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Raven Demory, Authoress

@saintserene.bsky.social

480 followers 280 following 230 posts

Writer, artist, musician, freelance line editor, Twitter refugee. aravenwrites.wordpress.com Find my music on Spotify and Bandcamp! https://saintserene.bandcamp.com/album/empty-threats

saintserene.bandcamp.com

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Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · Jul 25

I'm absolutely THRILLED to announce that I'm now represented by the one and only @allegramartsch.bsky.social at Bookends Literary. Can't wait to see where my strange little book full of sapphic undead will go! 🌿💀

#fantasy #writingcommunity #booksky

A graverobber standing at the mouth of a cave holding a jawbone like a pistol. Art by Marten Norr!

A list of comp titles for The Barrowvine Saint: Gideon the Ninth, Metal from Heaven, a Botanical Daughter, and SYCBANI

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Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · 5d

This may or may not also be a spoiler for the whole second half of the book

Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · 5d

The Barrowvine Saint would smell like an oddities shop if it was set up in Mammoth Cave and drenched in blood.

L. D. Lewis, Peach Jolly Rancher 🍬 @ldlewiswrites.blacksky.app · 5d

What would *your* book smell like if you engaged in a mega weirdo scented pages promotional campaign?

Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · 5d

The Barrowvine Saint would smell like an oddities shop if it was set up in Mammoth Cave and drenched in blood.

L. D. Lewis, Peach Jolly Rancher 🍬 @ldlewiswrites.blacksky.app · 5d

What would *your* book smell like if you engaged in a mega weirdo scented pages promotional campaign?

Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · 8d

RIP my sense of smell. 5 years without covid and the woman in row 26 just *had* to cough the whole way from Edinburgh to Dulles 🙄

Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · 22d

Desiderata: chastising the candle stand for not selling anything jasmine-scented
Grace: being hunted down like a dog by Sereth in the corn maze
Fletcher: ten pints deep in spiked cider, trying to get punched

Ian Haramaki 🏳️‍⚧️✨ @cometkins.bsky.social · 22d

Your characters are headed to a harvest festival. Who's buying all the candles and soaps, who's getting lose in the corn maze, and who's just there for the cider? #WritingPrompt

Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · 24d

Pippin: yeah, I've been working on my mental health. I've limited my time looking into the Palantir of Orthanc to 3 hours a day.

Reposted by Raven Demory, Authoress

Dr. Damien P. Williams Wants A Better Sociotechnical Paradigm @wolvendamien.bsky.social · 28d

I mean, Eschatological ideation often arises in moments of sociopolitical upheaval as a kind of hedge against uncertainty, even tho the referent text explicitly says "none shall know the day/hour" & basically tells you to live your life like god might call you to account any second but sure, fuck it

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Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · Sep 16

Putting the Complaint Tablet to Ea Nasir on my TBR ziggurat. It's a cozy coppercore clients-to-enemies-to-lovers pen pals romysterantasy.

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Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · Sep 13

Dessert mode ACTIVATE:

Best pie: key lime
Best ice cream: coffee/affogato
Best donut: French cruller
Best bar: lemon
Best cake: red velvet
Best other: black licorice

Dr Eleanor Janega @goingmedieval.bsky.social · Sep 13

Everything is awful so why not?

Dessert mode ACTIVATE:

Best pie: pumpkin
Best ice cream: butter pecan or just really really high quality vanilla
Best donut: old fashioned
Best bar: lemon
Best cake: coconut
Best other: sticky toffee pudding

Anxious Rage @anxiousrage.blacksky.app · Sep 13

Dessert mode ACTIVATE:

Best pie: Sweet Potato
Best ice cream: Butter Pecan or Salted Caramel
Best donut: Devil's food
Best bar: Lemon
Best cake: Carrot
Best other: Reese's PB cups

Reposted by Raven Demory, Authoress

Alex Blechman @alexblechman.bsky.social · Oct 1

H.P. Lovecraft: Your limited human mind cannot comprehend Cthulhu

Me: (comprehending easily) Squid guy

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Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · Sep 11

Currently vacillating between two prospective projects so fast it sounds like beetle wings.

To prequel, or to sequel?

Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · Sep 11

Conversely, I'm learning just how bad for my sanity all this extra screentime is 😅

Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · Sep 11

Halfway through my first week in 8 months of not working on this novel and realizing that writing really is the one thing keeping me sane

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Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · Sep 8

Thanks Corrinne! And congratulations as well 😌

Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · Sep 8

#HIGMA, part 7/7

Last and most important:

I know this sounds like survivorship bias, but in the long, dark, hopeless-at-times tunnel of querying, you only have the light you take with you. Perseverance is key, and mindset is how you persevere.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk!

Terrence McKenna holding up a finger: Take it easy dude, but take it

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Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · Sep 8

#HIGMA, part 6/?

Comps are everything. Use smaller, shinier comps, because everyone's already comping the big ones.
Find a community! The feedback, camaraderie, and support you'll find are indispensable.
Querying teaches you that the gmail ding is, in fact, the scariest sound known to mankind.

Jerry with medals meme format
"I just kept comping John Wiswell and it just kept working"

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Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · Sep 8

#HIGMA, part 5/?

Agent rapport is key here. Agents who are familiar with your work appear significantly more likely to request subsequent works.

Case and point: the agent I signed with gave my last novel a “soft” RnR. After giving my current manuscript an RnR as well, they sent an offer!

Jack sparrow and the commodore meme format:

That's the cheesiest pitch I've ever heard of. But you HAVE heard of it.

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Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · Sep 8

#HIGMA, part 4/?

I've always been skeptical of the idea of a “unicorn” query: ultra fast turnaround, multiple offers, request rates over 20%.

Having experienced it firsthand, I sincerely don't think this would've been possible without those previous books and the three years of anguish.

Charlie the Unicorn is taken to see the Rejection King

(3 animated unicorns against a green background)

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Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · Sep 8

#HIGMA, part 3/?

This was my 3rd attempt at querying. Before this, I'd sent 200+ queries and received ~150 rejections across two projects.

While 2 requests (and the offer I sadly declined) were from a pitch event I kicked off my query journey with, the offer I accepted came from cold querying.

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Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · Sep 8

#HIGMA, part 2/?

Queries sent: 53
Requests: 11
RnRs: 1
Offers: 2
Time querying: ~90 days

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Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · Sep 8

#HIGMA, part 1/?

Back in July, I signed with my agent to represent my fantasy horror novel, the Barrowvine Saint. Compared to my two previous querying journeys, this one was certainly a roller coaster.

Even after a couple months, it's still hard to believe this is happening!

#writingcommunity

Special Agent Dale Cooper enters the query trenches

(two people converse in a red room with a zigzag tile floor. A form rejection letter is captioned)

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Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · Sep 5

I'm in my early 30s, so one out of two ain't bad, I guess.

Does it help if my occult detective is *also* a gin-soaked wreck?

Elias Eells- Bar Cart Bookshelf @eliaseells.bsky.social · Sep 1

You must be at least 40 and a gin-soaked wreck before you even think to turn your creative attention to the Occult Detective.

Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · Sep 2

Jarre-Jarre Binques of the planet Nabeaux

Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · Sep 2

I think I'm going to need it 😅 he's a cat-shaped block of muscle and chaos

Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · Sep 2

My manx kitten is twice the size he should be at 4 months old and I think I'm in danger

A black manx kitten who's twice as big as he should be omg

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Raven Demory, Authoress @saintserene.bsky.social · Sep 1

Whoever invented the Kalita Wave is definitely going to heaven when they die ☕