Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Darelle @darellecowley.bsky.social · Aug 22

Absolutely feral about this. I can't wait for next fall!

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Reposted by Darelle

Stephanie Binx @stephwrites.bsky.social · Aug 22

It’s official!

@alcovepress.bsky.social is bringing HELLBOUND to a bookstore near you in Fall 2026!

A publisher’s marketplace deal announces HELLBOUND has been acquired by Alcove Press for publication in Fall 2026. The background depicts a man and a woman facing away from each other.

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Reposted by Darelle

Sammy Holden @holdencreates.bsky.social · Aug 16

WARCROSS x ONE OF US IS LYING

DEADLY ARCHETYPES is a fast paced, grounded YA sci-fi that features:
- a high-tech, high stakes VR competition game
- an unlikely group of allies
- the ticking clock of a mind control glitch
- hero x villain archetypes
#PosterPit #AG #SF #YA

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Darelle @darellecowley.bsky.social · Aug 16

Something wicked is waiting in the woods...

...and she's hungry.

#PosterPit #A #AG #F #WIP

A poster mock up with a forest background, howling wolf in shadows with text.

Text reads:
Political Intrigue
One Horse
Fairytale Retelling
Found Family
Stolen Magic

Something wicked is waiting in the woods

Best Howl, Riveting Spell Casting, Worst Timing

Project Fairytale

90% Outlined

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Reposted by Darelle

Cailin Barrett-Bressack @cailinwrites.bsky.social · Aug 16

Aimee Bender X Eternal Sunshine (+ humor and goats 🐐)

THE MAGIC OF NOW is 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.

#PosterPit #AG #SPF

A novel by Cailin Barrett-Bressack
The Magic of Now
woman-led Cult
Goat Tension™
explorations of grief
neuroscience
Rep: Alex Land, Mad Woman Literary Agency
The story of a 62-year-old woman, the goat her sister is reincarnated into, and the new age cult that might be behind it.
“It’s like a new life-lens is forming for me as I read it.”
“I sat down intending to read fifty pages and ended up reading the whole ding-dang book.”
“I’m not crying, you’re crying”
Best supporting Goat 2025

Meet the dream cast of The Magic of Now
Frances McDormand As Gyla Skeptical farmer, will do anything for answers about her sister Tina–including join a cult
Kathy Bates as Tina Deceased, but maybe reincarnated as a goat (?)
Kathryn Hahn as Karana Neuroscientist turned new-age cult leader

Guest Featuring: A Goat as The goat

Rep: Alex Land, Mad Woman Literary Agency
A novel
by Cailin Barrett-Bressack

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Reposted by Darelle

Chezza @chezza.bsky.social · Aug 16

Demon queen Zhao Yao wants revenge on her mother's murderer, rival queen Gui Jing. But Jing's icy beauty and poisonous magic are too alluring, and soon Zhao Yao can't decide between stabbing the woman she's always hated...or seducing her.

Art by hisurii💙♥️
#PosterPit #AG #F

Poster for Blooms in Poison by Chezza Lee, an enemies-to-lovers romantic fantasy with xianxia cdrama vibes. The line between love and hate is drawn in blood.

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Reposted by Darelle

Chezza @chezza.bsky.social · Aug 16

DAUGHTER OF MOON GODDESS x SONG TO DROWN RIVERS

Falling in love shouldn't be this difficult. When family and fate are trying to keep them apart, how far will Shizhi and Mingniu go to defend their love? To the stars above...or hell itself?

Art by hisurii❤️
#PosterPit #AG #F

Movie poster for A Fate Woven in Starlight by Chezza Lee. A feminist take on an epic Chinese love story about fate, sacrifice, and women reclaiming their place in their own stories.

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Reposted by Darelle

Katy Lapierre 🖤 ✨ @katylapierre.bsky.social · Aug 16

THE OTHERWOODS x creepy Candy Land

To win her wish come true and fix her ruined life, a 13yo plays the ultimate Game, leaping into a candy world laced with poison and riddles. But the Game is rigged, treats are torture, and she’s one wrong bite from being trapped forever.

#posterpit #mg #h #ag

A noose made of candy hangs over a dark forest background. White text reads: Twisted Treats. Deadly candy, even deadlier games.

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Reposted by Darelle

Carly is ✨AGENTED✨ @cjvickwrites.bsky.social · Aug 16

SOUTHERN BOOK CLUBS GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES x HYSTERIA

💋middle-aged feminist rage
🛼campy 80s setting
💋body horror
🛼the darkest of deals
💋satanic panic backdrop
🛼dark humor
💋bubblegum horror

#PosterPitA #A #H #PosterPit #WIP

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Reposted by Darelle

Sammy Holden @holdencreates.bsky.social · Aug 6

SIX OF CROWS X A DARK & DROWNING TIDE
A flirty rogue & a haughty noble on a deadly quest must trust each other to gain power they desperately need—if only they’d stop lying to each other.
-Sapphic yearning/bickering
-Vicious gods
-Eye-centered magic system
#QuestPit #AG #F #A

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Reposted by Darelle

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

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Reposted by Darelle

Carly is ✨AGENTED✨ @cjvickwrites.bsky.social · Aug 6

When a cult-driven murder-spree hits an 80s midwest PTA, Janet puts her true crime obsession to work. Alongside her misfit mom friends—a writer, a goth, & a sickly sweet PTA matriarch—Janet must uncover the real monster in town, before it claims them all. #QuestPit #AG #A #H #WIP

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Reposted by Darelle

Carly is ✨AGENTED✨ @cjvickwrites.bsky.social · Aug 6

SOUTHERN BOOK CLUBS GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES x HYSTERIA

💋middle-aged feminist rage
🛼campy 80s setting
💋body horror
🛼satanic panic backdrop
💋dark humor
🛼the darkest of deals
💋bubblegum horror

#QuestPit #AG #A #H #W #WIP #editorguide

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Reposted by Darelle

Sammy Holden @holdencreates.bsky.social · Aug 6

WARCROSS x ONE OF US IS LYING
A group of rivals get stuck inside a glitching VR competition and must overcome their longstanding grudges to break themselves out—or they'll lose their minds to the simulation before they figure out who’s trapped them inside.
#QuestPit #AG #YA #SF

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Reposted by Darelle

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

Gyla's sister's soul has returned as a goat, and her only lead to why is a new-age cult that vividly relives memories. As Gyla goes from skeptic to inner circle, she must choose: an illusion of the past where her sister is alive (and human), or acceptance of her sister's new form 🐐
#questpit #AG #A

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.
Unique manifestations of grief
woman-led cult
offbeat humor
central sister relationship
older female protagonist
neuroscience meets "woo" pseudoscience
By: Cailin Barrett Bressack
Rep: Alex Land, Mad woman literary agency

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Reposted by Darelle

Katy Lapierre 🖤 ✨ @katylapierre.bsky.social · Aug 6

THE OTHERWOODS x creepy Candy Land

To wish her wish come true and fix her ruined life, 13yo Nora plays the ultimate Game, leaping into a candy world laced with poison and riddles. But the Game's rigged, treats are torture, and she’s one wrong bite from being trapped forever.

#questpit #mg #h #ag

Collage of candy canes, a muddy bog, a watch, a lollipop, a girl lost in the woods, an image of a snake biting a hand with text that
reads: trust no one; a noose shaped from candy, dark chocolate, a red necklace, a dark castle draped in fog. Text over a dark candy patterned background reads: spells gone wrong, "ah trust issues," magic watch, time to get questing, torture by lollipop, deadly candy even deadlier games, inconvenient crushes, sugar transformation body horror, bewitched necklace.

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Reposted by Darelle

Katy Lapierre 🖤 ✨ @katylapierre.bsky.social · Aug 6

UNDEAD GIRL GANG x BRING HER BACK

When Parker's family ink magic predicts her best friend's death, there's only one option—cast a forbidden spell to resurrect her. But an ink demon lurks and one wrong step in the spell will damn both their souls to an inky hell forever.

#questpit #ya #h #ag

A image of the dunes at night behind a photo collage showing: the beach, tattoos, moonlight behind dark trees, a couple holding hands, a spell book, two friends covering each other's eyes, an inky hand over a pale throat, a hand sinking into the ocean

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Reposted by Darelle

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.

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Darelle @darellecowley.bsky.social · Jul 17

🥳🥳🥳

Reposted by Darelle

Cailin Barrett-Bressack @cailinwrites.bsky.social · Mar 17

If you're an editor who likes grounded, speculative novels featuring women-led cults, unique depictions of grief, humor, sister relationships, and neuroscience, this is the book for you!

🐐

Aimee Bender X Catherine House X Eternal Sunshine

#PopUpPitE #LuckyPit #PopUpPit

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Reposted by Darelle

Bookishbabeiswriting @bookbabewriting.bsky.social · Apr 19

Jennifer's Body x Together We Rot
friends to lovers
cult town
Canadian Prairies
cannibalism as metaphor for love
Touch her and die
#ownvoices Queer and Indigenous rep
#posterpita #posterpit #YA #H #R

A string of missing people and animal attacks two best friends one... Killer Summer written by H.D. Pine represented by Alex Brown at MWLA coming soon to editors. Girl with lighter, field, and girl licking red off hands.

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