Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Alyssa 🌊 is QUERYING! @amcknightwrites.bsky.social · Jul 9

Nerissa(f), Charlie(f), and Atticus(m) were *made* for the Love Island villa with their love triangle messiness and emotion-avoidance 🤠 #UnhingedPit #Q #F #H

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Alyssa 🌊 is QUERYING! @amcknightwrites.bsky.social · Jul 8

*taps microphone* I, once again, forgot to check this app for…many weeks 😅 too many social media platforms to worry about maintaining, not enough time!

Alyssa 🌊 is QUERYING! @amcknightwrites.bsky.social · May 14

What’s the greatest line in cinema?

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Alyssa 🌊 is QUERYING! @amcknightwrites.bsky.social · May 9

23 (yes, 23) hours in the trenches update:
🌊2 full requests
🤍4 new agent likes
🌊EDITOR interest(!!)

#agents + #editors that are also looking for a standalone horror fantasy featuring a siren POV, love triangle, & body horror—feel free to leave a 🤍, or my DMs are open!
#agentsguide #writingcommunity

Alyssa 🌊 is QUERYING! @amcknightwrites.bsky.social · May 7

FOR THE WOLF x SORROWLAND

Might I present my #agentguide for THESE TIDES THAT BIND, standalone adult horror fantasy featuring a Siren POV, a love triangle, body horror, and themes of selfishness as self preservation?

#questpit #q #f

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Alyssa 🌊 is QUERYING! @amcknightwrites.bsky.social · May 8

Thank you!!

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Alyssa 🌊 is QUERYING! @amcknightwrites.bsky.social · May 8

THESE TIDES THAT BIND has been in the query trenches less than two hours and…already has a full request????

I am quite legitimately dumbfounded 🥹
#agentsguide is pinned for any curious eyes!! #writingcommunity

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Alyssa 🌊 is QUERYING! @amcknightwrites.bsky.social · May 8

The first batch of queries for THESE TIDES THAT BIND have been sent!! This baby is officially in the trenches!

Also so grateful for all the love on my #agentsguide yesterday 🌊🖤

Alyssa 🌊 is QUERYING! @amcknightwrites.bsky.social · May 7

FOR THE WOLF x SORROWLAND

Might I present my #agentguide for THESE TIDES THAT BIND, standalone adult horror fantasy featuring a Siren POV, a love triangle, body horror, and themes of selfishness as self preservation?

#questpit #q #f

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Nell @nelsnote.bsky.social · May 7

THE BASS ROCK x THE UNCONSOLED X ALL THE LOVERS IN THE NIGHT

Burned-out jazz pianist Clementine falls for a brilliant artist at a seaside inn—then those he paints begin to vanish.

🎹Art‑as‑magic
🌫️ Gothic melancholy
🩶 Envy‑to‑attraction slow burn
❔Psych suspense

#agentguide #questpit #A #LF #Q

An agent's guide to the inn at the edge of the sea - 64k upmarket with magical realism

The pitch: Burned‑out jazz pianist Clementine retreats to a seaside inn where a gifted painter rekindles her inspiration. But when the subjects of his portraits begin disappearing, she must learn whether the artist is to blame—or she could be next.
For fans of:
The quiet loneliness and romance of Mieko Kawakami’s ALL THE LOVERS IN THE NIGHT
The brooding, gothic atmosphere of Evie Wyld’s THE BASS ROCK
The dreamy surrealism of Kazuo Ishiguro’s THE UNCONSOLED

Tropes/Themes: Psychological Suspense
Speculative elements
Romance Subplot with Yearning
Magical paintings
Manipulation
Artistic creation and self-destruction
The Indomitable Human Spirit
Music
Moody and melancholic

Opening lines: The winter tide exhaled a slow melody against the sand. Clementine let its crested waves spill over her feet, foam gathering in deep snow drifts around her ankles.

There was a ghostly feel to the long stretch of water that lay before her, the distant horizon blending into a misty gray sky. As the tide pulled back, she was overtaken by the fleeting sensation of falling, as if the water might pull her with it. It had a good rhythm to it. A steady rhythm.

Time dripped slowly. With a distant sort of detachment, she noted that her toes were blue.

Water breathed, and Clementine drew a breath, shallow and cold. The taste of wood and salt lay in a heavy coat atop her tongue. She’d come here for quiet, yet the ocean thrashed and quaked in the cavity of her chest, filling its emptiness with a transparent and insurmountable longing.

It was a Thursday, and Thursdays were the worst night of the week. The night you got if you played well enough to fill the slot, but not popular enough for the weekend rush. Clementine had only ever been scheduled for Thursdays.

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Alyssa 🌊 is QUERYING! @amcknightwrites.bsky.social · May 7

FOR THE WOLF x SORROWLAND

Might I present my #agentguide for THESE TIDES THAT BIND, standalone adult horror fantasy featuring a Siren POV, a love triangle, body horror, and themes of selfishness as self preservation?

#questpit #q #f

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Abigail is ✨Agented✨ @abigailwadlington.bsky.social · May 7

ANASTASIA X TANGLED

A seamstress’ assistant unable to recall her past recruits a thief to help her win her memories back in a festival. As lost magic surges to oppose them, a dangerous attraction blooms, forcing them to choose between forgotten pasts and tantalizing futures.

#questpit #OS #YA #F

Art featuring a girl in a blue dress with braided black hair and a flower crown dancing with a ginger-haired boy in a leather vest and trousers, with mountains and forests in the background. Tropes include element magic, cozy setting, disability rep, Ghibli vibes, dislike to lovers, snarky banter, Swiss folklore, and found family.

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Florence Chien 🗡️ REVENANT OF SUROLIFIA (07.07.26) @florencechien.com · May 7

✨ THE REVENANT OF SUROLIFIA ✨ JULY '26 ✨

🗡️ An imperial officer with a secret identity
🪽 A thief trying to start a revolution
⚖️ A university student turned diplomat
🩸 They want to kill each other
🔥 But they must cooperate to stop a war

#questpit #P #A #F #2026debuts

A quote from the book reading as follows:
"Do you hear that music?" he said in the thunder's wake.
The dissonate countermelody of Horus's determination was juxtaposed with Arletta's mystic prayers in the winding woodwinds. Lucian pulled her close.
"Abandon your thoughts. Listen."
The winding melody swelled to an explosive chorus and he launched her into a feverish dance.
From Chapter 8, The Monolith

The Revenant of Surolifia by Florence Chien
In bookstores summer 2026

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Katy Townes @katyreadsromance.bsky.social · May 7

PERFECT FITxTHE PARADISE PROBLEMxTHE HANGOVER

Becca has 3 weeks to raise $100k and save the job she loves-if she can survive a work trip to Vegas with her ex’s hot best friend first. ♥️♣️♦️♠️

♥️ gambling lessons
♥️ meddling co-workers
♥️ millennial themed nightclub party

#questpit #Q #A #R #agentsguide

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leona has an agent✨🦋 @leonahwrites.bsky.social · May 7

ERAGON X THE LAST UNICORN

🌿bone magic & speaking with spirits
🕷️slavic myths in the woods
🪻band of misfits nearly dying a lot
🌞missing someone you never knew
🪻unique magic system
🕷️dragons, dead women, & forest men
🌿coming of age in a fantastical way

#questpit #AG #F #YA

a white background with a light green banner with white writing that reads “THE BONE COLLECTOR An editor’s guide to a lush, folklore YA fantasy by Leona H. Lach Repped by Arianna Siddiqui at Fineprint Literary”

light green background with white flowers and a spine in three of the corners, a group of 3 in a neutral tone color palette is in one of the corners.
from left to right:
Fawn is on the left. she is a black girl with long locs that are decorated in little gold pieces. Olena is in the middle. She’s a white girl with dark hair & a scarf around her hair. Arwyn is on the right. He has tanned skin, shaggy hair that falls to his shoulders, & hunting gear on.
Text is in the middle and reads: PITCH
Three magic users a rare Bone Breaker and two spy Animal Weavers- journey into the dark woods to find a potential cure for the sickness ravaging the Bone Breaker's home. Risking their lives against ancient beasts, the three adventure to the highest mountain to find the medicine they're searching for. In a clash of Slavic myths and dark consequential magic, this YA fantasy explores the strength of the natural world while highlighting the struggle to fit in as a young girl.

a light green background with white text that reads COMPS AND TROPES. book covers and their tropes are listed below. Eragon cover: 15 y/o MC swept into an unknown adventure. The Last Unicorn cover: a misfit, magic found family. Counterpart cover a royal pawn. Daughter of the Bone Forest cover: magic influenced by death. Where the Dark Stands Still cover: lush world inspired by slavic folklore. white flowers and a spine border the corners.

white text over a light green background: SNIPPET
But the entire world stops turning, letting Olena live in the few seconds before her end.
"A wish?" a chirping voice calls from somewhere inside Olena's skull. It bats around, banging on every corner of her brain, the flap of wings echoing in her ears. "A wish for you." The voice is almost too fast for Olena to comprehend, but she makes her wish.
Flight. Wings. The strength to save us, she pleads.
in three of the four corners is white flowers and a spine, in the bottom right is olena: a very pale 15 year old girl who looks incredibly tired. she has dark hair under a silk scarf that’s covered in art of lions and dragonflies. she’s wearing a dark blue cloak and dark dress and is fiddling with a bone.

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Ange @gunsmile.bsky.social · May 7

JOHN WICK x THE COLOR OUT OF SPACE

Professional hit man Jason seeks revenge for the murder of his brother, but his wife Ayana suspects a more sinister conspiracy at play.

🩸 cosmic horror
🩸 criminal underworld
🩸 married MCs
🩸 villain protagonist

#QuestPit #W #A #H #T

A page from an old book showing a skull drawing and the word MORTEM, a well-dressed couple in shadow staring at you with glowing eyes, two skyscrapers looming overhead in the fog, several pistols lying in a cushioned case, a black hole, two doctors performing surgery, a man with his back turned and a woman's hand cradling his head, a cork board of documents and string, six figures cloaked in black and gathered in a semi-circle.

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Rhian Parry 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿📚 @dearrhian.bsky.social · May 7

A STUDY IN DROWNING meets ADDIE LARUE (with a Rebecca Ross vibe) in a world where altered mythology acts as an allegory for stifling oppressed voices, and where the alienation of autistic people perpetuates their inherent feelings of wrongness 🥀✨

#QuestPit #AG #A #ownvoices

Title of book: A MORTAL DROWNING, an academic rivals to lovers historical romantasy with:

autism rep
• grumpy x sunshine
• dual POV and dual timeline
• gentle FMC and babygirl MMC
• dark academia themes and vibes
• spice (written like acts of life altering, soul-weaving devotion)

A mortal man with no memory of his past and a solar goddess the earth has no memory of compete for their university's magic in a world where magic, and the language that sustains it, is dying.

Olwen, a goddess, needs the prize to escape a murderous ex lover while Arthur, a mortal, needs it to recover his memory as the sole survivor in a string of men found drowned with magic in their lungs. But with more men washing up dead, and the magic that once saved a nation from falling to the bottom of an ocean on the brink of extinction, time is running out.

Olwen and Arthur's academic rivalry intensifies alongside an unlikely romance, but when the two students join forces to make sense of the chaos, each new discovery leads to one damning conclusion: uncovering Arthur's missing past might be the mistake that kills them both.

Snippets:

Sometimes when I look at you it feels like I'm breathing for the first time.

There are these persistent murmurings of something inherently rotten within me-a wrongness I exhaust myself in trying to smother, but around you, I can just be. I don't have to bury anything because you make everything that feels wrong in me feel right.

I had to stop because I was going to hurt her, but I couldn't stop. I couldn't control it. I couldn't control anything.

I picked her flowers and although she courteously thanked me, she's not brought them on the trip so I can only assume she wishes me dead.

With him, life was no longer survival. I began perceiving my existence beyond my past. I traded surviving for living, and that was my gravest mistake.

I just so happen to be nothing if not incredibly stupid.

Comp titles:

Modern Divination
Divine Rivals
Emily Wilde
A Dark and Drowning Tide
Morgan is My Name
Babel
A Study in Drowning
Tales of a Monstrous Heart
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
A River Enchanted

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Psych. (they/she) @bloodydevotion.bsky.social · May 7

ninth house x sinners x jordan peele🧠🔬👁️🩸#questpit
~ eat the rich (& the colonizers)
~ abandoned by God trauma support group
~ eldritch horrors inside queer Black student vessels
~ a prayer a day keeps the hunger away
~ don't stare into the field. you won't like what stares back.

a moodboard collage in a dark brown academic palette featuring hands in the air, gold grillz fangs, a purse full of of diet coke, a creepy stoplight, angel wings, a door that says hell, open books on a desk, and a sign that says there will be no miracles here

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Zed Prospero @zprospero.bsky.social · May 7

THE OFFICE X GOOD OMENS

A satire of both business and the supernatural, Virgil Mora, Hell's Consultant, must restore Heaven's faith in Hell by saving a vampire-run Ohio gas station in just three months to save his job and Lucifer, the angel he's fallen for.

#QuestPit #A #F #W #LGBT

Moodboard 3 by 3 grid of images:
A hand proffering a red apple with a snake coiling around both
A couple in the dark lit only by a match lighting a cigarette between them
A man in a business suit offering his hand
A long chain pulled taught seeming chained to the viewer
A crude pentagram drawn on asphalt with pink Disney Princess chalk and one dollar tea lights lit at each point
A businessman staring at his shadow which has horns and a tail
A man crouched in a cave weeping hiding from the light outside
A man in a white suit and a man in a black suit stand back to back and clasp hands
An hourglass rapidly running out of sand with a skull resting atop it

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Sally Bromley @sallybromley.bsky.social · May 7

'I, SAID THE SPARROW'
In WWI Sussex, when a petty criminal is found gutted like a fish, tales of forbidden love, the infamous Fowler Gang, and two young suffragettes, bleed together staining the River Arun red.
#Q #A #HR #MY
#QuestPit

Images of Peaky Blinders, a dead fish, a man and woman kissing, two women kissing, a soldier in WWI uniform.
Agent's guide to 'I, Said the Sparrow.'

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Alyssa 🌊 is QUERYING! @amcknightwrites.bsky.social · May 7

Thank you so much, Sally!!

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el🦋 | drafting🌿 @thatfunkylilfey.bsky.social · May 7

for fans of ;
— SIX OF CROWS + BG3

A shapeshifter driven by revenge. A mercenary captain seeking answers to his missing memories.

🦋 NB MC x Trans Man LI
🦋 they fell first; he fell harder
🦋 what doesn’t kill you better start running
🦋 the fates of two, entwined

[ #questpit ; #W ; #A ; #F ]

3x3 grid with the text "MOTHLIGHT by @thatfunkylilfey" laid overtop

row one: a serpent baring its fangs ; a person lying down with a streak of golden light going across their neck ; spider webs

row two: monarch butterflies and a silhouette of a hand to make it seem like a butterfly has landed on it ; text that reads "every face wears a mask" ; a person pressing a hand to their bare chest, where the hand touches there is a glowing light

row three: a skull atop moss ; a person turned away from the viewer with long wavy bond hair ; jaws of a crocodile where only the teeth are wholly visible, the rest is in darkness

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L. K. Carter @lkcarterauthor.bsky.social · May 7

Four witches open a cozy bakery, but the detective next door would do anything to expose them for who they really are.

If he succeeds they could be burned at the stake or worse...he could ruin their love lives!

#QuestPit #Q #A #F #magicrealism #cozy #witch #romance #RF

Moodboard for a cozy, witchy story including a warmly lit library, a greenhouse bursting with plants, coffee and herbs, a fresh baked cinnamon roll, ivy climbing a brick wall, green marijuana leaves, a sparkling clear crystal, and a woman's hand performing a spell above a worn spellbook

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char 𖤓 @charyoung.bsky.social · May 7

🎸 daisy jones x knives out 🗡️

the songstress, the high-flyer, the gambler, the sweetheart, the watcher, the matriarch and the rogue. seven suspects. one the killer of renowned rockstar sam corvi. but who? only they can tell you

#questpit #Q #A #LF #MY

a moodboard detailing nine images related to my book ALL THE DEVILS in order they are: a neon rock n roll sign, london (notably big ben), a man playing the guitar, a man punching a mirror, a man staring forward into the camera with only his eye showing, someone walking down a hallway, stars falling from the sky, photos hanging from the ceiling and finally, an audience at a gig. all nine images have a red hue.

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Damian is ✨️drafting✨️ @d-s-saavedra.bsky.social · May 7

A new #agentsguide for my revised version of A FEAST FOR LAMBS(made by @authorkateduarte.bsky.social) coming back to agents inboxes real soon 👀

🏳️‍⚧️Transmasc MC
❤️‍🔥Poly monster romance
🥩Cannibalism
🩸Religious horror
🫀Body horror
🔥Trans rage

#questpit #A #H #RF #querying

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Gwend💫lyn Vines @gwenvines.writes.fyi · May 7

WITCHER x CRIMSON PEAK
Survive the winter. Survive the girl.
💉Medical horror
🚨Unreliable narrator
🦥Slow-burn romance
🖤Addiction/chronic illness rep
🩸Blood, so much blood
🗡️Pseudo-period piece
🍎What's with the apples
🪖His father's soldier, not his son
#questpit #A #H #W #gothic

a moodboard for a gothic romantic horror in tones of red and black. Images from top left to bottom right are silhouettes of a man with a sword and a woman at night from behind, in front of a large window and candelabra; a close up on an apple with beads of moisture on it; an old manor at dusk or dawn, surrounded by snow and trees; old medical or chemical bottles behind a clothbound journal; a painting of a man playing violin; a wooden writing desk with an open book atop it; a prosthetic ring finger made of metal; a stained glass window featuring roses; old metal syringes; a man wearing a red eyeglass over his right eye; snowy woods with a trodden bloody trail winding through them; an apple tree at night with many apples on the ground; an anatomical drawing of the interior of a man's ribcage, his organs removed and only the ends of the vessels remaining

Background photo of a misty apple orchard. Textbox reads "PITCH:
Recovering from a grievous wound, Sol, a soldier in a secretive unit, is assigned to protect a northern countess’ estate through the long winter.

Convinced at first that he’s being sidelined due to his injury, Sol quickly learns that the threats to the estate are very real & very hungry; only a member of his company could keep the ailing Countess and her shy country doctor Mari alive to see spring.

But when doing his duty could require his death, Sol must choose between breaking his oath & breathing his last, with Mari’s fingers on both the scales and his pulse." Title images for The Witcher, Broadchurch, and Crimson Peak in lower left, title AN ORCHARD OF MOSS by Gwendolyn Vines in lower right.

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M is queer-ying MG @notonlyicarus.bsky.social · May 7

LORD OF THE FLIESxTHE ASH HOUSE

1920. the Manor House waits. soon, 8 children will arrive, and the 14-year-old master of the house will begin his games. how do you survive a puppet master when you’re his marionette?

🐊 revising through RevPit ‘25 🐊
#QuestPit #MG #H

green-themed moodboard. From left to right and up to down: a hand reaching through tree bark and foliage; painting of Icarus as he falls by Gowy; a hand reaching to grasp some berries; a lightbulb attracting butterflies; a green-lit tree grove; a piano in a greenhouse below a chandelier; Houasse painting of Daphne’s hand growing foliage; stylised painting of many crows on a colourful branch; hands reaching through lily pads in pond water.

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