The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

In today’s episode, Bianca interviews the Hugo-Award winning and NYT bestselling sci-fi and fantasy author, Alix E. Harrow . They discuss Alix's latest novel, Starling House; her journey to publication and being chosen for Reese's Book Club; novellas and the fantasy/sci-fi genre's flexibility in the length of a work; Alix's process with world-building and her thought-process behind...

Today, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe critique a family saga submission and a psychological thriller.  They discuss whether there's a need for personalization at the top of your query; the importance of having POV information at the beginning of your letter; being concise with your wording; ensuring you illustrate how your multiple POV characters connect through plot and theme; examples of how to suc...

In today's second Bonus Episode of the month, Emilie Sommer from East City Bookshop answers all your burning comp title questions! To connect with Emilie Sommer go to https://www.instagram.com/emiliegsommer/ and you can find East City Bookshop at https://www.instagram.com/eastcitybookshop/ To ask for your own comp title recommendations, go to: https://www.theshitaboutwriting.com/submit-a-quest...

In this month’s bonus episode, Bianca interviews Reese's book pick and best-selling author Marissa Stapley , to discuss her latest, The Lightning Bottles . They chat about the genesis of the novel; taking your time writing and the beauty that lies in the process of creating; the inspiration behind Marissa's protagonist; why she chose specific characters as POV characters; how Marissa manag...

In today’s episode, we have two epic author interviews! The first is with NYT best-selling romance-fantasy author, Hannah Nicole Maehrer , and her agent, Brent Taylor . Bianca interviews Hannah and Brent to discuss Hannah's latest novel, Apprentice to the Villain ; Hannah's unique, TikTok-related inspiration for her debut novel; how Hannah views her genre; how Brent discovered Hannah; the...

Today, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe discuss a humorous contemporary fiction query and an upmarket book club query. They discuss clearly defining your genre; the importance of time stamps when you have a ticking time bomb situation; writing characters that are likeable or interesting enough that readers will want to follow their arc and journey; the necessity of giving characters wants and needs immedia...

In today’s author interview, Bianca interviews Amanda Peters , author of Waiting for the Long Night Moon , which is a collection of short stories. Amanda reads the first short story in the collection, and the two discuss framing and POV and Amanda's deliberate choices regarding POV in her stories; tension that comes from the reader knowing something the characters don't; writing quiet stor...

In today’s Book with Hooks episode, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe critique an upmarket women's fiction query and a dark romance one (spicy content warning!). They discuss the need for cause and effect between your plot points; avoiding overwriting in dialogue; the difficulties with having a very insecure protagonist; the need for something unexpected to happen in the opening pages; the concept of da...

In today's Books with Hooks, we’re throwing it back to an early backlist segment. After which Bianca interviews bestselling author, Coco Mellors, to discuss her latest novel, Blue Sisters . They discuss writing on the line level while using metaphor and similes to describe things in ways that no one else has expressed them before; the creation of Coco's extremely compelling prologue and ho...

In this month’s bonus episode, Bianca interviews writer, journalist, and author Fiona Barton . They discuss the resounding success of Fiona's debut, The Widow , and its unique journey to publication; the editing process with her agent; the transition from journalism to writing fiction; why Fiona included a prologue in her latest thriller, Talking to Strangers and what she wants readers to take...

In today's Books with Hooks, we’re throwing it back to an early backlist segment. After which, Bianca interviews sisters, Lynne and Valerie Constantine , who write under the pen name, Liv Constantine . The three discuss Lynne and Valerie’s latest bestselling novel, The Next Mrs. Parish ; their decision to write a sequel following their Audible prequel; being a ‘plotter,’ ‘pantser,’ or ‘plantse...

In today's Books with Hooks, we’re throwing it back to an early backlist segment. After which, CeCe interviews Claire Jiménez , assistant professor and author of What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez . They discuss the three pivotal moments in Claire's writing career; Claire's experience writing a multitude of POVs; how she went about developing her characters; how publishing is like a nightc...

In today's Books with Hooks, we’re throwing it back to an early backlist segment. After which, Bianca interviews MK Pagano , author of the YA thriller romance, Girls Who Burn . The two discuss MK's journey to publication; the importance of knowing when to part ways with an agent, even if s/he is a good agent; MK's experience with beta readers and following your heart when it comes to e...

In today's Books with Hooks, we’re throwing it back to an early backlist segment. After which, CeCe speaks with her very own client, Anamely Salgado Reyes , author of My Mother Cursed My Name . They discuss Anamely's query letter to CeCe and CeCe's response to it; Anamely's experience with her first round of edits from CeCe; the inspiration behind her work; how she feels about fami...

In this month’s bonus episode, Bianca interviews Kern Carter , author of And Then There Was Us .  They discuss the different routes to publication and the differences between traditional and self publishing; how Kern worked to improve his craft while trying to land an agent; the challenges of writing from a perspective that isn’t your own, and why you might choose to do so; how he approached chara...

In today's Books with Hooks, we’re throwing it back to an early backlist segment. After which, Bianca interviews creative writing professor, essayist, and author of Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance , Alison Espach . They discuss falling into the mode of writing the same sorts of novels repeatedly; the genre that Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance was pitched and marketed as; Alison's lat...

In today's Books with Hooks, we’re throwing it back to an early backlist segment. After which, CeCe interviews Parini Shroff , lawyer and author of the national bestseller and award nominated The Bandit Queens . They discuss, Parini's experience working as a lawyer part-time while also writing fiction; finding it difficult to sustain writing for long periods; Parini's editing and writi...

In today's Books with Hooks, we’re throwing it back to an early backlist segment. After which, Bianca interviews author, editor, head of Writing Ink Publishing, and creative writing teacher, Abigail Wild . They discuss Abigail's latest novel, More Than One Way To Breathe ; the extent to which younger readers can handle difficult topics; Abigail's advice to YA writers who want to write...

In today's Books with Hooks , we’re throwing it back to an early backlist segment. After which, Carly interviews her very own client and best-selling author, Renee Carlino , to discuss her latest novel, This Used to Be Us . They chat about Renee's journey to becoming a published author; how she found her first agent; what it's been like changing her focus and content over the course of...

In today's Books with Hooks , Bianca, CeCe, and Carly are joined by Jennifer to discuss her thriller submission. They chat about trigger warnings and their necessity in a query; ensuring your stakes aren't too obvious while illustrating the bigger 'why' at hand; framing your query letter in a way that highlights your POV characters and not others; the need for causality when it com...

In today's bonus episode, Bianca interviews author, Kirsten Miller , to chat about her latest novel, Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books . They discuss writing across different genres and what drove Kirsten to change up her genre; writing with the intention of sharing a message with readers; the inspiration behind the novel; Kirsten's experience working with different editors; putti...

In today's Books with Hooks , Bianca, Carly, and CeCe critique a rom-com and a YA submission. They discuss the importance of clarity in your query and avoiding language that might cause confusion; the necessity of a clear major dramatic question in your query; ensuring your protagonists aren't anticipating everything that happens in your pages; the necessity of including a character's...

In today's Books with Hooks , Bianca, CeCe, and Carly critique two upmarket submissions, one of which is in the gothic genre. They discuss the reasoning behind placing your metadata at the top of a query; avoiding unnecessary detail in your query; avoiding slipping from pitch to synopsis; the need for interiority, particularly interiority that will surprise the reader; taking the opportunity t...

In today's Books with Hooks , Bianca, CeCe, and Carly are joined by guest literary agent, Mary C. Moore . They critique a resubmission and a sci-fi query, during which they discuss: the importance of making tropes as fresh and different as possible; how to ensure your pitch isn't too dense, especially in genres that involve world-building; highlighting why you're the right person to te...

In today's Books with Hooks , Bianca, Carly, and CeCe are joined by listener, Kelly Fuller , as they critique her book club fiction submission. They discuss picking comps that match the genre you're writing in; using your query to discuss the plot of the book rather than backstory about your characters; ensuring your stakes are high enough; pitching the right agent for your book based on i...