Author | Lightnews

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Jessica DeLand - Author (is getting published! 😱) @delandjessica.bsky.social · 2d

WAKE was inspired by HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE w/:

~A self-sacrificing girl cursed w/ unwanted magic
~Who ends up living w/ a defective group
~Where she's teased w/ a feathery secret
~They develop a found family
~& she falls for 1 of them

Coming Spring 27

#QuestPit #P #YA #F #MY #R

a cartoon of a man and a woman looking into each others eyes

Alt: Sophie and Howl from the Howl's Moving Castle movie embracing while Howl is in his feathered form and fiery ash falls from the sky.

media.tenor.com

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maggie 🌸 @maggiesbooks.bsky.social · 2d

In a world of potions threatening small businesses like her mom’s, and being dangerously used to cure diseases, a uni student’s use of a love potion backfires and to win back her friendship with her crush— an anti-potion witch— she must protest the govt’s legalization of potions. #questpit #w

the briarcliff crier
Campus News Since 1916
students protest witchcraft use at the idm
Students at Briarcliff College protested the Institute for Disease Mitigation’s use of witchcraft to cure diseases again this Friday outside of the gates. Carrington Frye, one of the organizers was arrested for refusing to move out of the intersection. His sister Cornelia refused to comment and told our reporters to ‘fuck off.’
heather mccaffrey comes out as a witch
Senior Heather McCaffrey publicly acknowledged she is a witch on social media. She has been selling homemade energy drinks to frat boys. Could they be potions?
vigil for prof. barnaby’s wife turns into anti-witch riot.
the witches of buckhead - speculative fiction with romance

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Madeline is 🦇ON SUB🦇 @maddieisbooked.bsky.social · 2d

EDITORS, this dark God of Night is…

🌌 Sandman inspired
🖤 Utterly obsessed with my FMC after finding her centuries later
🕯️ A little too eager to light a fire
🌙Sarcastic and suave
🌶️ Spicyyy

This gothic romantasy is on sub!!

#QuestPit #OS #RF #A #onsub #writingcommunity

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alyssa is ✨️ querying ✨️ @alyssaarcher.bsky.social · 2d

🥀VIOLET MADE OF THORNS X DEFY THE NIGHT🔮

⭐Chronic illness & mental illness rep
🔥Forced proximity
❤️BFFs to enemies to lovers
🌿 Lessons in poison
👁️Involuntary visions of the future
👑Paranoid king with an affinity for poison
🗡️MC & rebellion are just using each other

#QuestPit #YA #F #Q #DIS #OWN

Collage of eight photos. First photo is of a blond woman wearing a blue gown in front of a wall of red flowers. Second photo is of a cliff with the sea at its bottom. Third photo is of the black pommel of a rusty sword. Fourth photo is of a golden crown. Fifth photo is of purple foxglove in a blurred field. Sixth photo is of a wine glass filled with a crimson liquid and dried flowers. Seventh photo is of a blond man lying on the floor with a necklace dangling over his head. Eighth photo is a close-up of a light blue eye beside white flowers on the grass. All photos have been edited with a warm and golden hue to them.

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J.A. Ryder (is drafting)🍁 @jaryderwrites.bsky.social · 2d

Dark Song x Silver Silence

Each vision drags her deeper into the killer's dark obsession, and closer to the agent sworn to protect her heart.

WHERE THE ROSES DON'T GROW
❤️slow-burn
🌹Multi POV
🕯️Found family
🔥Trauma & trust
🌑Florida noir
💫Psychic tie

#QuestPit #A #PR #R #C

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Grace Hertenstein is querying ⚡️❤️‍🔥🤘🏻 @gracehertenstein.bsky.social · 2d

bsky.app/profile/grac...

Grace Hertenstein is querying ⚡️❤️‍🔥🤘🏻 @gracehertenstein.bsky.social · 2d

🎶 ONE NIGHT ONLY: THE UNDESIRABLES
💥 A punk coming-of-age story set in chaotic 70s Hollywood
🎤 Vocals—Pip (14) a lonely misfit
🎸 Featuring—the best friends you'll ever make and lose
🎧 Setlist—heartbreak, distortion, desire
🖤 "Time is a throat punch"

#questpit #Q #YA

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Grace Hertenstein is querying ⚡️❤️‍🔥🤘🏻 @gracehertenstein.bsky.social · 2d

bsky.app/profile/grac...

Grace Hertenstein is querying ⚡️❤️‍🔥🤘🏻 @gracehertenstein.bsky.social · 2d

The Undesirables • #YA #NA #Q

🧍🏼a teenage loner
🌃 gritty 70s Hollywood
🎸a band of misfits led by a punk artful dodger
⭕️ circle pits & poetry
🖤 relationships that transcend romance
🪨 a rock bottom moment
⛅️ redemption & self-discovery
🤘🏻a really good playlist

#questpit

a man is playing a guitar in front of a microphone with the letter s on it

ALT: a man is playing a guitar in front of a microphone with the letter s on it

media.tenor.com

Grace Hertenstein is querying ⚡️❤️‍🔥🤘🏻 @gracehertenstein.bsky.social · 2d

The Undesirables • #YA #NA #Q

🧍🏼a teenage loner
🌃 gritty 70s Hollywood
🎸a band of misfits led by a punk artful dodger
⭕️ circle pits & poetry
🖤 relationships that transcend romance
🪨 a rock bottom moment
⛅️ redemption & self-discovery
🤘🏻a really good playlist

#questpit

a man is playing a guitar in front of a microphone with the letter s on it

ALT: a man is playing a guitar in front of a microphone with the letter s on it

media.tenor.com

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Grace Hertenstein is querying ⚡️❤️‍🔥🤘🏻 @gracehertenstein.bsky.social · 2d

Thank you!!

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Joyous Njoku - Author ✍️ @mynameisjoyous.bsky.social · 2d

#questpit #SFF #W #A
When reality is stitched together by a secret org called the Seam using a mind-controlling machine, it’s up to Keisha to join forces with the Seam and destroy it from within. Who cares if theyre protecting alien/magical lives, the public deserves the truth!

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Rosa Suzanne @rosasuzanne.bsky.social · 2d

When Jude returns to her hometown after a decade away, she thinks the worst things she'll face are the people she left behind. But when she accidentally sets loose a reality-twisting monster, she must rally her former friends to stop their town from being erased from existence.

#QuestPit #A #F #W

A collage of images displaying the vibe of what this book pitch is about.

Some of the images depict stone walls with wooden fences, tables in the middle of grassy fields, the seaside and cats sleeping atop books. Hidden views and lots of cozy cottages.

Text reads:

For fans of
• Starling House
• Practical Magic
• Spells for Forgetting Small seaside town
• Cottagecore
• Small magics
• Nightmare monster
• Childhood friends to reluctant allies to found family
• Crumbling reality

A second collage of images displaying the vibe of what this book pitch is about.

Some of the images depict seaside towns, gods swimming, a couple dancing on the sea shore, a misty hill too and lots of cozy looking cottages.

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Quintana McConnell @qmcconnellwrites.bsky.social · 2d

An #agentguide to THE LAST GREAT ALMOST.

Every Summer After x Dawson's Creek in this character-driven romance/lit fic blend told in dual
POV.
90s/2000s nostalgia, small town optics, generational trauma, & emotional imprinting.
#questpit #Q #R #LF #amquerying #literaryagent

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Kasy Long @kasylongauthor.bsky.social · 2d

YOU’VE GOT MAIL x THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT

Annie thinks no one cares about her poetry on Instagram. Until she gains a follower who reads every word. But is he the same man threatening her beloved library? 📚

#questpit #QuestPit #W #RF #R #PT #A #WritingCommunity #writers

A collage of photos at a library/bookstore with people looking at books. “All’s fair in love and…rivalry?” in text.

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Izzy Grace (is agented) @izzygraceauthor.bsky.social · 2d

Introducing Scale 🐉

🖤 Gothic romantic fantasy
🖤 Disabled FMC
🖤 Quest for revenge
🖤 Lovers to enemies
🖤 Chosen one is the villain
🖤 Found family
🖤 Wyverns
🖤 Queernorm world
🖤 Multi POV
🖤 Found family
🖤 Vengeance vs Justice
🖤 Female rage

#QuestPit #RF #W soon to be #AG and hopefully #OS in 2026!

Comp titles: House of the Dragon, A Fate Forged in Fire, The Knight and the Moth, Throne of Glass, Six of Crows, A Tempest of Tea

Most brides would think a storm on the eve of their wedding an omen, but for Annora Rainecourt it was the greatest blessing she could receive. Because a storm meant chance of a sighting. And what could be more thrilling than that?
She scoured the skies as lightning flashed, illuminating the distant castle and the manor dwellings around it in a shock of monochrome clarity, and there — beyond the turrets — she saw her first of the night. Thin membrane, spindly tendon and bone, that unfathomable combination of sharp claws and curved edges, swiftly flying through slick rain and thick cloud until the darkness crowded in again and she lost it.
Annora smiled to herself. They always liked storms. The wyverns.
“They’re quiet tonight,” she said, staring out of the lancet window as rain lashed against the panes.
Lucan rolled on the bed to face her, the sheets draped between his legs as if she hadn’t been privy to what was beneath them moments ago. “Or perhaps they’re beyond sight,” he said, and ran a hand through long, light hair, pushing it back from his slim face.
“The view from here is perfect,” she murmured, frowning.
Lucan’s manor was on the outskirts of Gaet, the small city of Vlintlann that was home to the nobility and merchant class. The east window of his bedchamber had one of the best views of the Kingdom. To the north, Annora could see the long carriageway curving round from the front entrance of the manor to the cobbled road that led to the royal castle — its sharp turrets spearing through mist like the teeth of beasts. To the south, past the gardens and small stretch of woodland were the mountains. The looming black rock surrounded the entirety of Vlintlann, bar the stretch of land where the castle sat. Beyond that was the border with Coperlann and The Disputed. And to the east, in the distance, the shimmering lights from the cramped streets of The Bowl, where those without riches in Vlintlann lived. Her old home, once upon a time.

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Carla Hennes ❌ 👑 🐸 @tempestteapot.bsky.social · 2d

A bastard gentrywoman, Kahyla protects her siblings against assassins, demon-eaten mages, and rivals intent on the throne. She faces a DEMON’S BARGAIN where all the options are bad: fight with soul-destroying magic or lose her family, her beloved, and her life.

#questpit #W #F #R #YA #A #Q

Graphic shows silhouette of couple filled with courtyard, leather armor, and a structure consumed by flames. Six of Crows X Witch King Demon's Bargain A bastard gentrywoman, Kahyla struggles to protect her siblings against assassins, demon-eaten mages, and political rivals intent on the throne. She faces a demon's bargain: fight with soul-destroying magic or lose her family, her beloved, and her life. 120k Epic Fantasy Novel. Tropes list: Deliberate values dissonance Feminist within patriarchy Heel-face turn Slow burn Forbidden love Powers via Possession Coming of Age Quiet girl finds her voice Target markets: adult fantasy for darker themes, detailed world-building, and a blend of magic and political intrigue. YA for coming-of-age story and slow burn romance, while skewing older for the consequences of difficult life choices. #F #R #YA #A #Q Body count 11, proposals 4, weddings 2

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Fay Irwin (pen name) @fantasyscience.bsky.social · 2d

If Andy Weir and Ali Hazelwood co-wrote a book, it would be CHEMPORTAL. This scifi romcom with real chemistry features:
💥Explosions (real and figurative)
📻Science (mis)communication
🥰Enemies to lovers
👨‍👩‍👧‍👧Complex family dynamics
⚛️ #Steminist history
💪ND and LGBTQ rep

#QuestPit #A #Q #SF #R

Dark blue poster background with a cartoon of a pink and silver pressure cooker. Text:
ChemPortal
A romantic sci-fi

Two awkward scientists just want to be left alone to build a lawnmower. Instead, thy find themselves battling time, powerful corporations, and doomsday cults to save the world from starvation.

Fay Irwin

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Christina Adrian @christiemadrian.bsky.social · 2d

When a “say yes to everything” dare leads Gabby into the arms of her brother's old high school friend, it's all fun and games until his secret collides with her biggest gamble yet. #questpit #A #R #Q

Four pictures in a moodboard for a romantic comedy

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🕸️ mar 🕸️ @marescreve.bsky.social · 2d

IF WE WERE VILLAINS x THE DREAMERS (2003)

Three messy bisexuals who make each other worse navigate the challenges of adulthood in 90s Europe.

💌 men who yearn
💕 bisexual love triangle
📚 antique bookshops
🗡️ support women’s wrongs
🌾 working class immigrant MC
🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQ+ rep

#questpit #Q #A #LF

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Ella Murphy (she/they) 🏳️‍🌈 🇨🇦 @nossumusstellae.bsky.social · 2d

On the edge of a knife, a life will change. A new future awaits.
Jaye thinks she is fated to sit behind prison bars. Cursed to be her father’s daughter.
♠️complex fam. relationships
♠️visceral fight scenes
♠️defiant butch MC
♠️from teen to adult
Archive of Memory: NIGHTFALL
#Q #CON #A #LGBT #QuestPit

A small banner featuring the title of the first story in Archive of Memory, Nightfall. Part of a drawing of the main character's distinct tattoo sleeve is in the background. Jaye's arms is raised, ready to fight. The tattoo starts as a goddess-like figure at her wrist, and flows upwards in fire-like swirls, ending in a arrow-like point at the shoulder. Sketch by the author.

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Miranda Nichole @mirandanwrites.bsky.social · 2d

Brooke traded college dreams for spellcraft, but she’s not sure she made the right choice. When her mentor goes missing, Brooke must choose between the future she left behind and the friends she brought into danger, and decide how far she’ll go to protect both.

#questpit #YA #F #Q

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🌱 El(iza)beth 🌬️ K 🔥 T 🌊 @arachnereid.bsky.social · 2d

🍏 Those who do not share their vision covet the fruits of their labor.

🔥 Long after Collapse, an empath's quest to save her people offers humanity a way forward in a world desperately in need of change.

🌲wilderness skills
🌪️ #CliFi
🕉️ #mindfulness
✨earth magic
🔮psychic powers
#A #Q #S #SFF #questpit

Long after the dust settles, what will grow from the rubble?

Seven generations after collapse, oceans have reclaimed coasts and civilization’s remains are rotting back to the earth. Extreme climate and violent humans threaten a peaceful community hidden in the Green Mountains.
Niwa, a gifted yet timid young empath-scholar, is prompted by group vision to lead a perilous and mystical quest to retrieve a rumored key to peace. Using unique psychic gifts, archaic technology, and nature-based survival skills, Niwaju’s group traverses a depopulated but healing landscape to save their people from impending doom.
The travelers draw upon their survival skills, varying levels of control over their own unique psychic gifts, and residual tech artifacts, encountering diverse, unique characters on crumbling highways and swollen rivers through the mountains of Appalachia, moody swamplands of “New New Orleans”, and the Rocky Mountains.
As she finds her inner resilience, Niwa’s mission becomes about more than saving her People from destruction; it offers humanity a way forward in a world desperately in need of change.
Incorporating mindfulness, sustainability, earth based magic, and wilderness skills, this tarot-themed journey offers a vision of hope, transformation, and growth in a narrative adventure guide to thriving civilization’s aftermath, with surprising twists.

a hand drawn map of a route across a sea-risen US, superimposed over a background of hopeful leaves sprouting from trees in an sunset sky over the Earth

elemental magic
visions
survival skills
climate fiction
#clifi
indigenous futurism
plant medicine
meditation
wilderness
permaculture
neotribalism
community
backpacking
post-apocalyptic
hopepunk

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Scarlet Mitchell @scarletvmitchell.bsky.social · 2d

Thread of my
🎉 #QuestPit 🥳
pitches!!!

Scarlet Mitchell @scarletvmitchell.bsky.social · 2d

The only place depressed goth-girl, Helena, feels at home on the cheery campus is the dark, haunted chapel. When the stones come alive to warn her of a demon invasion, she becomes entangled in a cosmic war.
And falls for a gargoyle.❤️

Don't Let the Forest In x City of Bones

#QuestPit
#Q #YA #F

Moodboard for Rooted in Stone, sapphic gargoyle urban fantasy. Tagline”Somewhere away from this world, indistinct, infinite, and unknowable… What was beyond that veil?”
10 very dark, moody, grayish images around the edge include the hazy spires of Notre Dame with birds lying across, the Milky Way, a crow coming in the land, a gargoyle peeking over a ledge, a shadow crouching in a corner with piercing eyes, a young woman with black hair over her eye, a crow in front of a grave, a graveyard statue of an angel, and the interior of a church with a stained glass window. In the center of all this, is a bright painting of a natual landscape done in vivid sunset colors.

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Priyanka Watson @priyankasonofwat.bsky.social · 2d

Resurfacing this one for #QuestPit!

#Q #A #SF #R #amquerying

Priyanka Watson @priyankasonofwat.bsky.social · 13d

An #agentsguide for #litagents & #editors!

A snarky, heartfelt, found-family rom-com in sci-fi armor. 👽💃🏾

#amquerying #writersky

Pink-to-yellow gradient background featuring two illustrated women. Left: Brown-skinned woman in white midi dress with strappy sandals. Right: Brown-skinned woman in white crop top and gray pants with red superhero cape flowing behind her. Title reads "AN AGENT'S GUIDE TO: LOVE IN THE TIME OF ALIENS (AND OTHER INCONVENIENCES)" in bold black text. Subtitle: "SCIFI + ROMCOM + DYSTOPIAN*" followed by "102K WORDS" and "ADULT (WITH CROSSOVER APPEAL)". Footer note: "*40% SCIFI • 35% ROMCOM • 25% DYSTOPIA • 100% SNARK"

Pink-to-yellow gradient slide with "PITCH" in bold at top. Main text reads: "WHEN ALIENS INVADE EARTH, A QUEER TAMIL-AMERICAN WOMAN IN NYC DISCOVERS HER SUPERPOWERS, BECOMES GUARDIAN TO HER CELEBRITY CRUSH'S DAUGHTER, LEADS A HALF-BAKED GLOBAL RESISTANCE, AND FALLS FOR TWO VERY DIFFERENT PEOPLE—ALL WHILE TRYING TO SAVE WHAT'S LEFT OF THE WORLD." Bottom of slide shows silhouette of woman flying horizontally with motion lines, surrounded by several UFO illustrations scattered across the gradient background.

Pink-to-yellow gradient slide titled "THEMES & TROPES" in bold. Left side lists bullet points: "QUEER TAMIL-AMERICAN FMC, NON-BIOLOGICAL MOTHERHOOD, PORQUE NO LOS DOS/TODOS, CODE-SWITCHING AS SURVIVAL, POP CULTURE AS LOVE LANGUAGE, IMMIGRANT DAUGHTER GUILT, SACRIFICE VS SELF-PRESERVATION, HUMOR AS TRAUMA RESPONSE, FIRST SOUTH-INDIAN FEMALE SUPERHERO (FINALLY), NO CAPES, JUST VIBES". Bottom left shows illustration of blushing woman with hearts. Right side shows alignment chart grid labeled "LOOKS LIKE A CINNAMON ROLL" (top) to "LOOKS LIKE THEY WILL KILL YOU" (bottom) and "WILL KILL YOU" (left) to "CINNAMON ROLL" (right), with illustrations: top left shows woman with child, top right shows man in suit, bottom left shows cartoon aliens, bottom right shows woman in casual clothes.

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Ari McManus @earthkids.bsky.social · 2d

DANNY PHANTOM x WEDNESDAY

Well, Denny Dragan sure messed up this time. Rather than find his missing sister, he accidetnally released a serial killer ghost.

To make things messier, he needs help from Guitar, a medium who would rather practice his cello than save lives.

#QuestPit #Q #YA #H #MY

An Agent's Guide to Reach Out a 85,000 word YA Horror/Fantasy with mystery elements. It's a collage of tarot cards, a girl climbing into an empty pool and a cassette tape that says "In case I disappear"

Lined paper that says The Pitch at the top circled in red and a polaroid of a mauseleum. Then the following words: THE UNDERWOOD TAPES x WEDNESDAY

Denny Dragan sure messed up this time. While trying to find his missing sister, he accidentally released a serial killer ghost. Talk about a distraction! And to make things messier, he needs help from a medium who would rather let people die than help out strangers.

lined paper that says to the left "Tropes/rep" that's circled in red then there is a paper taped to it with the following words: "Found Family
Epistolary Interludes
Rewind, Replay, Repeat
Witchcraft
Meddling Kids
Missing Person
Unsolved Mysteries & Urban Legends
Ghostly Goals
90s Vibes" underneath is another paper taped with the following pride pins: Trans, Ace, Lesbian, progress pride"

On the left it says "Comps" and is circled in red then has two film strips that go from top to bottom: Wednesday and her friend in a cemetery, the Mystery Gang in a small town, the Losers Club in a cemetery, the Dead Boy Detectives in a bunker then The Underwood Tapes by Amanda Dewitt with two people on the book cover with film around them; the Name of the STar by Maureen Johnson with the book cover featuring a faded park image; Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake with a book cover of a ghost girl walking through fog to a house; Dead Flip by Sara Fraizan with a book cover of an arcade and heads above it.

Lined paper with an unspooled cassette tape at the top where it says "A snippet" circled in red and says the following: " Dear listener who is probably just Denny.

I bet you’re chuckling now ‘cause I’m right, aren’t I?
Anyway, this is my ‘in case I disappear’ tape but the rest is a real treat for you.

It’s some impressive project I’ve been working on.
Though if I am missing, tell mom it wasn’t the monsters, but I’m, like, studying archeology at some college where I’m on some research trip with the professor to find the amulet. Then really buckle down and be all like ‘You know, the amulet? How do you not know about the amulet? What kind of mom are you?’ until she cries or something then you can tell the truth. I want her to feel bad for always being ‘too busy.’"

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