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Jessica Junqua

@jessicajunqua.bsky.social

180 followers 170 following 50 posts

✍🏻 YA Author | 🎭 NJ/NY Actress 💖 Queer stories. Found Family. A Touch of Chaos. ✨ Author of Glitch (YA Speculative) #amquerying 💗💙💜 | 🐱x3

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Jessica Junqua @jessicajunqua.bsky.social · Jul 13

THE LAST TO LET GO x HELL FOLLOWED WITH US

🤐 A quiet teen
⚡ Glitching cities
📡 Post-explosion tech takeover
🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Sibling loyalty
🧬 An inventor’s twisted obsession
👁 A voice in her head, not her own
🕳️ If she breaks, she won’t just be consumed—she’ll be weaponized.

#BluePit #BluePit📖 #YA #SP #Q #LGBT

A four picture collage.
Top Left: a girl in a brown jacket and gray hoodie. You don’t see her eyes, just the nose down.
Top Right: the words “Don’t Listen to the Static”
Bottom Left: a hand grasping onto television static.
Bottom Right: a girl wearing a headset, surrounded by computers in a blue room.

A four picture collage:
Top Left: a man sitting cross legged, looking up.
Top Right: three siblings holding each other tight.
Bottom Left: the words “The World’s Not Safe Anymore” carved into a white door.
Bottom Right: the quote: “If we don’t have each other, we don’t have anything.” By S.E. Hinton.

A four picture collage:
Top Left: a man wearing glasses writing math equations on a see through clear white board.
Top Right: the quote “we aren’t breaking you, we are fixing you.”
Bottom Left: a selection of surgical tools laid out in front of a gloved man.
Bottom Right: a needle piercing the skin of a person by a man wearing gloves.

A four picture collage:
Top Left: a girl in a hospital gown running down a hospital corridor
Top Right: the quote “your new life is going to cost you your old one.”
Bottom Left: a girl attached to wires along her spine is watching a series of science fiction looking computer projections
Bottom Right: a girl with her eyes closed, wires placed around her head, the image has a blue hue.

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Jessica Junqua @jessicajunqua.bsky.social · 5d

Excited to announce that Smile for the Camera received an Honorable Mention in the Mainstream/Literary category at the @writersdigest 94th Annual Writing Competition! 🎉

Thank you to the judges for reading & recognizing my story!
#writersdigest #writesky #shortstory #winner #competition #amwriting

A collage graphic with the following words up top: Announcing the Winners of the 94th Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition. Congratulations to the winners of the 94th Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition!

Mainstream/Literary Short Story

The graphic card for Smile for the Camera which is a picture of a hand holding an iPhone in camera mode.

Honorable Mentions:

"Terms of Haunting" by Caroline Hall
• "Tapestry" by John Garvey
• "Short Story/Fiction" by Susan Eastham
• "Olive Theory" by Serrina Zou
• "My Family Tree" by Mary Upton
• "The Raccoons" by Kyle Wong
• "Mama's Baby" by Haley Bebout
• "His Forest" by Meredith Gebhardt
• "Rejection Letter" by Ty Green
• "Gold and Bones" by L.J. Longo
• "Dream Journal" by Sunthorn Capellini
• "An Ordinary Guest" by Tamar Mezvrishvili
• "The Bad Luck House" by Cath Bibeau
• "Bloom" by Gwendolyn Bellinger
• "Boys Like Us" by Siavash Saadlou
• "Downed" by Gabrielle Glaslyn
• "Mourning Dove" by Christine Roy
• "Smile for the Camera" by Jessica Junqua (this line is highlighted in the graphic)
• "The Quiet Howl" by Garin Demirjian

Jessica Junqua @jessicajunqua.bsky.social · Aug 18

Thank you so much!! 🥹😁

Jessica Junqua @jessicajunqua.bsky.social · Aug 16

THE DIVIDING SKY x HELL FOLLOWED WITH US

A glitching world, a grieving family, and a queer 16-year-old girl fighting off the voice in her head—before she becomes the prototype for a disgraced inventor’s next evolution of control. ✨⚡️

#PosterPit #Q #YA #SPF #T

A movie style poster for the novel GLITCH. Up top, the character names are written:

Lea Rigby
Arthur Jove
Luke Rigby
Alek Rigby

Then: A Novel By Jessica Junqua

Two blurbs with vines enclosing them—

“Vividly Imagined and Emotionally Compelling”
And
“A Book About Siblings, Survival, and Selfhood in a World That Has Forgotten What It Means To Be Human”

Towards the bottom, we get the title GLITCH in a static type of font. At the very bottom—

A YA Dystopian Thriller
Now in the Query Trenches

In the poster itself, we see three characters—Alek, Luke, and Lea Rigby. Lea’s eye is covered with a glitching butterfly. Surrounding them are vivid colors and streaks of static.

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Reposted by Jessica Junqua

Writing Day Workshops @writingdaywksp.bsky.social · Aug 10

Have the guts and the imagination. ❤️

Happy Sunday, friends.

#writing #writinginspiration

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Jessica Junqua @jessicajunqua.bsky.social · Aug 6

Thank you! ☺️✨

Jessica Junqua @jessicajunqua.bsky.social · Aug 6

A glitching world, a grieving family, and a queer 16-year-old girl fighting off the voice in her head—before she becomes the prototype for a disgraced inventor’s next evolution of control. ✨✨✨

For fans of THE DIVIDING SKY and HELL FOLLOWED WITH US.

#questpit #Q #YA #S #T #DYS

$A collage of 5 pictures: three figures in darkness, a glitching city, a beautiful autumn road in the Catskills Mountains, and the image of two individuals on a road trip. Then in text: Glitch by Jessica Junqua The pitch: After a mysterious explosion fractures sixteen-year-old Lea Rigby’s reality—glitching entire towns and leaving survivors zombified in tech headsets—she escapes with her older brothers, the only family she has left. While static spreads across the sky and buildings blink in and out of existence, Lea clings to joy, to adventure, and to the role of holding her broken family together. But when a disgraced inventor—Arthur Jove—injects her with a prototype implant meant to replace the headsets he created, Lea’s mind begins to turn against her. Now haunted by static-filled visions, a voice that isn’t hers, and the fear that her body no longer belongs to her, Lea must fight to stay herself. If she loses, she won’t just be consumed—she’ll be weaponized. Glitch is a story about siblings, survival, and selfhood in a world that’s forgotten what it means to be human. Then in bolded letters: 92,000 words - YA Dystopian Thriller w/ Speculative Tech Elements.$

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Jessica Junqua @jessicajunqua.bsky.social · Jul 25

Greetings from the Writer’s Digest Conference in Baltimore! Today was an amazing day filled with workshops and networking. I’m so excited to return tomorrow for Day 2! 📖📚✍🏻✨

#WDC25 #WritingCommunity #AmWriting #AmQuerying @writersdigest.bsky.social

A selfie of myself, Jessica Junqua. She is wearing a black and white geometric tank top, her dark blonde hair is tied back, and she has makeup on. Her blue eyes are wide with excitement. She is holding up her conference name tag to the camera, which covers her mouth. On the name tag: Writer’s Digest Annual Conference. Jessica Junqua. East Brunswick, NJ. Below the name tag are three colorful flags to signify the genres she writes: Young Adult, Science Fiction, and Thriller.

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Jessica Junqua @jessicajunqua.bsky.social · Jul 25

Behind every curated post lies a darker truth—Sasha’s life as the daughter of an influencer spirals into horror when their perfect brand begins to rot from the inside out.

My #YA short story Smile for the Camera has been published in #DugUpMagazine! Check it out!
#WritingCommunity #publishedwriter

A graphic with a black and white image of someone taking the picture with a cell phone of a young girl. In blue/purple colored text up top, the title Smile for the Camera. In a black box down below: A Short Story by Jessica Junqua.

The cover of Dug Up Magazine. Volume 3: July 24, 2025. A graphic featuring a selection of authors and artists’ names.

FEATURING:
JESSICA JUNQUA
LOGAN WARD
LISA LAHEY
ABIGAIL MARTIN
JOHN MARK KING
MONTY BURR
RICK MCQUISTON
DANIEL LETZ
MADISON PIERRE
THOMAS BULL
R.K. WEIR
WILL CHERICO
FRED TAULBEE
BILL WOLAK

COVER ART: GABRIEL TAVARES

On the right hand side, art of a blue man being swallowed by a black demon like character.

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Jessica Junqua @jessicajunqua.bsky.social · Jul 24

Good morning! Today’s going to be a great day. ☀️ I’m attending the Writer’s Digest Conference this weekend in Baltimore, Maryland!

Looking forward to meeting new people, pitching my novel Glitch, & attending workshops! ✍🏻✨ Anyone else going?

#WritingCommunity #WDC25 #amwriting #amquerying #writing

Jessica Junqua @jessicajunqua.bsky.social · Jul 14

For Glitch: Waiting On The Sky To Change by STARSET & Breaking Benjamin

Glitch has a very rock (and pop punk) influenced sound and both bands’ music were on loop while writing this story. 🎧🎶✍🏻✨

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #amquerying #Glitch #writingprompt

The Spotify Code for the song Waiting On The Sky To Change by STARSET and Breaking Benjamin. The album art is very space influenced with an astronaut standing on a rock starting at a galactic triangle with a moon inside. The reason for posting is to share what the opening credits song would be for my novel Glitch.

Jessica Junqua @jessicajunqua.bsky.social · Jul 14

Chunk says Zzzzzzz 😴😴
(But he means good morning! ☀️)

An outdoor picture featuring a patio backyard, a glass and white framed sliding door, a potted plant to the left, and in the center, two old couch cushions stacked on top of each other. Sleeping on top is a black and white cat. (his name is Chunk)

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Jessica Junqua @jessicajunqua.bsky.social · Jul 14

Huge thanks to the #WritingCommunity for the love & support for Glitch & Fragments of Us during #BluePit 💙

I also had a wonderful time at the @writehive.bsky.social Annual Conference this weekend! Feeling inspired & energized! ✍🏻✨

To all the new friends/followers, welcome! 🤗

#amwriting #amquerying

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Reposted by Jessica Junqua

Carla Hennes ❌ 👑 aka Radiation Rosie @tempestteapot.bsky.social · Jul 14

Kahyla 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.

⛓️‍💥Feminist within patriarchy
🦶😒 Heel-face turn
🔥❤️ Slow burn
🕴️Powers via Possession
🚶‍♀️Coming of Age
🗣️Quiet girl finds her voice

#BluePit 📖 #Q #F #R #YA #A

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Reposted by Jessica Junqua

Sasha Green @sashagreen.bsky.social · Jul 13

#BluePit 📖 #Q #YA #R #LGBT #ND #agentsguide #bluepit

For fans of Heartstopper & Felix Ever After

✅ Enemies to Lovers
✅ Found Family
✅ Slow Burn
✅ Secrets and Twists
✅ Boarding School
✅ Seaside Town
✅ Angst with a side of humor

A young man looking out onto the ocean and a wave

A silhouette of a teenager with a backpack against an ocean backdrop

Two teens comforting each other with an embrace

Comparable titles cover pages: Heartstopper, Felix Ever After, I Wish You All the Best, What If It’s Us

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Reposted by Jessica Junqua

Sage like the Pumpkin Spice @sagecollins.bsky.social · Jul 13

DR HORRIBLE x STARS & SMOKE x RENEGADES

🦸🏼‍♀️ Kickass shapeshifting heroine
🧑🏻‍🎤 Celebrity villain
🗣️ Unreliable narrators
💥 Superhero action
🖤 Obsessive love
✅ Jumping through League’s hoops
👫 Supportive BFF (maybe LI?)
🎤 Voicey POVs
🚪 Scooby Doo doors
😜 Hero & villain share a body?

#BluePit 📖 #Q #YA #SF

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Reposted by Jessica Junqua

Adrien Bryter ~ Comic Book Writer @adrienbryter.bsky.social · Jul 13

#Amaryllis

She's a former Broadway star on the run from a scandalous past. He's a forgotten film actor who pushes everyone away. When a media circus runs riot over their so-called "relationship", they might just find in each other the healing they never knew they needed.

#bluepit💥 #YA #A #R #W

Image of a woman in an empty theatre, she has a red dress and is holding an amaryllis flower.

The title is "AMARYLLIS", the text surrounding it says "Enemies to fake dating to lovers", "the broody one is soft for the fiery one", "cozy, vulnerable romance about overcoming difficult pasts", and "it's *exactly* what you think it is"

Image of a woman in a red dress sitting on a stone wall.

The text says:
"When Maylee became the assistant to famed actor Mr. Dorian Ashby, the last thing she expected was for the media to run riot over their supposed "relationship".

Now she's stuck pretending to date the most prickly man to ever grace the silver screen, all while trying to outrun her scandalous Broadway past.

But maybe he could be one she's been searching for this whole time. Someone at last who can help her heal."

Image of a man in a nice suit standing on a street corner.

The text reads:
"When Dorian Ashby reluctantly hired Maylee to be his assistant, the last thing he expected was to be caught in the camera's lense with her and thrust into the centre of a media circus.

Now he's stuck in yet another relationship made up for the spectacle and this time with a headstrong woman who seems to want nothing more than to push his buttons.

But maybe she could be the one he's been searching for this whole time. Someone at last he can trust with his bruised and vulnerable heart."

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Reposted by Jessica Junqua

Adrien Bryter ~ Comic Book Writer @adrienbryter.bsky.social · Jul 13

UMBRELLA ACADEMY x SAILOR MOON x RWBY + ARTHURIANA

#AVALONRising
👪 Found Family is literally magic ✨
⚔️ Sword + Sorcery + Sci-Fi 💾
💔 Grief, Loss, and Reconciliation 🩹
💢 Family difficulties but they all love each other ❤️‍🩹 (no A!)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB-u...

#bluepit💥 #YA #F #SF #W

AVALON RISING - First Animatic Trailer

YouTube video by AVALON Rising

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Jessica Junqua

Petrana 冰冰 Radulovic (she/her) @petrana.bsky.social · Jul 13

LOCKWOOD & CO x THE X-FILES

When one of Nat's classmates doesn't return from a routine abduction, she begins questioning everything she thought she knew about aliens. She dives into the secrets of her small desert town, which may hold the key to her own past.

#BluePit #W #YA #SF #PN #LGBT

A moodboard of nine pink and purple-tinged images, all featuring desert landscapes and alien elements

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Reposted by Jessica Junqua

Kirsten E Bell @kbellwrites.bsky.social · Jul 13

ANTHOLOGY OF THE WOODS

A witch tale with fangs, fitting nicely on a shelf next to "The Once and Future Witches" & "Garden Spells".

✔️Cottage Core
✔️Twist Ending
✔️Sisterhood
✔️Morally Gray FMC
✔️Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll
✔️Atmospheric
✔️Feminism
✔️Dancing ghosts in a theater 👻

#BluePit📖 #Q #Spec #A

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Reposted by Jessica Junqua

Danielle Larson @daniellelarson.com · Jul 13

An autistic freshman trades her mother's microscopic, narcissistic control, father's physical presence and emotional absence for dorm room freedom.
Between found family, first love, and learning to stop apologizing for existing—Rowan creates a life she loves. #BluePit📖 #W #YA #NA #ND #LGBT #OV

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Jessica Junqua @jessicajunqua.bsky.social · Jul 13

FAME x NEVER ENOUGH

🎭 A ruthless arts school
👯‍♀️ Grieving Twin Sisters
🩰 A dancer chasing perfection
🎶 A singer unraveling
💔 Messy friendships & first love
🧠 Mental health, grief, addiction
🕳 How far would you fall to feel whole?

Title: Fragments of Us❤️‍🩹

#BluePit #BluePit📖 #YA #Contemporary #W #LGBT

6 Panel Photo Collage for character Olivia Newfield.

Top Left: a photo of various ballet pointe shoes
Middle Left: Two girls facing away from the camera. They stand outside. One girl has long brown hair and a white sleeved top and dark over shirt. The other girl has long auburn hair and a dark top.
Bottom Left: A portrait of a girl sitting at a table, covering her face.
Bottom Middle: A dancer folded over and stretching. The image has a blue hue, very moody.
Bottom Right: Two girls holding hands outside.

The biggest panel features a quote by Nikola M. La Vallée: “I would dance until my body gave out, then I would collapse into the earth, and dream of Dancing again.”

6 Panel Photo Collage for character Charlotte “Charlie” Newfield.

Top Right: a photo of Christine Daée from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical The Phantom of the Opera.
Middle Right: a pair of hands holding a rose flower.
Bottom Right: A picture of a boy and a girl illuminated only by stage lights. They are almost about to kiss.
Bottom Middle: A girl standing in a theater surrounded by plush red theater seats.
Bottom Left: Two girls reaching towards the moon and sky outside.

The biggest panel features a quote from The Phantom of the Opera: “Try to forgive, teach me to live. Give me the strength to try.”

6 Panel Photo Collage for my story’s setting—a performing arts high school.

Top Left: a photo of Manhattan street signs, Broadway and W 53rd Street. There’s also One Way signs and a traffic light facing away.
Bottom Left: a photo of a front entrance for a School of Performing Arts

Top Right: a scene of an acting class in progress. 4 humans are on stage and one man sits in the audience directing a scene.
2nd Right: a scene of a contemporary or lyrical dance class in progress.
3rd Right: a scene of a class in progress. A group of students sit in a circle and a teacher stands in the center teaching.
Bottom Right: a scene of dancers dancing from the 80s movie Fame.

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Reposted by Jessica Junqua

Sage like the Pumpkin Spice @sagecollins.bsky.social · Jul 13

WREN MARTIN RUINS IT ALL x THE SOUND OF STARS

18yo Hale & his celebrity BFF have 1 week to film a blockbuster episode and attract investors for their futuristic-TikTok musical. But planetary power outages and weather-system glitches thwart their ability to deliver.

#BluePit 📖 #Q #YA #SF #LGBT

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Reposted by Jessica Junqua

Alexis ☕ is querying @abookishchai.bsky.social · Jul 13

Here’s my #agentsguide to A CROSSROAD OF LILIES, my complete YA romance with a speculative twist!

🍄A magical mushroom curse
🍄A friends-to-lovers romance
🍄A retired childhood actor
🍄A bullied scholarship student
🍄An otherworldly secret they both must keep

#Bluepit📖 #R #YA #Q

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Reposted by Jessica Junqua

savdoesbooks @savdoesbooks.bsky.social · Jul 13

FOREIGN BODIES is Euphoria X The Last of Us (if it had androids, duh), a YA Crossover spec fic.

Found family, wealth disparity, unchecked oligarchs, genetic manipulation, perseverance, science, identity, connection, grief, mental illness & addiction.

#BluePit📖 #BluePit #YA #NA #SF #SP #OV #ND #Q

a photo collage. top left shows a smoggy city skyline. middle left is a teary eye on a dirty face. Bottom left depicts a wildfire blazing across dry landscape. The centre is a science lab with glass tanks containing wet specimens and scattered bottles. bottom middle shows two silhouettes facing each other in a dimly lit space. Bottom right shows a group of people struggling through smoke and ash with shovels, fighting a fire. The background of the collage is a cityscape at night.

an image collage. top left shows a fist punching through glass. Top center shows two figures running, blurred in motion. Top right depicts a rioting crowd waving red flares, engulfed in smoke. Bottom left features protesters and flares held in disagreement. The background is a digital screenwith the phrase 'what if we never met?' in red text. In the middle is a close-up of an eye, with the reflection of flames, and glitter trailing down like tears.

a photo collage. top left shows two people touching foreheads. Overlaid is a closeup of hands clasping, and overlaid beneath is a scan of a hand. Top right is a screencap from anime Bubblegum Crisis, a city surrounded by high-rise buildings. Beneath, blue text reads 'a human being whose original human parts have had to be replaced'. Bottom left shows riot police in black gear. The centre bottom is a dark industrial space with green lighting. Bottom right shows a distressed woman staring into a mirror.

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Reposted by Jessica Junqua

Ziv @zivmontenegro.bsky.social · Jul 13

Agents/Editors guide to my YA literary sci-fi

INTERSTELLAR meets NOPE with the emotional appeal and first alien contact of ARRIVAL (2016) & the suspense and alien hostility of THE FIFTH WAVE

Today is 2094 & dealing with grief. What worse could possibly happen?
#YoungAdult #literary #scifi #BluePit

This book will make you cry like it did to me even though I wrote it

Pitch:

After encountering an alien while dealing with grief, Astra, a runaway, must choose between saving humanity from an alien invasion and reconciling with her dad before it’s too late.

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