Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION! @andreamariana89.bsky.social · 3h

Happy National Coming Out Day to all of my beautiful queer siblings 💗 🌈💖🥳

#NationalComingOutDay
#LGBT

a drawing of a cat holding a rainbow flag with the name bluvelvet art written below it

ALT: a drawing of a cat holding a rainbow flag with the name bluvelvet art written below it

media.tenor.com

Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION! @andreamariana89.bsky.social · 12d

The "Historical Costumes" 👀 section for online Halloween retailers is...a LOOSE definition at best...😅🎃👻

1

Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION! @andreamariana89.bsky.social · 21d

I am FINALLY ready to share Pt 1 of my latest #queer history series! 😍 🙌 🌈 And I couldn't oversell this one if I tried 👀

A rumored affair between co-emporers of the Byzantine Empire makes for one hell of a medieval scandal...⚔️
#WritingCommunity #BookSky #LGBT

andreamariana.com?p=1783

Dangerous Liaisons, Part I: Love Among Men in Byzantium - Andrea Mariana

The history of the Byzantine Empire, and its views toward homosexuality, provide the backdrop to a salacious tale of love and murder.

andreamariana.com

2

Reposted by Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION!

Pam Keith @pamkeithdc.bsky.social · Sep 6

FUN FACT:

If Kamala was POTUS right now,

NONE of our trade or diplomatic relations would be up in smoke.

NONE of our farms and agribusiness would be going belly up.

NONE of the soft power we used to get great trade opportunities would have dried up.

All of this was avoidable.

490 2.4K 8.2K

Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION! @andreamariana89.bsky.social · Sep 6

Absolutely! That's the amazing and ever challenging part of being a student of history! 🥰

Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION! @andreamariana89.bsky.social · Sep 6

When I first started researching #QueerHistory a few years ago to start my Historical Fiction writing, I remember thinking, "How much information is there really out there?"

Years later, I know that I could spend my life in this discipline and never learn all of it 😅

#WritingCommunity #BookSky

1 5

Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION! @andreamariana89.bsky.social · Aug 26

So I just learned in a podcast that there is evidence that Plato had a gay affair with one of the Syracuse royals' in-laws?!?!

And I love when ✨️ The Universe ✨️ just hands me Queer History research rabbit holes 🐭🕳

#WritingCommunity #QueerHistory #History

2

Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION! @andreamariana89.bsky.social · Aug 23

Not me getting 3500 words into a new Queer History blogpost and going, well shit, guess this is going to a Part 2 🙃

Anyway who knew the Byzantine Empire of all things would be my next two-part adventure?

Cats GIF

ALT: Cats GIF

media.tenor.com

2

Reposted by Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION!

Aaron Olátunjie Cole is ✨Vague✨👀 @aaronolatunjie.bsky.social · Aug 15

THE SONG OF ACHILLES x HUNGER GAMES

Inspired by Central Africa's Underworld of Kalunga

A boy with blood magic must compete in a deadly competition to save his mom's soul from the Underworld, but his growing love for the Prince threatens to destroy the kingdom

#QueerPit #Vague #YA

19 9

Reposted by Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION!

QueerPit @queerpit.bsky.social · Aug 15

WOW! 😀 We have been amazed by all the incredible pitches so far today!!!

Remember - you can post new pitches until *8 PM* Eastern time ⏰️

Don't forget to PIN 📌 your best pitches to your profile so that agents who browse the event tonight and this weekend can easily find them.

4 19

Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION! @andreamariana89.bsky.social · Aug 15

Very cool! I love the premise 🥰🌈

1 1

Reposted by Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION!

Diane Billas (she/her) queer YA author @dianebillas.bsky.social · Aug 15

QUEER NANCY DREW
17-yr-old Emmie has the coolest job at a bookstore in Philly with her sapphic crush, but when a patron dies during her mom’s book event, all eyes are turned towards her. She needs to get her life back and not get killed in the process.
#Queerpit #YA #M

Mood board: Blonde girl holding a pumpkin, halloween candy, woman dressed like Harley Quinn, Woman in a bookstore, murder board, yellow crime scene tape, police car, woman holding a coffee cup, books with a single light hanging down.

14 4

Reposted by Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION!

Devin Greenlee @devllee.bsky.social · Aug 15

FOR EDITORS

HANSEL & GRETEL RETELLING
We’re not friends.
We’re not allies.
We’re just two emotionally repressed boys with trauma, hexes, and a mutual obsession.
Oh—and we accidentally started the apocalypse.
Happy end of the world! ☠️

#QueerPit #YA #FR #FTA

4

Reposted by Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION!

R. A. Ruhl is Querying🌙 @raruhl.bsky.social · Aug 15

#QueerPit #A #H HALF SICK OF SHADOWS: Gothic horror, disability lens, 1890s setting w modern diversity. Inspired by Dracula w Lovecraftian tone. 2 friends working at a remote manor must uncover bloody secrets and resist seductive nightmares to oppose robber barons that physically drain the people.

A moodboard with 9 pictures. In order from left to right, top to bottom: a frozen white flower, a first quarter moon, a drinking glass with drops of blood, a golden mask, iron gates that lead to a mansion, a violin, a broken mirror with the reflection of a hand, a foggy evergreen forest, and a yellow flower on a striking dark background.

4 5 9

Reposted by Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION!

MJ Bowman is querying Dark Fantasy! @mjbowman.bsky.social · Aug 15

With weak cold fire magic, Octavia can't fight her uncle legally taking her fortune. Fleeing to the Temple of the Dead, Octavia's fire raises a girl executed for murder--she knows her power at last. With an army of the dead, she will destroy the empire that keeps women inferior. #QueerPit #A #F #DF

A moodboard containing ancient roman symbols, a woman with blue fire in her hands, blood, zombie hands, and dragon wings.

9 40 11

Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION! @andreamariana89.bsky.social · Aug 15

Thank you friend!!! 😊

1

Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION! @andreamariana89.bsky.social · Aug 15

EDITORS: The queer s*x work industry thrives in 18th C. London

But for the ambitious Theodora, unwitting bawd to the city's newest "molly house", threats crawl up her doorstep.

Can her wit save her, her partners and friends, from death on the scaffold? #QueerPit #HF #ACE

Top from left: Copper coins, man in pink 18th C. clothing, purple flowers
Middle from left: close up of 18th C. painting, chess piece, pink 18th C dress
Bottom from left: lavender plants, pink fan, close up of 18th C. stockings and skirt

1 6 2

Reposted by Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION!

Alicia @abeastie.bsky.social · Aug 15

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER X ALICE IN WONDERLAND

All Ara wants is to pass her exams, get a job, and survive the vampires after her blood.

On the verge of finding their missing girlfriend, Investigator Cam McCoy is torn between prioritizing new client Ara’s case… or their own.

#QueerPit #UF #A

Moodboard with coffee, stork scissors, rabbit being chased, letters, creepy shadow men, Toronto

8 2

Reposted by Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION!

David T./D.T. Brandt - Settler on Stolen Land @queerpointyears.bsky.social · Aug 15

KNIGHT'S TALE x & JULIET

Dancing with the princess showed Gio the love of his life he could never have.

Being forced to teach Aubrey how to dance to win her hand showed him the world was as cruel as he knew it was.

But kissing Aubrey showed him nothing was that simple.

#QueerPit #A #FR #HR

6

Reposted by Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION!

elif ⚡ @rydeen1997.bsky.social · Aug 15

SHARP OBJECTS x THE SHAPE OF WATER

a young artist needs the perfect portrait for art college. her muse? her mother — but not only does she disappear to the local pond, she is also a nymph and has no intention to leave.

#queerpit #spf #mr #a

(picture of a pond) Nymph's Pond - an adult fantasy novel

The pitch:
Small towns gossip... and being different may prove fatal to her mother and Damla...
Damla wants nothing more than to get into art college. But when her mother, the person she’d most like to draw, disappears into the town’s local pond, Damla must set out to retrieve her — only to realize that not only is her mother a nymph, she has no intention to leave that place.
And what’s so special about that pond anyway? Damla uncovers a secret that could upend her life as she knows it... and powers she never knew she had.

Comps to the left:
* Kaveh Akbar's MARTYR! (künstlerroman)
* Kelly Link's BOOK OF LOVE (small-town magic)
* Zen Cho's BLACK WATER SISTER (filial piety vs freedom)
* THE SHAPE OF WATER (dir. Guillermo del Toro) (inter-species (queer) romance)
To the right - themes & elements:
* a small-town with a secret
* the struggles of a young artist
* nymphs as sea-creatures
* female-centric & sapphic cast
* complicated mother-daughter relationships

Snippet:
Her mother, clearer than ever, and yes, more home than ever, too. Wet and looking calm, no unnecessary skin on her, thin but not skeletal, gaunt but not haunted. Blond hair almost golden from the water. Hazel eyes glimmering like polished wood. This was an image that Waterhouse would not have messed up. He’d have thought of it, and here it was, right in front of Damla, her own, personal Undine. But in her head, the image turned out ugly just by having Damla’s name on it. She thought of the arm that she had drawn earlier that day, the mangled arm that had mangled everything else about the artwork, and she knew that her mother was right. She had no skill. She didn’t know what she wanted besides wanting out. She couldn’t get into college. She was stuck with her mother, an artist without an artwork. All she did was paint Damla’s world black from the comfort of her big bathtub.

2 13 3

Reposted by Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION!

jenn (is querying and writing) @kotegentarri.bsky.social · Aug 15

⋆⁺₊❅.
ADESTE FIDELES
⋆⁺₊❅.

A couple in Maryland unknowingly invite the Devil to dine with them on Christmas Eve ❄️
- scottish folklore of Black Donald
- holiday horror novella
- doomed lovers
- religious shame, love over sin

#QueerPit #A #H #HF #R

4 12 1

Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION! @andreamariana89.bsky.social · Aug 15

Love the queer rep in historical settings! 😍💕

R. A. Ruhl is Querying🌙 @raruhl.bsky.social · Aug 15

#QueerPit #A #H HALF SICK OF SHADOWS: Gothic horror, disability lens, 1890s setting w modern diversity. Inspired by Dracula w Lovecraftian tone. 2 friends working at a remote manor must uncover bloody secrets and resist seductive nightmares to oppose robber barons that physically drain the people.

3

Reposted by Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION!

Annie Morgan 🏳️‍🌈📚 @anniemmorgan.bsky.social · Aug 15

Sliding Doors x Expiration Dates

When Lucy is blindsided by a Jumbotron proposal, her answer(s) fracture her future in two...

Dropping my brand-new #EditorsGuide for #QueerPit

Editors: on sub soon-- making our sub list now!

#SPF #FIC #A #Agented

Background: a blurred image of Atlanta traffic with a highway converging in two paths.
Text: An Editor’s Guide to The Fractured Life of Lucy Hughes. Book Club Fiction. 85,000 words.

Background: tan linen
Heading: Pitch.
Text: When Lucy is blindsided by a Jumbotron proposal, her answer(s) spawn alternating versions of the next year…

In one, her refusal implodes her relationship—and when the Jumbotron video goes viral, her job and her privacy are collateral damage. In the other, Lucy finds the stability she has been searching for since her mother’s addiction left her bouncing around foster homes…but marriage to the heir of a Southern political dynasty might mean a lifetime compromising her morals.

Both versions of Lucy must find her voice, forgive herself for making the ‘wrong’ decision, and reckon with the way her childhood trauma has shaped her adult relationships if she is going to create a future where she can be her full, authentic self and find the family she’s been searching for.

Background: Tan Linen
Heading: What to expect
Text: (Two columns with star-shaped bullet points):
Sliding Doors split reality
viral jumbotron moment
internet doxxing
sapphic friends-to-lovers
former foster kid
childhood trauma
bisexual main character
found family
second coming-of-age

Background: Tan linen
Heading: For fans of:
Graphic: Book covers for the following books: Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale; The Names by Florence Knapp; Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid; Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle

1 9 1

Reposted by Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION!

Bry @rhymeswithfry.bsky.social · Aug 15

When his gf dumps him for not being queer-enough, transguy Collin makes a bet he can land a date with the hot new (assumed-straight) barista across the street—only to realize he might be falling for her for real.

#QueerPit #YA #NA #RC #UP #Transgender

3x3 mood board. The title, All That and a Bag of Chips, is written in the center. Starting in the top left corner and going clockwise: A trans flag, a photograph of a college quad, a stock photo of a cup of coffee with a foamy heart, a presumed-straight white couple kissing, an areal photograph of downtown Santa Cruz, CA, a photo of people dancing in a club, a photo of an array of smoothies, and a photograph of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

1 7 1

Reposted by Andrea Mariana 🏳️‍🌈 is ON SUBMISSION!

Jenny Lane @authorjennylane.bsky.social · Aug 15

FOR EDITORS

Parent Trap x Very Queer
👯‍♀️ Posing as your twin to save her summer internship
⛺️Camp shenanigans
🫥 Your sister's frenemy is hot and competent—oh no you want to kiss them
🌿Indoorsy introvert MC/Outdoorsy & annoyed LI
💋New Adult Sapphic Romance (F/NB)
#QueerPit #NA #R

1 10