The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

In today's Books with Hooks , Carly and CeCe are joined by guest Alicia Clancy , executive editor at Lake Union Publishing. They discuss the need to establish what is real and what is made up in a fantasy query; the importance of physical movement in the opening pages to help with pacing; avoiding vague plot points in your query, especially when relating to the climax; sufficiently explaining...

In today's Books with Hooks , Bianca, Carly, and CeCe discuss an example of an excellent hook and query letter in general; the issues with beginning your novel with a cliched scene; the importance of emotional layers in interiority, especially with big, messy emotions; framing your query letter in a way that gives your protagonist more agency and 'protagonism', or that shows how a char...

In today's December Bonus Episode , Bianca interviews Sarah Lariviere , YA author of The Bad Kid , Time Travel for Love and Profit, and the upcoming, Riot Act . They discuss Sarah's decision to base her latest novel in her hometown; pinpointing what makes a work fit into the YA category; writing in a way that is authentic to your audience (including the language you use and how you portray...

In today's Books with Hooks, CeCe, Carly, and Bianca are joined by Harvey to discuss his submission. They chat about illustrating plot escalation in a query; boosting SEO through your title choice; stakes that are personally important to the protagonist; the importance of cross-over with characters when you have multiple main characters; the need for causality when it comes to plot points; CeC...

In today's Books with Hooks , Carly, CeCe , and Bianca discuss a historical mystery and a women's fiction query. They chat about whether starting from a male or female POV may (or may not) affect how agents request pages; why an author whose work is quite polished may not have received many requests from agents; transforming hooks in ways that will garner the most agent and editor attentio...

In today's Books with Hooks , Bianca, Carly , and CeCe are joined by guest, Ronnie Alvarado , a senior editor at Simon Element. They discuss two queries, one of which includes a resubmission. The four discuss why agents might pass on a resubmission despite changes having been made; how info-dumping can keep readers from connecting with characters; why writing interiority is like squeezing an o...

In today's Books with Hooks , Bianca, Carly and CeCe critique two listener query letters, one fantasy and one middle-grade fiction. During which, they discuss the need for characters to physically move around and the idea that a lack of movement might mean too much interiority and not enough plot; the need for interiority to match point of view; Bianca gives line level writing advice about phr...

In today's Bumper November Bonus Episode , Emilie Sommer of East City Bookshop kicks us off with suggested comp titles.  After which, Bianca is joined by Uzma Jalaluddin and Marissa Stapley , co-authors of Three Holidays and a Wedding . They discuss the differences in approach in writing a collaborative project rather than a solo one; the benefits of writing genre-fiction when it comes to crea...

In today's Books with Hooks , Bianca, Carly , and CeCe are joined by Nicole to discuss her query submission. They discuss the introduction of characters in a query letter to avoid overwhelming the reader; avoiding 'hopping' around in time and switching tenses in a query; ideas to up the stakes within the relationship of Nicole's main characters; examples of how Nicole successfully...

In today's Books with Hooks , Bianca , Carly and CeCe critique two query letters. They discuss a good example of the concept of 'curiosity seeds'; the importance of expedience when getting a character from point A to point B; the creation of immediacy through present tense; how to give specifics in the query letter without ruining the curiosity seeds you want to plant in the pages; how...

In today's Books with Hooks , Bianca, Carly and CeCe are joined by guest agent, Dana Murphy. The four discuss the need for specificity in a query letter; whittling at larger ideas to hone them and make them clearer; internal logic within a scene; the necessity of 'upfront' world building; being clear with stakes in a query letter; the difficulty of pitching something as 'humorous&#...

In today's Books with Hooks , Carly and CeCe critique two query letters. During which, they discuss how specificity can make your novel seem more realistic; the challenges with switching between different types of narration; a prologue that CeCe likes; the depth that interiority adds to dialogue; and the difficulty with relying on a character's memory to create a plot. After which, Bianca...

In today's bumper October Bonus Episode , Emilie Sommer of East City Bookshop kicks us off with suggested comp titles. After which, Jessica Knoll joins Carly to talk about Bright Young Women . They also discuss opening pages and prologues; the book vs the audio version; violence on the page; the power in naming things we typically shy away from; the internet and social media as a tool for auth...

In today's bumper October Bonus Episode , Emilie Sommer of East City Bookshop kicks us off with suggested comp titles. After which, Jessica Knoll joins Carly to talk about Bright Young Women . They also discuss opening pages and prologues; the book vs the audio version; violence on the page; the power in naming things we typically shy away from; the internet and social media as a tool for auth...

On today's Books with Hooks, Carly and CeCe are joined by podcast listener, Johnny Hobson . While reviewing his query letter, they discuss avoiding a synopsis-heavy query; the importance of showing the protagonism of a main character in a query; breaking down the mechanics of a love scene to reflect reality; the issue with starting a novel in a place where everything is going well; and some of...

In today's Books with Hooks , Carly and CeCe critique three query letters. During the segment, they discuss the need for physicality of movement as well as inner life in opening pages; 'wrong shoe theory' to emphasize the importance of making surprising choices as a storyteller; causality when writing about plot points in a query; and the need for character depth. After which, Bianca i...

In today’s  Books with Hooks ,  Carly  and  CeCe  critique two submissions, discussing how to include enough of a hook in a query without spoiling the story; burying the lead; making it obvious how an author wants readers to feel about certain things; longer query letter word counts; personifying the antagonist; and polished pages on a scene level. After which, Bianca interviews Hannah Mary McKinn...

In today's Books with Hooks , Carly and CeCe critique three query letters during which they discuss the 'hook, book, cook' method; the importance of layering emotionality and depth; writing a narrator that starts as a child and becomes an adult; and the line between emphasis when writing, and not being confident in what you're writing. They also critique a query that was previously...

In today's Books with Hooks , Carly and CeCe are joined by listener, Jessica , while they critique and discuss her query letter and pages. They discuss the need for the level of external plot to match the level of interiority; specificity to create an 'atmosphere' around your novel; how women's fiction readers feel about swearing in a novel; and creating a sense of believability an...

In today's bumper September Bonus Episode , Emilie Sommer of East City Bookshop kicks us off with suggested comp titles. After which, Bianca interviews Nina Simon , author of Mother-Daughter Murder Night , a debut that was chosen for Reese’s Book Club. They discuss Nina’s nightmare-turned-dream debut experience; the trend of the cozy murder mystery; picking the right agent; the query letter th...

In today’s  Books with Hooks ,  Carly  and  CeCe  critique three submissions, in the process discussing intentionality with regards to timelines; how novels with certain types of themes need to get 'messy'; the importance of specificity; showing rather than telling; and using active emotions. After which Bianca interviews LaToya Watkins , acclaimed author of the short story anthology Holle...

In today's episode, Carly and CeCe are joined by Maya Golden, author of The Return Trip . During the episode, they discuss a query that was previously submitted to BWH; the need for balance between bio and plot in a query letter; memoirists writing their query letter plot/body paragraphs in first person rather than third; and cautioning against focusing on questions when writing plot paragraph...

In today’s  Books with Hooks ,  Carly  and  CeCe  critique three submissions and cover topics like having escalating plot in the plot paragraphs; having only one POV character; weaving in setting in historical fiction, interiority; character names in query letters vs synopses; ensuring dual timelines connect; passivity and coincidences; using statements instead of questions in the query; short fra...

In today's episode, Carly and CeCe are joined by Kelly S. Thompson , author of the memoir Still, I Cannot Save You . The three discuss: POV lending itself to emotionality in pages and the importance of choosing the right POV to fully exemplify that emotionality; the two required elements of a memoir and the importance of a thematic singular thread through it; remembering what your reader knows...

In today's bumper August Episode , we have two amazing author interviews as well as a Q & A and Comp Title segment. Bianca first chats with bestselling and award-winning author, Emma Donoghue, about her latest novel, Learned By Heart . During the segment, the two discuss quieter novels; waiting for the right time to write a particular novel; the limitations of playwriting vs novel writing;...