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kay

@kswrites.bsky.social

300 followers 230 following 340 posts

writer of cosy yet chaotic speculative stories that are full of humour and heart || she/her, asian, vibing but also struggling w life, as is the norm rep: @alexbrownwrites.bsky.social IG: kswri.tes

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kay @kswrites.bsky.social · Jun 30

introducing my #editorsguide for FOR THE DAYS WE NEVER HAD, an adult urban fantasy/speculative ft. vampires, shady detectives & lost gods set in a fictional district in Taipei!

feel free to hit up my agent @alexbrownwrites.bsky.social or leave a ❤️/reply if interested!

An image of Taipei's urban nightscape with the words "An editor's guide to FOR THE DAYS WE NEVER HAD, adult urban fantasy by Kay Choo"

An image of a road with two bus stands across from one another backlit by an orange evening sky. Text reads, "Pitch. Kai Le is a photography studio assistant; Ai Yu is a flower shop apprentice. Their lives are normal as can be, but they long for more. Then chance encounters with an entity at a bus-stand opens up worlds of possibilities for them.

Ai Yu lives out the meet-cute of her fantasies; Kai Le stumbles upon an urban legend in the dark. What they want is within their grasp... But between lost gods, ambitious gangs, and horrors prowling in the shadows, the district they live in has more to offer than just their dreams. The most frightening thing about this new reality though? Learning about themselves - and the people they may become, if they allow it."

An image of reddish-orange lights shining on a silhouette at night. The book cover for Velvet was the Night on the left, with text above that states "noir", "romance..?", and "Street gangs". In the middle, the book cover for The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, with text below that states "search for identity", "morally grey mc", and "lots of yearning". On the right, the anime poster for Durarara!, with text above that states "idyllic until it's not", "shady side characters" and "urban legends".

An image of Taipei's urban nightscape with 7-Eleven on the right and street stalls on the left. In the middle is an image of the silhouette of a woman staring out at the sea, with text that reads "Featuring vampires, vagrant gods, dubious detectives, cutthroat gangs, sunshine x grump romance (..?)"

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · 4d

glad you know 😘😆

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · 4d

tattoo magic and that BLACK SUN! 👀👀

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · 4d

this sounds like the cosiest read omg i love this premise!

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · 4d

always here for sunshine x grump and ace rep!!

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · 4d

those comps!!! this sounds amazing!

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · 4d

this sounds like such a good coming of age story!!

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · 4d

oh i can tell this will hit *so* hard, love this pitch!!

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · 4d

the tension in this premise alone!!! i am so here for this

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · 4d

this premise is so 😚👌 i need it now

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · 4d

the four richly realised characters and their storylines coming tgt... with all the simmering political tensions and power plays... oof this one needs to be snapped up!!!

Lily Wzy is drafting a mysterious new wip @lilywzy.bsky.social · 4d

Priory🍊Tree x She Who Bcame☀️

🪭Manchu+Mongol+Han inspired
🏹God blood as ink for tattoo magic
🪭An eldritch craving familial love
🏹A failing chosen one
🪭A saboteur of her own rebellion
🏹An heir w/ perfect life until the facade rips

#DVpit #F #A #Q

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · 4d

LOVED the complex politics and world tensions and the characters!! omg the yearning, the painful hope, the angst!! 😭

Reposted by kay

zilla @zillawrites.bsky.social · 23d

The new Agent's Guide to
MURDER NIGHT AT HOTEL ADAIR, my The Haunting of Hill House x The Shining #A #H project.

───── ⋆⋅🩸⋅⋆ ─────
At Hotel Adair, the rooms are luxurious, the deaths are creative, and the check-out time is non-negotiable.
───── ⋆⋅🩸⋅⋆ ─────

MURDER NIGHT AT HOTEL ADAIR

MURDER NIGHT AT HOTEL ADAIR pitch

MURDER NIGHT AT HOTEL ADAIR comps and tropes

MURDER NIGHT AT HOTEL ADAIR first page

Reposted by kay

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · Aug 6

ADDIE LARUE x VELVET WAS THE NIGHT

A hopeless romantic drags a grumpy college student with her to chase after an urban legend, and the rest is…

A nightmare of scary men and shady gangs and bloodthirsty vampires. Well, this certainly isn’t the romcom she had in mind.

#questpit #AG #A #SFF #S

A three by three moodboard. From left to right, top to bottom: a white table with dishes piled on it like oily dough sticks and silky bean curd, with the road in the background; a woman holding a guy's hand as they run past a Japanese food stall; a man holding a woman by the waist as they dance; a blue-tinged photo of a hand holding a person's neck and the person holding the hand; an image of a bus stand in the dark, whereby the bus stand is the only thing illuminated; a photo of three hands clinking three glasses of cocktails; a blue-tinged photo of a hand holding a cigarette up in a decrepit room; a red-tinged photo of a step of stairs leading up that is harshly shadowed; a red-tinged photo of a silhouette holding up a transparent umbrella by a building. In the middle of the moodboard, it states "adult upmarket speculative, FOR THE DAYS WE NEVER HAD." At the bottom of the moodboard is @kswri.tes.

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · Aug 7

Carly!! 😭😊

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · Aug 6

give me all the political intrigue murder mysteries!!

Reposted by kay

Sammy Holden @holdencreates.bsky.social · Aug 6

GIDEON THE NINTH X THE FOXGLOVE KING
A sapphic political intrigue fantasy that features:
- a twisty murder mystery
- sentient, decaying magic with a price
- magical history lost to corruption
- childhood friends-to-enemies-to-????
- women’s wrongs
#QuestPit #AG #A #F

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · Aug 6

you know i am so here for this!!

Reposted by kay

Cailin Barrett-Bressack @cailinwrites.bsky.social · Aug 6

If you like grounded, speculative novels featuring woman-led cults, unique depictions of grief, off-beat humor, sister relationships, and neuroscience, then BOY do I have the book for you! 🐐
#Questpit #AG #A #S

Guide to: The Magic of Now
The story of a 62-year-old farmer, the goat her sister may be reincarnated into, and the new age cult that could be behind it.
By: Cailin Barrett-Bressack
Rep: Alex Land, Mad Woman Literary Agency

The Pitch
Gyla, 62-year old in mourning, encounters a mysterious goat on her farm that she suspects contains the consciousness of her recently deceased sister, Tina. Her quest for answers eventually leads to ReNewAll, a reclusive new-age community fixated on death and grieving– and with a goat on their brochures.
In addition to nonsensical classes like Stargazing with Your Eyes Closed and Untangling the Truth through Macrame, ReNewAll and its neuroscientist leader teach The Magic of Now, a practice that allows members to vividly revisit memories of their deceased loved ones.
As Gyla grows from skeptic and unlikely cult infiltrator to a willing member of ReNewAll’s inner circle, she must ultimately choose between immersing herself in an illusion of the past where Tina is still alive (and human), or dedicating herself to the imperfect (but tangible) version of her sister that is trapped inside the body of a goat.

The Comps
How to Age Disgracefully: quirky humor and warmly acerbic wit
Aimee Bender: surrealism used to highlight life’s bittersweet beauty
Catherine House: speculative exploration of insular communities
Eternal Sunshine: themes of memory and identity
comp cults: Teal Swan, Mother God, Elizabeth Holmes

A Snippet:
The Milky Way painted across the bowl of sky is technicolor and dizzying. The stars seem close enough that if she were to reach out and run her hands across the pricks of them, they’d snag splinters in her fingertips.
The wind grows louder. Gyla walks towards her pond, the forest pressing into the shore on three sides. Later in the spring, the pond's surface will be laced with pale green algae, but this early in the season the water is smooth glass, reflecting the night sky and also—the goat.
Gyla sees its reflection first, then draws her eyes up to where it stands motionless across the water. It’s hard to make out every detail in the muted blues of night, but she can tell who it is the moment she sees it.
“Tina?” Gyla whispers. The goat cocks its head to one side in response.
Gyla is not sure why she says her sister’s name aloud. It’s a physical knowing, the same way she senses weather changes in the marrow of her right knee. When she sees the goat, she feels her sister with her for the first time in months.
The goat approaches her cautiously. Its ear is pierced where an identification tag had been, but the tag is gone, and Gyla can see the stars reflecting on the surface of the pond through the small empty window in the cartilage.
Gyla knows she should be wondering if her mind is playing tricks on her. But she doesn’t waver in her conviction. Somehow, she can tell–this is her sister.
It’s Tina.

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · Aug 6

a gothic thriller sounds super cool, and that snippet?? loved it!!

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · Aug 6

meddling gods and found family you say? this sounds like so much fun alr!!

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · Aug 6

that's so nice to hear, tqsm!!

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · Aug 6

omg i luv that hahaha tqsm!!

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · Aug 6

thank you!!

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · Aug 6

aaaa thank you!!

kay @kswrites.bsky.social · Aug 6

peaky blinders and tlou tgt is SO intriguing and noir vibes 👀