Author | Lightnews

Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting

@alienwrites.bsky.social

25 followers 14 following 46 posts

Querying queer SF, editing queer fantasy, writing gay fantasy/horror || Chaotic, queer, chronically ill || Gave a TED Talk about internet fandom once and will never shut up about it

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Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 23d

Wanted to bring my EAT OUR DUST #AgentsGuide over from the 🐦 site!

Agents, this 96k-word MS is for you if you want:

⚡Queer, non-binary & (ownvoices) chronic illness rep
⚡FAFO-style mentorship
⚡Car chases as a metaphor for power struggles w/the govt
⚡Big 5 editor interest

#agentguide #amquerying

Background image of a red car parked in an orange field. The white text overlaid on the image reads "An Agent's Guide to EAT OUR DUST by @AlienWrites."

A pitch document for an adult action-adventure sci-fi story over a textured gray-blue rock formation background. The left side shows the pitch headline and synopsis in white and orange text, describing a chronically ill 20-something named Jess Paley and her mentor on a cross-country road trip to stop the apocalypse. The right side displays "COMPS" with three book covers: "A Beginning at the End" by Mike Chen, "Station Eleven" by Emily St. John Mandel, and "Mad Max: Fury Road" movie poster.

A mood board layout over the same rock formation background, featuring nine images in a grid. Images include desert landscapes, abandoned cityscapes, a vintage compass on old maps, worn leather bags, a person in a gas mask on an empty road, boots on cracked earth, and silhouettes against an orange sky. Text on the left lists story elements: the accidental hero, FAFO-style mentorship, and car chases as metaphor for power struggles. Text on the right lists: the stoppable climate apocalypse, invisible illness rep, and queer rep.

A snippet of dialogue on a dark brown background with orange-tinted vegetation visible at the edges. White text shows a conversation between characters about leaked research results called "the dirt study," with Ricky offering Jess car keys to drive and expose world-ending secrets. The final line "That's the spirit!" appears in orange text.

Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 2d

Someone said "oh October's almost over!" and my brain was like "wdym it's like October 11"

It is October 21.

FUUUUCK!!!!

Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 15d

What happens when your mom wants to promote you and your sister hates it? You take a job involving burglarizing your dead ex's office...only she's alive, pissed & armed with deadly secrets.

Pro tip: Don't be too good at your job.

6 OF CROWS x ARCANE but messier. #DVPit #A #SF #LGBT

Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 15d

FURY ROAD x STATION 11

Out-of-context EAT OUR DUST:
💊”Romanticizing the end of the world is great only if you don’t regularly need a 24-hour pharmacy.”
🚘 “If the world’s going to end, that means I lost the race. End of story.”
🛣️ “I’m not afraid of death. Just of going back.”

#DVPit #A #SF #CI

Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 15d

Clara thought her biggest problems were her impending promotion and her younger sister. Then she burglarized her dead ex-girlfriend's office & discovered Amaya's very much alive—and hunting her. Now Clara must choose: unravel a conspiracy or lose her twice. VIOLENT DELIGHTS x ARCANE. #DVPit #A #SF

Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 16d

I sent the preorder link to a handful of my friends, and I need you to know that I appended "2 Heist 2 Lesbians" to every single message

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Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 16d

After learning how to stop the end of the world, Jess races to expose the govt researchers who buried the truth – before the climate apocalypse takes out her friends and prevents her from carrying on her mentor’s legacy.

BEGINNING AT THE END x STATION 11

#DVPit #A #SF #CI #LGBT

Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 16d

A BEGINNING AT THE END x STATION 11

Surviving the apocalypse while chronically ill? Hard.

Surviving the apocalypse while driving cross-country to expose govt researchers who knew how to stop it and chose not to?

…Yeah, Jess has her work cut out for her.

#DVPit #A #SF #CI #LGBT

Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 16d

The way I NEEDED this in high school - I didn’t even know what demisexuality was, let alone that it was me!!

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Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 16d

Gang heir vs tech syndicate
Dead girlfriend who isn't dead
Biometric implants that rewrite identities

Clara's heist was supposed to secure power. Instead, it tore open a conspiracy that could destroy the city's underclass for good. ...Oops.

SIX OF CROWS meets ARCANE. #DVPit #A #SF #LGBT

Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 16d

FURY ROAD x STATION 11

After learning the apocalypse is reversible, Jess races to expose what govt scientists tried to hide. As people who’d rather keep the truth quiet close in, she has to choose: remain silent & complicit, or carry on a legacy she’s not sure she wants.

#DVPit #A #SF #CI #LGBT

Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 16d

This continues to delight me IMMENSELY (and congrats on the ham-free phone)

Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 16d

After learning it's possible to stop a climate disaster that will end the world as we know it, Jess races (literally) to expose the government researchers who buried the truth – before she or her mentor dies in the process.

Get in, losers. We're canceling the apocalypse.

#DVPit #A #SF #CI #LGBT

Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 20d

This is SUCH a sentence...how did he insert a phone into a ham? What did he do then? Is your phone just sticky with ham juice now? I am intrigued!

Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 20d

Got on my walking pad, started writing...and then looked down two hours later to realize I walked about 4 miles and cannot feel my toes. I feel like this is probably a metaphor for something...

Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 21d

After being awoken from a cursed sleep and cut free from her silken chains, Lora must work with the half-mad swordswoman who set her free to save the swordswoman’s kingdom from a mysterious infection — before the madness claims them as its final two victims. #WeeknightWriters

Weeknight Writers @weeknightwriters.bsky.social · 21d

Q5: Share a one-sentence pitch, a collection of tropes you want to work with, or something fun about your main character. #WeeknightWriters

Notepad that says “#WeeknightWriters: Share a one-sentence pitch, a collection of tropes you want to work with, or something fun about your main character."

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Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 21d

I’m going to aim for word count — it’s the easiest metric for me to track (and also work into my project planning system)! #WeeknightWriters

Weeknight Writers @weeknightwriters.bsky.social · 21d

Q4: Will you be measuring your progress in word count, page count, or hours spent working on your #FirstDraftFall project? #WeeknightWriters

Notepad that says “#WeeknightWriters: Will you be measuring your progress in word count, page count, or hours spent working on your #FirstDraftFall project?

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Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 21d

ADHD stresses me out in so many ways, but one benefit is that I can drink an entire (not decaf) latte at 8 pm and know I'll still be able to sleep in 3 hours. It's the little things...

Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 21d

Fantasy with speculative + horror elements! I'm really drawn to fantasy stories with a taste of the uncanny + also inspired by Scottish mythology (shoutout to my great-aunt Elaine for that one). #WeeknightWriters

Weeknight Writers @weeknightwriters.bsky.social · 21d

Q3: What genre(s) will you be writing in for #FirstDraftFall? Feel free to include subgenres if applicable. #WeeknightWriters

Notepad that says “#WeeknightWriters: What genre(s) will you be writing in for #FirstDraftFall?

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Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 21d

I'm so delighted my sister and I got tickets to our closest show, can't wait to temporarily revert to my high school self for a night 😂

Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 21d

The beloved kudos email!! I love waking up to those lol I’m so glad your stories are still being enjoyed!

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Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 21d

We don't have that when writing our original works, so I'm trying to do the next best thing!

Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 21d

Aww thank you :) Life is short! We gotta cheer for each other whenever we can!

Plus, I write a looooot of fanfiction and one of the things I love most about the fanfic ecosystem is the comments - you get cheered on with every chapter which makes you want to write more...

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Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 21d

I figure, Halsey is touring off their Badlands album again, so we're already off to a great start! 😆

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Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 21d

I've historically been a fairly solitary writer, but it's always fun to dip into a broader community and be a hype person for other folks. Storytelling doesn't exist without community + being part of that tradition through hype and being a listening ear is really important to me! #WeeknightWriters

Weeknight Writers @weeknightwriters.bsky.social · 21d

Q4: What part of #FirstDraftFall are you most excited about? #WeeknightWriters

Notepad that says “#WeeknightWriters: What part of #FirstDraftFall are you most excited about?

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Amanda Lien is querying, editing AND drafting @alienwrites.bsky.social · 21d

It's an absolute blast - challenging and patience-testing, but beautifully and lovingly designed. AND only $20 USD. Shoutout to indie game studios, truly

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