing one, the pitfall of comparison, longevity as an author, romanticizing publishing, and doing things backward. Laura Taylor Namey is the New York Times and international bestselling author of Reese’s Book Club pick A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, The Library o...

Middle Grade Author PJ Gardner joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss coming to writing late in life, how querying is like boxing, writing as a calling, how promoting for MG is different from promoting for YA, querying with old data, taking big risks but expecting safe results, and how the success goalposts always move. PJ Gardner has never met a talking animal, but that hasn’t s...

Young Adult Author Sarah Suk joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss the writing group that started it all, Author Mentor Match, how being on submission was harder than querying, realizing her community is not her competition, worrying if anything's going to work out, and the importance of writer and non-writer friends. Sarah Suk lives in Vancouver, Canada, where she writes storie...

Women’s Fiction Author Sierra Godfrey joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss how it's okay if you need longer than other writers, selling a book quickly by doing ten years pre-work, having your agent leave the business, why writers truly need agents, feelings of inadequacy, comparison being the thief of joy, and the importance of learning the market. Sierra Godfrey is the author...

Non-fiction author Catherine Baab-Muguira joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss 12 years of querying, the worst feedback she’s received, rewriting her book proposal top to bottom three times, how doing things wrong is the process, and the village that raised her book. Catherine Baab-Muguira is a writer and journalist who has contributed to the Wall Street Journal, Slate, CNBC an...

Sci-Fi Author Nanci Schwartz joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss learning to control what you can and letting the rest go, writing while pregnant, debuting during a pandemic, how Star Wars inspired her books, and more. Nanci Schwartz is an instructional writer by day, a science fiction author by night, and a mom 24/7. In her small amounts of free time, she can be found galliva...

Kidlit Author Lyn Miller-Lachmann joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss losing two agents, getting close and not getting remotely close, what her MFA did for her, having a sequel come out six years later, her concerns as an Autistic writer, the importance of loving the process, and more. Lyn Miller-Lachmann is the author of the YA novels Torch, Gringolandia, and Surviving Santia...

Author and Poet Donna Gordon joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss switching from poetry to prose, the impact of mentors, a long interruption of her writing career, how her visual art helps her writing, needing to write, learning to put herself first, going from being a writer to an author, the stamina it takes to write and sell a book, and collaborating with people who can see...

Women’s Fiction Author Roselle Lim joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss parting with an agent, querying a book 120 times, how debuts are like weddings, crying on release day, worrying about things you can't control, how changing for people who hate your book alienates the people who love your book, and the importance of both writing and non-writing community Roselle Lim is the...

SFF Author Erin Fulmer joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss the importance of community, realizing writing is not such a solitary pursuit, doing things out of order, marketing as a small press author, worrying about choosing the wrong path, and the pros and cons of going with a small press. Erin Fulmer is an attorney by day, author of science fiction and fantasy by night. A 202...

Mystery Author Sandra Block joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss querying with stamps, taking a 15 year break, reading the book on common mistakes (see link below), multiple R&Rs to get a book deal, dealing with the lack of control over the publishing process, being kind with herself, and carving out time to write. Sandra A. Block graduated from college at Harvard, then ret...

Young Adult Author Jamie Beth Cohen joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss the strawberry shortcake origin story, going against a mentor's advice, the ups and downs of going with a small press, having more to say than having time to write it down, and getting a lot out of Pitch Wars without having been selected. Jamie Beth Cohen is a writer, speaker, and storyteller who lives in...

Gothic Fiction Author Paulette Kennedy joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss letting go of perfectionism to get a draft done, the impact of her first critical critique, learning about publishing on twitter, how much influence Marketing has on publishing a book, her favorite marketing activities, wanting to "get an A" on her first draft, and having a #pitmad twitter pitch go vira...

Historical Fiction Author Addison Armstrong joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss predicting her jobs in Pre-K, querying too soon due to excitement, graduating college with a literary agent, taking her book offer call with a broom in one hand, being surprised by a two-book contract, how a book contract changed her feelings towards writing, and worrying that the first book contra...

Young Adult Author Crystal Maldonado joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss boyband fan fiction, the one book that made her feel like there might be room for her stories, googling everything, being shy about being a writer, her actual rejections from publishers, covid interfering with her publishing schedule, her book baby taking a backseat to her human baby, being grateful for t...

Book Club Fiction Jessica Strawser joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss not believing in her own writing, being inspired by the authors she interviewed, realizing successful authors are regular people, the difference between knowing what a good query letter is and writing your own, the overlap in publishing schedules, worrying you've wasted so much time, advice from Debbie Maco...

Young Adult Author Carolyn Tara O’Neil joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss dreaming of being Carolyn Keene, spending five years drafting and revising her debut, reading the entire Query Shark blog, adding a POV to increase request rate by 600%, how much work her agent actually does, writing one day a week, worrying of never writing something worthy, not beating yourself up, an...

Young Adult Author Margie Fuston joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss having both a great and a terrible Pitch Wars experience, ditching a PhD to write a book, selling a trunked novel after getting an agent, R&Rs, making the one change she said she'd never make, fear of social media, taking care of your mental and physical health. Margie Fuston lives in the woods of Califor...

Science-Fiction Author Jackson Ford joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss almost giving up, being encouraged by a friend, having his first series not meet sales expectations, transitioning from journalism to fiction, and not spending enough time with his characters. Jackson Ford is a South African author living in Vancouver. He is the author of the Frost Files series, starring t...

Young Adult Author Sarah Dass joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss letting go of a book to move forward, the importance of finishing books, her debut group, a disastrous first book, amassing 100 rejections, Pitch Wars, and getting published with your third book. Sarah Dass was born in Trinidad but has lived in Tobago since she was two years old. She works as an office administr...

Book Club Fiction Author Lyn Liao Butler joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss the book that started as a blog, dissecting her favorite books to learn to write, doing an R&R, not getting into Pitch Wars (for a great reason), reviving trunked novels, post-publication uncertainty, traveling for research, the importance of community, and the benefit of an agent in your corner....

Nonfiction Author Jessica P. Pryde joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss starting in fanfic, the magic of writing dates, getting an agent without querying, learning how to write a nonfiction proposal, long waiting periods, worrying about the concept matching the reality, narrowing your audience to make your book better, and more. Jessica P. Pryde is a Contributing Editor for Boo...

Young Adult Author Lauren James joins Queries, Qualms, & Quirks this week to discuss having a supportive family, thinking every year this will be the year she has to get a real job, the ten year gap year, when your entire America publishing team gets fired, publishing three books during the pandemic, the one course she wish she'd taken, trusting your instincts, and the value in an editor who a...