Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dorian Maffei @dorianmaffei.bsky.social · 23h

Happy #DVPit day! I’m so excited to be checking out all your amazing pitches later today! If I ❤️ and you feel we’d be a good match, please fill out my submission form (w/ the pitch included somewhere), and attach the 1st 50 pages of your ms via the following link:

querytracker.net/query/dorian...

Query Dorian Maffei at Kimberley Cameron & Associates

QueryTracker.net

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#DVpit - Diverse Voices Pitch @dvpit.bsky.social · 1d

#DVpit 2025 has officially begun!
Today, Oct 8, 2025 from 8AM-8PM ET marginalized creators seeking out representation can pitch their completed manuscripts & portfolios to participating Agents & Editors!
Don't forget to use #DVpit in your posts!
Pls read rules before participating: dvpit.carrd.co

#DVPit Rules
-#DVpit (Diverse Voices Pitch) is a Bluesky event for marginalized creators that have been historically underrepresented in publishing to pitch their work to agents & editors
-Post your pitch on Bluesky on Wednesday, Oct 8, 2025
between 8AM ET - 8PM ET
-Only post once per hour (6 max pitches per project)
-Must have a polished, query ready manuscript or art portfolio.
-Pitch must include the #DVpit hashtag (illustrators pitching their art must use the #DVArt hashtag)
-A like from an agent = a query request
-A repost from an editor = interest in submission once you've signed with an agent
-A like from an editor = editor who takes unagented submissions
-Please do not like or repost a pitch if you are not an agent or an editor. Support other creators by replying to their pitch or
quote-reposting their pitches
-Visit dvpit.carrd.co for more detailed guidelines.

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Dorian Maffei @dorianmaffei.bsky.social · 2d

Still very important imo!

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Dorian Maffei @dorianmaffei.bsky.social · 9d

📢 I'll be closing to submissions on October 15th (most likely for the remainder of 2025)! Get your subs in before then! 📢

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Dorian Maffei @dorianmaffei.bsky.social · 12d

Huge congrats to @damiwriteshere.bsky.social! 🎉 I'm so thrilled that readers will have the opportunity to be swept up in this story as much as I was. The opening line completely grabbed me by the heart and never let go: "The wind spoke the language of the dead."😍

2027 can't come soon enough!

PW Children's Bookshelf announcement that has author Dami Salako's portrait on the left and a deal description that reads: "Mara Delgado-Sanchez at Tor Books has bought The Sun Has a Shadow and a second untitled book by Dami Salako. In this Nigerian-inspired YA fantasy set in a world plagued by perpetual darkness and shadow-monsters, a boy must guide the last remaining phoenix-rider on a perilous journey to save their kingdom. Publication is scheduled for winter 2027; Dorian Maffei at Kimberley Cameron & Associates negotiated the deal for world English rights."

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Maria Z. Medina @mzmauthor.bsky.social · 27d

I have been in drafting cave and now in editing cave and discord cave (which is a very dangerous cave to be in considering I'm supposed to be doing the second item on the list, lol) but here's some photos from friends who spotted MISTRESS OF BONES in the wild! 😍 (have you?! Send me the pics!!!)

MISTRESS OF BONES hardcover on a table at Barnes & Noble surrounded by other fantasy books such as Yuli by S. Jae-Jones, Dream by the Shadows by Logan Karlie, and By Invitation Only by Alexandra Brown Chang among others.

MISTRESS OF BONES hardcover on display at a bookstore shelf right next to Vampire Academy, which I've read like 1232131 times, and yes, this coincidence makes me grin like a book gremlin.

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Electric Literature @electricliterature.com · Sep 2

Folk horrors that will crawl beneath your skin and make your blood run cold. (@daphnefama.bsky.social)

8 Folklore-Inspired Horror Novels That Will Make Your Skin Crawl - Electric Literature

Prejudice, misogyny, and colonial violence are the real terror in these books that will make your blood run cold

buff.ly

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Turn The Page! - Syosset Public Library 🎤 @splturnthepage.bsky.social · Aug 14

And here's 363C! Jessikah chatted with Daphne Fama about HOUSE OF MONSTROUS WOMEN, which mixes Gothic and folk horror during the Marcos regime in the 1980’s Philippines. Make sure this one is on your TBR list. @daphnefama.bsky.social @prhlibrary.bsky.social

turnthepage.blubrry.net/2025/08/14/t...

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Dorian Maffei @dorianmaffei.bsky.social · Aug 15

So great to see Alex Travis' THE PAYBACK GIRLS at the top of this list of 14 Teen-Approved Books to Add to Your Own Teen's TBR Pile by Parents magazine! www.parents.com/teen-approve...

The cover of THE PAYBACK GIRLS has pink lockers with a spray-painted red heart dripping down them and "THE PAYBACK GIRLS" stenciled in it

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Rhea Dionne @rheadionne.bsky.social · Aug 12

Check out my review of House of Monstrous Women by Daphne Fama @duncansbooks.bsky.social @penguinbooksusa.bsky.social @daphnefama.bsky.social #houseofmonstrouswomen #horror #gothic #folklore #Philippines #sapphic #family #sacrifice #Haunting #bookreview
www.duncansbooksandmore.com/house-of-mon...

House of Monstrous Women by Daphne Fama: Haunting and Visceral - Duncans Books and More

A young woman is drawn into a dangerous game after being invited to the mazelike home of her childhood friend, a rumored witch, in this gothic horror set in 1986 Philippines. In this game, there’s one...

www.duncansbooksandmore.com

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The Page Ladies Book Club @thepageladies.bsky.social · Aug 5

A necromancer on a mission to steal her sister back from Death. Add in god-bone dreams, divine politics, & a dangerously charming Emissary of Death & you’ve got a dark #fantasy with teeth!

💀Think The Bone Season x An Enchantment of Ravens, but darker. #books @mzmauthor.bsky.social #bookreview #reas

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Dorian Maffei @dorianmaffei.bsky.social · Aug 14

🫶!!! Love this book so much!

Reposted by Dorian Maffei

Elizabeth Story @hyperbolictelly.bsky.social · Aug 13

ENDS TOMORROW!!!

Tachyon Publications @tachyonpub.bsky.social · Jul 24

It's time for the Tachyon 30th Anniversary Bundle!

buff.ly/YY09ZxU

Get award winning fiction and support @eff.org

@humblebundle.com

#tachyon30 #humblebundle #eff

Ad for Tachyon 30th Anniversary Humble Bundle

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/tachyon-30th-anniversary-smart-speculative-fiction-for-everyone-books

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Dorian Maffei @dorianmaffei.bsky.social · Aug 12

Happy book birthday to HOUSE OF MONSTROUS WOMEN by @daphnefama.bsky.social! Gothic horror fans are in for such a treat—it’s full of Filipino history and folklore, a labyrinthine mansion, a dangerous game with sinister consequences, atmospheric prose, and SO MUCH MORE! 😈

The book cover for HOUSE OF MONSTROUS WOMEN. The title is in big bold letters surrounded by purple banyan trees and a girl in pink in the middle.

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Sley House Presents @sleyhousepresents.bsky.social · Aug 12

We've got a new interview out now featuring @daphnefama.bsky.social and her novel HOUSE OF MONSTROUS WOMEN! Come join to hear us talk about generational conflict, how the history of the Philippines fits into the book's story, and more!

Find us at Sley House Presents on all your podcast platforms!

Sley House Presents Episode #157: House of Monstrous Women with Daphne Fama. Episode is available on all major podcast platforms, like Spotify or Apple podcasts.

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Daphne Fama @daphnefama.bsky.social · Aug 12

House of Monstrous Women releases today.

It's a story of oppression, liberation, sacrifice, and hope that refuses to be extinguished.

I am beyond lucky to have written this story and even luckier to share it with all of you. From the bottom of my heart:

Thank you.

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Dorian Maffei @dorianmaffei.bsky.social · Aug 12

I’m so thrilled to be working with @lexi-smith-mcnick.bsky.social! Her “sapphic werewolf cowgirls hunting for cursed treasure in the Wild West” YA blew me away! Lexi’s work is the full package—spooky, fun, adventurous, moving, and enchanting!💗

Lexi Smith McNicholas @lexi-smith-mcnick.bsky.social · Aug 12

I'm officially an agented author!!
The #querying process was rough, but it ended with an agent who "gets" my weird stories! Thanks @dorianmaffei.bsky.social for being amazing ❤️

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Lexi Smith McNicholas @lexi-smith-mcnick.bsky.social · Aug 12

I'm officially an agented author!!
The #querying process was rough, but it ended with an agent who "gets" my weird stories! Thanks @dorianmaffei.bsky.social for being amazing ❤️

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🌌Sia is a numinous nebula atm🌌 @raenbowpunk.bsky.social · Aug 11

This Must-Have Monday I have EIGHTEEN new releases to ft! Incl

🐕surviving inside a portal with a (very!) good dog by @ilonaandrews.bsky.social!
🌺Filipino gothic??? yes please! with @daphnefama.bsky.social!
👁️absurdist horror = statistician vs nothing from @chucktingle.bsky.social!

buff.ly/kRO7cUL

Must-Have Monday #249 - Every Book a Doorway

Bone raiders, Korean vampires, and Filipino gothics!

buff.ly

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Karla J. Strand @karlajstrand.com · Aug 10

Where to find the best August books by women, femme, feminist, queer, trans, Black, Brown, and Native writers?? My latest for @msmagazine.com, of course!

August 2025 Reads for the Rest of Us msmagazine.com/2025/08/01/b...