In today’s author interview, Bianca interviews Jessica Waite about her memoir, The Widow's Guide to Dead Bastards . Jessica discusses her writing journey as a form of healing, the challenges of the publishing process, and the complexities of grief. They also discuss the intentional choices behind the book's structure, the use of present tense, and the importance of dramatizing scenes to engage readers, as well as Jessica’s tips for bringing memories vividly to life on the page. The conversation ...
Dec 19, 2024•33 min•Season 23Ep. 9
In today’s Books with Hooks segment, hosts Bianca, Carly, and CeCe analyze two query letters, one for an upmarket novel and one for women’s fiction, providing insights on character development, prologues, and the importance of clarity in storytelling. The discussion emphasizes the need for movement in narratives and the balance between internal conflict and external action. The hosts offer constructive feedback to aspiring authors, highlighting the significance of engaging openings and the neces...
Dec 12, 2024•36 min•Season 23Ep. 8
In this engaging author interview, Bianca chats with Sarah Hawley to discuss her journey as a fantasy and paranormal romance author, focusing on her latest novel, Servant of Earth . Sarah shares insights into the writing process, the importance of character-driven narratives, and the nuances of defining genres like romantasy. The discussion also delves into world-building, the challenges of plotting a series, and the intersection of political themes within fantasy writing. Sarah emphasizes the s...
Dec 05, 2024•32 min•Season 23Ep. 7
In today’s Books with Hooks segment, the hosts, Bianca, Carly and CeCe , analyze two query letters submitted by aspiring authors, one of which is a memoir and the other a YA steampunk query. They provide detailed feedback on the structure, content, and emotional depth of the letters, emphasizing the importance of clarity, causality, and character development. The conversation also delves into the challenges of writing in the first person and the need for emotional layers in world-building. Note:...
Nov 28, 2024•28 min•Season 23Ep. 6
In November’s bonus episode, Bianca and Emilie Sommer from East City Book Bookshop tackle a variety of book recommendations based on listener comp requests. They discuss neurodivergent characters, speculative fiction, crime and mystery, literary fiction dealing with trauma, humorous narratives, art and historical mysteries, speculative westerns, dark fiction, hopeful sci-fi, romance in unique settings, historical fiction addressing climate change, feminist retellings, middle grade stories, and c...
Nov 25, 2024•43 min
In today’s episode, Bianca interviews KJ Dell’Antonia , author of The Chicken Sisters and Playing the Witch Card . They discuss KJ's journey from nonfiction to fiction, the challenges of debuting with a bestseller, and the intricacies of world-building in contemporary fiction. The discussion also delves into narrative voice, character arcs, and the importance of aligning emotional stakes with plot development. KJ shares insights into the author life, including the highs and lows of publishing, a...
Nov 21, 2024•28 min•Season 23Ep. 5
In today’s Books with Hooks segment, hosts Bianca, Carly and CeCe analyze a literary fiction query and a historical fiction query, providing insights on structure, emotional depth, and character development. The discussion emphasizes the importance of compelling opening lines, the need for emotional complexity in characters, and the significance of pacing in storytelling. The hosts also share their thoughts on how to effectively convey a protagonist's journey and the nuances of familial relation...
Nov 14, 2024•31 min•Season 23Ep. 4
In today’s episode, Carly and CeCe interview Franklin Leonard and Randy Winston , founders of The Blacklist , a platform designed to connect writers with industry professionals. They discuss the role of literary agents, the pricing structure of their services, the qualifications of their readers, and the impact of their recent New York Times profile. The conversation highlights the challenges and opportunities in the publishing industry, emphasizing the importance of quality feedback and the nee...
Nov 07, 2024•39 min•Season 23Ep. 3
Today Bianca, Carly, and CeCe critique a coming-of-age submission set in the 80s, as well as a speculative literary fiction query. They chat about the importance of details in a query, as opposed to big-picture themes; an example of a prologue that induces curiosity; layering emotion to create more realistic interactions with characters; including emotion and interiority during narration/exposition to elevate your work; how the emotional complexity of your characters can heighten your readers’ c...
Oct 31, 2024•33 min•Season 21Ep. 2
Join Bianca in our October bonus episode as your favourite book person, Emilie Sommer from East City Book Shop, answers all your comp requests! If you’re looking for our usual Q&A segment, that now gets published as part of our end of the month Substack newsletter. Subscribe to get access to that, and so much more: https://theshitaboutwriting.substack.com/ Note: Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra are literary agents at P.S. Literary Agency, but their work on this podcast is not affiliated with the ...
Oct 28, 2024•26 min
Today Bianca interviews NYT bestselling nature writer, Leigh Ann Henion . They discuss Leigh Ann's latest work , Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark ; the inspiration behind the book; the process of getting a book like this written and published; being able to illustrate how your non-fiction work fills a gap in the market; scene-setting in non-fiction; including relevant and interesting information without overwhelming the narrative; and always pa...
Oct 24, 2024•30 min•Season 22Ep. 1
Today, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe critique a speculative fiction query and a literary fiction one. They discuss avoiding confusion in your query letter; using names, rather than pronouns, in queries; ensuring your plot and climax match your genre; writing interiority that reflects your characters' realities; title expectations for literary fiction; avoiding being too vague with your plot; and the challenges of writing in epistolary form. Note: Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra are literary agents at P.S....
Oct 17, 2024•31 min•Season 21Ep. 9
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 writing a book within a book; using secondary characters to up the stakes and shed light on your main character; th...
Oct 10, 2024•30 min•Season 22Ep. 9
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 successfully share biographical details of characters; ensuring your metaphors don't take your reader out of...
Oct 03, 2024•38 min•Season 20Ep. 8
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-question.html If you get your question in by the 10th of October, we'll try and get it answered for you. Our ...
Oct 02, 2024•40 min
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 managed to work in a prologue that was from a younger person's perspective without it reading like YA; the challe...
Sep 30, 2024•1 hr 34 min
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 importance of chemistry in an author/agent relationship; how Hannah comped her debut when querying; what the...
Sep 26, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Season 20Ep. 9
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 immediately; what "likeable" means in a character; ensuring your plot points are connected; starting your n...
Sep 19, 2024•34 min•Season 22Ep. 6
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 stories that are emotionally weighted; finding your way into a beginning and the evolution of Amanda's second st...
Sep 12, 2024•31 min•Season 22Ep. 5
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 dark romance; specificity in your query; teasing backstory about your main character in your query; avoidi...
Sep 05, 2024•41 min•Season 22Ep. 4
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 how she approached writing it; writing characters who have agency and how their agency affects the plot; balan...
Aug 29, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 22Ep. 3
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 from it; and the social commentary in the novel. After which, Bianca chats with Jean Meltzer , screenwr...
Aug 26, 2024•1 hr
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 ‘plantser’; the experience of re-immersing yourself in characters and timelines you’ve written before; deciding ...
Aug 22, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Season 20Ep. 2
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 nightclub; what surprised Claire about the publishing world; Claire's advice to emerging writers; and the idea of writ...
Aug 15, 2024•1 hr 20 min•Season 22Ep. 1
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 editing; how MK pitched her 'romantic thriller'; deciding on characters' ages when writing YA; why MK chose first...
Aug 08, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Season 21Ep. 10
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 family and friends reading a work that was loosely inspired by them; and what has surprised Anamely about publishing. No...
Aug 01, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 19Ep. 9
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 characterization; the importance of nailing emotionality in YA novels; the supernatural elements of And Th...
Jul 29, 2024•34 min•Ep. 21
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 latest release, The Wedding People ; writing a book that spanned a long period of time to one that spanned only...
Jul 25, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Season 21Ep. 8
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 writing process; giving yourself permission to change and grow as a writer; what Parini finds the most challenging in...
Jul 18, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 21Ep. 7
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 issue-driven fiction for teens; writing characters with disabilities authentically and sensitively; Wild Ink Pub...
Jul 11, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Season 19Ep. 6
