It has happened:
✨ 2 form rejections ✨
✨ rejection on a full ✨
AND-
✨ officially diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome after spilling coffee all over my lap top ✨
It has been a DAY 😭 but now I’m going to query 3 more agents because I’m not quitting, Universe 😜
I am ✨ ECSTATIC ✨ to announce that I am now represented by
@DanielleBurby
@ MWLA! 😱
I am so incredibly thrilled that my Evermore sisters have found a home outside their crumbling castle & w/ a dream agent! 🖤 I am so thrilled to start this next step in my publishing journey!
Just curious- 🕯️🍂
I know we love dark academia, but how do we feel about FANTASY dark academia? Like dark academia but in a full fantasy world? 👀 like with their own gods and religion and magic and whatnot
Just curious: does anyone else keep their writing life separate from other parts of their life or just me? 👀 for example, until today, I never once posted on Facebook about my writing journey, and even then, I only posted a mug my husband gave me as a gift for getting an agent
Anyone else get stressed out by all your WIP ideas and how long they will take to write, nonetheless publish, if they ever even get published? No? Just me? Okay😅 😅 😅
Querying is kind of depressing in the sense that I’ll be querying one book, but then I’ll start writing/editing another like, “oh if THAT book doesn’t make it,maybe this one will when I query it!” but it’s also like, I really want the first book to make it 😭
#amquerying
#writing
Three years & five months ago today I sent my ✨ very first ✨ query. It was a 146,000 YA fantasy about mermaids/sirens/pirates that I have since cut down, rewritten, & still plan to rewrite again someday 😂 all that to say, my querying journey officially ends tomorrow 😱 🖤🖤🖤
Poe’s ELEANORA x fantasy MIDSOMMAR x BRIDGERTON
🖤 a mysterious sponsor
🖤 a sickly daughter
🖤 dreamy balls
🖤 dreamy suitors
🖤 an idyllic valley
🖤 a tomb in the middle of that valley
Is it truly a dream come true… or too good to be true? 👀
#questpit
#wip
#ya
A full request!!!!! From an agency I low key never thought I would get a request from!!! 😭 😭 😭 Except now I’m not sure whether to wait & send the revised version, or send the old version, since she liked the older pages
Third full request in less than two weeks!🖤 It’s funny how you’ll get 50 rejections or silence for weeks, then out of nowhere, bam! Three requests! And I have been getting rejections still, so let this be your sign to never give up, you never know when your luck will change 🍀
THE LITTLE MERMAID x PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
🧜♀️ a siren desperate to break a curse
🧜♀️ a mermaid hopelessly in love w/ a human
🏴☠️ a pirate determined to catch a mermaid
🏝️ a deadly journey to the Pirate’s Graveyard
☠️ deadly gods who meddle
#questpit
#wip
#ya
Signed with a DREAM agent ✨🖤 still in disbelief tbh
Came out of my shell & started marketing with the help of Canva
Grew my following to 1000+ amazing writers
Started re-writing my raven retelling
Three new WIPs in various stages 👀 not that I needed any more ideas 😅
GOTHIC BRIDGERTON
When an unleashed magic brings the ghosts of Evermore castle back to life during their weeklong ball, estranged sisters Annabel Lee and Lenore Evermore are forced to work together before their castle by the sea becomes their tomb by the sea
#questpit
#ya
#f
#h
Nothing like discovering a mistake in a query after sending it to agents, despite re-reading it every time I send out a new query 😩 like how??
#amquerying
Why is it always so nerve wracking to send out my manuscript to an agent who actually WANTS my full? Also why is it a fear that I’m going to somehow send the wrong file?? 😅
Poe’s LIGEIA x STALKING JACK THE RIPPER
👻 a girl who is haunted by her husband’s dead first wife
🍂 an encroaching willow tree
💀 catacombs beneath the town
🩸 bloodless victims
🧛🏻♀️ is it a vampire?
🔪 or a deranged killer? 👀
#questpit
#wip
GOTHIC BRIDGERTON
When an unleashed magic brings the ghosts of Evermore castle back to life during their weeklong ball, estranged sisters Annabel Lee and Lenore Evermore are forced to work together before their castle by the sea becomes their tomb by the sea
#questpit
#ya
#f
#h
I have come to the realization that querying is a lot like taking a major test. You studied for it, you know the answers, but then there’s that ONE question (“why are you the right one to tell this story?”) that throws you off, and your mind… blanks.
#amquerying
It only takes one yes
It only takes one yes
It only takes one yes.
This week has been an emotional rollercoaster, & I am tired 😪 Today, I am ✨🕯️ manifesting 🕯️✨ good news, good health (mental & physical), confidence, positivity, a financial break (😭) & more full requests 🕯️
All I want is an agent and a decent-sized book deal so I can comfortably buy my cats a ridiculous amount of cat trees and properly spoil them. Is that so much to ask? 😂 🐈 🐈⬛
Poe’s THE RAVEN x fantasy CRIMSON PEAK x BELLADONNA
👻 a girl who sees ghost, or a girl who has gone mad?
🥀 a garden of poisonous flowers
☠️ a missing servant
🏰 a haunted castle
✨ dreams of a dark god
🖤 a swoony boy… but is he real or proof of her madness?
#questpit
#ya
✨🕯️✨ Manifesting that the agents with my query in their maybe piles turn their “maybes” to “yes” because I’m ready to crawl into a hole & I need a pick-me-up 💀💀💀 an offer of rep would also suffice✨🕯️✨
So an agent who already has my full has been liked a few of my Annabel Lee posts over the past week… 👀 dare I… let myself feel hope? (Nope- only crippling anxiety and imposter syndrome 😅)
Hi
#WritersOfTwitter
I’m Debby, & I mostly write gothic fantasy Edgar Allan Poe retellings about loss, death, grief, madness, & more 👻💀🥀🐈⬛🌊🏰 I’ve also written a magical mermaid/siren/pirate Little Mermaid retelling 🌊🧜🏻♀️🏴☠️⛈️✨
can we bring back
#WritersOfTwitter
again? i would love to meet some new writer friends (& hype up the ones i’m lucky to know already) so go ahead and (re)introduce yourself! 👀💕
Who is participating in
#pitdark
?
My story’s vibes include-
🖤 Annabel Lee Retelling w/ Gothic Bridgerton & dark fairytale vibes
🏰 this castle is a tomb
🌊 weeklong ball by the sea
⛈️ ghosts that roll in w/ the storms
👻 haunted lighthouse
💀 family curses & bargains w/ gods
Ahhh only a few days until I’m no longer vague 😱😱😱 I’m seeing so many people announcing their rep & I’m so happy for everyone & it’s making me even more excited for when it’s my turn 👻
She had my query for 13 days, and my full for 7 according to Query Tracker 😎 so less than a month after I sent that query, I had an offer of rep! You never know when that query you send will end up changing your journey, so keep going 🕯️✨
After 3.5 years,
5 stories,
1 complete rewrite,
seriously querying stories
#1
, 4, 5 & then my rewrite of story
#2
,
my querying journey will be coming to an end in only a couple of days!! It still feels so surreal 😱😱😱
THE LITTLE MERMAID x PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
🧜♀️ a siren desperate to break a curse
🧜♀️ a mermaid hopelessly in love w/ a human
🏴☠️ a pirate determined to catch a mermaid
🏝️ a deadly journey to the Pirate’s Graveyard
☠️ deadly gods who meddle
#pitlight
✨🕯️ Manifesting an offer of rep 🕯️✨
✨🕯️Manifesting more fulls 🕯️✨
✨🕯️Manifesting healthy days 🕯️✨
✨🕯️ Manifesting any good news, really. Please, universe. Anything 😂 🕯️✨
Poe’s LIGEIA x STALKING JACK THE RIPPER
👻 a girl who is haunted by her husband’s dead first wife
🍂 an encroaching willow tree
💀 catacombs beneath the town
🩸 bloodless victims
🧛🏻♀️ is it a vampire?
🔪 or a deranged killer? 👀
#YouDeservepIt
#wip
#f
#amagented
For any creeping agents 👀
When an unleashed magic brings the ghosts of Evermore castle back to life during their weeklong ball, estranged sisters, Annabel Lee and Lenore Evermore, are forced to work together before their castle by the sea becomes their tomb by the sea.
Just a daily reminder to myself - and anyone else who needs to hear it - it only takes ✨ONE✨ yes. Manifesting good news for all of us 🍀✨🕯️
(Writing this tweet as I struggle revising a certain chapter of mine 😂 I WILL get it right! But also… this coffee is not enough)
As the days creep closer ‘til I’m no longer vague, I can’t help but reflect on the story that finally got me my agent. My story on loss, grief & guilt. A story that has helped process my own loss, grief & guilt, which I have experienced too much of in the years I’ve been querying
#LeapPitch
✨🕯️
GOTHIC BRIDGERTON 👻
When an unleashed magic brings the ghosts of Evermore castle back to life during their weeklong ball, estranged sisters Annabel Lee and Lenore Evermore are forced to work together before their castle by the sea becomes their tomb by the sea
Impromptu
#LeapPitch
✨
🥀 heirs compete in a death match for the throne
⚔️ secrets, betrayals, traitors & all the revenge
🥀 friends to lovers to enemies to ???
⚔️ they are all villains
🥀 4 POVs
I
#amquerying
this book, if any agents are interested, my dm’s are open 🫶🏻
Finally get to share who my agent is, ahhh! 👻 👻 👻 I am still this seagull every time I think about how lucky I am. Now to post today, or wait ‘til tomorrow since there’s a pitch event? 🧐
So just asking for vague purposes, because I’m awkward & it didn’t occur to ask this until now, but when do you guys usually announce your agent? When you tell the offering agent? When they reply? When you sign? A few days after? 😂 I’m too awkward for this
✨Got my first query rejection since becoming agented ✨
It was for my Nevermore book, which was two projects ago, nearly a year since I sent my last query for that story & I completely forgot I had any queries still out for it 😅
Got two partial requests in January. A good start to 2024 imo.
Now I’m ✨manifesting✨ more partials/fulls/good news when I’m ready to start querying again next week 😎 ✨🍀✨🍀✨ Gotta get these manifestations in early, so they have a while to cook ✨🍀✨🍀✨
✨ Manifesting an agent, future book deals, & the hope that someday I will live in a house with a room that overlooks a nice forest or wood area, & I can just stare at nature while writing my books ✨ 🍃🍂🍁🌲
So I got an email offering to do that query tracker success story interview, and I’m not going to send it in until I officially accept my offer, but I’m answering the questions and my answers are so long and completely at odds with how quiet I am in my life outside of writing 😂
Poe’s THE OVAL PORTRAIT x TRC x SJTR
💀 a girl whose touch lets her see the past
🎨 a killer who paints grisly portraits of his victims
🖤 an ex who needs her help to solve the murders
🔮 a coven of psychic witches
🕯️ a seance gone wrong
👻 a haunted locket
#YouDeservepIt
#f
I’m on so many maybe lists 🥲 but will any of them turn to a full???
Time to manifest ✨ 🕯️ ✨ 🕯️ ✨ 🕯️ ✨
Manifesting that I will soon find a home for my spooky, sea-drenched, Gothic Bridgerton-esque Annabel Lee Retelling novel 🖤🖤🖤
Poe’s ELEANORA x fantasy MIDSOMMAR x BRIDGERTON
🖤 three sisters
🖤a mysterious sponsor
🖤 a sickly daughter
🖤 dreamy balls
🖤 dreamy suitors
🖤 an idyllic valley
🖤 a tomb in the middle of that valley
Is it truly a dream come true… or too good to be true? 👀
#pitlight
title: Ghosts of Evermore
genre: gothic fantasy
setting: fantasy - Castle Evermore by the Plutonian Sea in the country Nethermoore
theme song: The Lighthouse by Halsey
age range: young adult
comps: House of Salt and Sorrows x A Study in Drowning x Bridgerton
title: TSSB
genre: romantic fantasy
setting: reimagining of early 1900s england / yorkshire moors
theme song: sunlight - hozier
age range: adult
comps: down comes the night x master of crows x wuthering heights
status: 👀
(tysm
@ReadsToo
for the beautiful mood board 😭)
Tbh I always feel a bit guilty when I admit I am not driven solely by my passion for writing to keep querying. Like I LOVE my books & writing. But also… I spend 75% of my days worrying about money. If I can, I 100% want to make a living out of this 😂 Any other
#writers
relate?
Got two rejections today, but that’s okay, because they were on my old chapters, and I definitely think my revised chapters are coming out stronger & much better. That being said, still have to ✨manifest✨ some good news & ✨full requests ✨for February to help keep me going 🍀
✨🕯️✨ Manifesting that not only will I someday have an agent, but also that someday I will also someday have all my book babies published because I love all my stories so much, each in their own special way ✨🕯️✨
Got an agent response where they love what they’ve seen so far and want more chapters 🥹🥹🥹 buuuut I’m away visiting my in-laws and didn’t bring my laptop so I can’t send the materials yet 😭
Ahhh my QueryTracker interview is live 💀 if anyone is interested, here’s the link where you can read my answers which are sometimes rambling, sometimes inspirational ✨
Hi
#WritingCommmunity
,
I’m Debby 👋 I write mainly fantasy. I especially love to write fantasy with ghosts 👻 when I’m not writing, I’m chilling w/ my husband & cats, watching spooky movies, & dreaming of the day I can pretend to be a witch living in the woods 👻🍂🍁
One day, I will find an agent to champion my work and accomplish my dream of publishing my books. But first, I will have to defeat (⚔️) my worst enemy:
Introductory chapters 💀🥲
Who is participating in
#pitdark
?? 👻 I would love to support anyone participating and wouldn’t mind the support for my Poe retellings! Like & comment and I’ll do my best to share your pitches! Good luck to everyone participating! 🖤
Poe’s THE OVAL PORTRAIT x TRC x SJTR
💀 a girl whose touch lets her see the past
🎨 a killer who paints grisly portraits of his victims
🖤 an ex who needs her help to solve the murders
🔮 a coven of psychic witches
🕯️ a seance gone wrong
👻 a haunted locket
#pitlight
Question for writing peeps (agents, if any see this, feel free to chime in): if an agent is closed to queries, but they show interest in your story (say they like one of your pitches), what do you do?
Do you wait for them to open to queries, or do you shoot your shot & DM them?
Poe’s LIGEIA x STALKING JACK THE RIPPER
👻 a girl who is haunted by her husband’s dead first wife
🍂 an encroaching willow tree
💀 catacombs beneath the town
🩸 bloodless victims
🧛🏻♀️ is it a vampire?
🔪 or a deranged killer? 👀
#pitlight
My motivational tweet for the day:
For all my
#amquerying
peeps, hang in there! It’s possible the agent you are meant to be with simply isn’t open to queries atm & they don’t have your story yet 👀 🕯️
One of the things I appreciate about the writing community on here is that it has taught me & pushed me & inspired me so much. The pitch contests helped me perfect my pitches, it inspired me to create graphics & moodboard for marketing, and it has helped me put myself out there
I got a pass from one of my fulls today (still waiting to hear back from a partial & 2 other fulls before my deadline 👀) but they also said, and I quote, “Bridgerton meets A HOUSE OF SALT AND SORROWS in the best possible way!” so I’m not even sad 🥹🖤
99% sure I am sitting in at least 5 maybe piles 😭
✨🕯️✨🕯️ Time to manifest EXTRA, EXTRA hard that at least 1, hopefully all, those maybes turn to fulls 😜 universe, hear my manifesting🕯️✨🕯️✨
✨🕯️✨🕯️ Manifesting that I will be one step closer to achieving my author dream (either by having an agent or being vague) by my 28th birthday, which is a little more than a month away 🕯️✨🕯️✨
Haha it’s crazy how you can be so close to getting everything you’ve been working toward and it still doesn’t stop you from being depressed 🙃 I’ll probably delete this later, probably just imposter syndrome
A lot of time, querying is like shouting into the void. Other times, it’s like waiting at a beach, & waiting for a wave to crash down. And sometimes, it’s like sitting at the beach, & the ocean gives you something nice, so you wait to see if something else nice will come along.
Thank you so much to everyone who retweeted & commented on my pitches! 🥹 I got 4 agent likes, which was more than I expected! (My expectation being 0 😂 although I can only query 3 of my 4 likes b/c I already have a partial out with another agent at the 4th one’s agency 🥲)
I’ve come to terms I’m probably not going to become ✨vague✨ before I turn 28, but that’s okay, because 27 sucked anyway & 28 will be a clean slate
Manifesting ✨GREAT THINGS ✨ & a 🕯️✨BETTER, HAPPIER ✨🕯️ year for 28 (still 2+ weeks away)
Great news: first full request since becoming vague
Bad news: laptop took a 💩
Good news: My husband has a brand new laptop he’s letting me use until we can afford a new one for me
Bad news: I hate it 😭 I miss my old dinosaur 😭 this one is too advanced 😭
GOTHIC BRIDGERTON
When an unleashed magic brings the ghosts of Evermore castle back to life during their weeklong ball, estranged sisters Annabel Lee and Lenore Evermore are forced to work together before their castle by the sea becomes their tomb by the sea
#pitlight
#ya
#h
#f
#AllYouCanWriteAugust
EVERMORE tropes include—
🌊 Annabel Lee Retelling
☀️🌧️ grumpy x sunshine
🖤 forbidden love
🌊 seaside setting
👀 bargains w/ ancient gods
👯♀️ sisters who are nothing alike
👻 family curse
Getting my manifestations in early for tomorrow & the rest of the week✨ 🕯️ ✨
✨🕯️ I am manifesting a week of good news, good health & good productivity 🕯️✨
And why not, I’m also manifesting some good luck since we all know querying is also about a bit of luck 🍀 ✨🍀✨
Opening line of your WIP…share it. Don’t be scared.
-
I was the last one to leave my funeral.
(Untitled, horror comedy)
#amwriting
#WIP
#writingcommunity
New moodboard, who dis? ✨
Made a moodboard featuring the EXTRAVAGANCE of the Castle Evermore ballroom, minus the glass wall that overlooks the ghostly sea 🌊
The sea creature wallpaper with mold stains is also missing, but that’s okay 👻
Who's excited for
#YouDeservepIt
?? Here are the rules and information for our pitch event on SEPTEMBER 5th! 👇👇 If you have any questions (or want to share excited gifs 😁), feel free to comment below or 🔄!
#writingcommunity
#amquerying
#amwriting
Can I just say how amazing & validating it is when an agent calls a line you really like “amazing.” Like thanks, I really liked that line, too 😏 If only my imagery was that strong for the rest of my manuscript 😅
It only takes one yes.
It only takes one yes.
It only takes one yes.
✨ 🕯️ Manifesting confidence (I need it 😭), healthy kitties, better mental health days, & partial/full manuscripts today 🕯️✨
Sometimes, you have to bury your WIP ideas. And sometimes, those WIP ideas rise from the grave as something entirely new 🪦 🌱 🌸
That was me with my Eleanora retelling. Thought I had to say farewell to it but writers are nothing if not flexible 💪
One day, little WIP
CRIMSON PEAK x THE RAVEN.
After an accident leaves her w/ an ability to see ghosts—or completely mad, according to her family—Raven Chambers is sent to live at her grandmother’s castle, Raven’s Peak. Except now servants are missing, & Raven is still seeing ghosts
#pitlight
#ya
#h