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nethermagic.bsky.social
Helena is querying and drafting
@nethermagic.bsky.social
27 followers 9 following 15 posts
Writer | YA & NA Fantasy | Hispanic | Watch me stare at a blank page until my books write themselves
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nethermagic.bsky.social
Helena is querying and drafting @nethermagic.bsky.social · Apr 5
"Carob syrup, sweetened with figs, clean mallow—not to eat but to infuse in steam—and a roasted orange before bed. In the cramped space of my humble hut, I prepared all three ingredients for my last client of the day." —Fates Wrought in Mist

#F #NA #Q #1stLinePit
nethermagic.bsky.social
"The library rumbles in the aftermath of an explosion; it’s the third one this week. I know better than to worry about another student struggling to learn that the incantation leuk may set something alight instead of producing a light." —Bleeding Stars
#RF #A #Q #1stLinePit
April 5, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Reposted by Helena is querying and drafting
angie-r03.bsky.social
#1stLinePit
Never trust a golden tongue.
#YA #F #Q
An agent's guide to a curse of blood and darkness. 66K Young adult fantasy Pitch: The seelie court calls her their spy. The unseelie call her their weapon. Alethea walks a knife's edge between both. But power is never given, it's taken. If she wants to claim it she'll have to decide whether she wants to become a queen or a monster. Comparative titles: The cruel prince The shadows between us These hollow vows Ruthless vows Tropes: friends to enemies Enemies to lovers Myth becomes reality Anti-hero heroine 'burn it all down' Thief to warrior Note: book includes diverse characters and bi-representation A piece from the novel: “Time to step out of the cage,” he replied. Her brows furrowed. “You remind me of a little bird,” Silas continued, his tone shifting slightly, as though the words had a deeper meaning than he was letting on. “A little bird?” Alethea scoffed, her chin tilting up in defiance. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” He shifted on his feet, his voice lower than before, “Yes. The cage is open, and yet you still don’t fly.” Alethea’s lips parted, the words cutting into her like a sharp blade. “Birds with clipped wings fall. They don’t fly,” she retorted, her voice tinged with bitterness. Silas’s lips curved into a sly smile, his eyes gleaming with something dark and knowing. “Oh, you’ll fly… trust me.”
April 5, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Reposted by Helena is querying and drafting
annglimmer.bsky.social
Nine years of fragile truce between our clans—and my boneheaded mistake could tear it all apart.

⚔️Age-old clan feud
🧪Unique magic & world
🐉Scandinavian fairytale creatures
❤️‍🔥Steamy forbidden love
🛡️"Who did this?"
🗡️"Touch him & die"

#1stLinePit #Romantasy #NA #AgentsGuide
An agent’s guide to: TRUE HATE’S KISS A jarl’s daughter must trick her enemy into kissing her to break a deadly curse on her family. 109,000 words New Adult Romantasy By Ann Glimmer Blurb: When a man from the enemy clan murders Älva’s father, she swears revenge. But then her family is cursed to die. The only way to break the curse? A TRUE HATE’S KISS The man she hates the most must kiss her of his own free will. But the more she learns about her enemy, the more she questions who the true villain really is—and forbidden desire threatens to ruin everything. Comp Titles: - A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen - Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli Tropes: Scandinavian Iron Age (almost Viking Age) Pretending to woo him while betraying him Feuding clans = enemies-to-lovers + forbidden love Knife to throat Complicated family dynamics Magical swords and potions  Fairytale creatures based on Scandinavian folklore Feedback from Beta Readers: - "Couldn't stop reading all afternoon." - "Your writing style is really strong, and you have a strong voice." - "Their conversations being more tangible things rather than just flirtatious really open up the relationship." - "This is one of thee the best books I've read since Addie LaRue." - "It was a good slow burn romance and I liked that the male main character wasn't toxic or mean." - "I loved how twisty the story became and found it a breath of fresh air in the genre."
April 5, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by Helena is querying and drafting
sonnyzappa.bsky.social
"I’m never making it to seventeen.
That’s the thought that keeps drilling into my head as I sit in the Afterlife Terminal, squeezed between two Peace Corps."

#1stLinePit #WIP #YA #SF
Pitch: Danake Blessed be the Rich, for Heaven has been privatized. Sixteen-year-old Ollie's fate was sealed the moment he died too broke to afford Heaven. Now, freshly dead and stuck in Hell, he's determined to rewrite it. When he discovers that he possesses reality bending abilities, he allies himself with a silver-tongued revolutionary to start a war and bring down Heaven.
April 5, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by Helena is querying and drafting
angie3tomatoes.bsky.social
Mexican Gothic x Belladonna X ODW

“Inadequacy is a quiet thing. A shadow curling beneath the ribs, a whisper woven into the fabric of a life. Tayah Wellworth wore it well, had worn it for so long it felt like a second skin.”

#amquerying soon
#1stlinepit #rf #a #na #c
April 5, 2025 at 12:06 PM
nethermagic.bsky.social
"Carob syrup, sweetened with figs, clean mallow—not to eat but to infuse in steam—and a roasted orange before bed. In the cramped space of my humble hut, I prepared all three ingredients for my last client of the day." —Fates Wrought in Mist

#F #NA #Q #1stLinePit
April 5, 2025 at 12:40 PM
nethermagic.bsky.social
New querying pain unlocked: getting a pitch like from an agent that has already passed on your query package 🥲
March 18, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Helena is querying and drafting
annamazz.bsky.social
It's come to my attention that some people believe you can't buy a new book until you've read the books you already have. Let me assure you, as both a lawyer and a writer, that this idea is legally and morally WRONG and BAD. Buy more books.
March 18, 2025 at 2:12 PM
nethermagic.bsky.social
Two agent likes during #PopUpPit! Thank you everyone for all your support. Due to timezone differences I couldn't be around for more than 5 hours but I got to see and repost so many incredible books 🫶
March 18, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Reposted by Helena is querying and drafting
sanchezmm.bsky.social
#LuckyPit #PopUpPit
I'm an unlucky girl trapped in Grandfather's cliffhouse,
caretaker of his magic box with 3 human hearts I must feed blood.
They die? I die.
Handsome Duke Lugo offers a blood bargain, but he's hungry to expose the secrets of Casa del Demonio...and me.
#PopUpPitE #YA #Gothic #H
March 17, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by Helena is querying and drafting
rachelmcnair.bsky.social
Between Two Kingdoms x When Life Gives You Pears

Diagnosed with a rare cancer at 27, Rachel faces more than just health complications on her journey to become cancer free.

✝️crisis of faith
🏢discrimination
👩‍🦯becoming disabled
🔍finding a new purpose
❤️‍🔥 love
💪7x survivor

#LuckyPit #PopUpPit #Q #M
March 17, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Reposted by Helena is querying and drafting
kimwolters-author.bsky.social
THE SHADOW OF LIGHT

YA paranormal fantasy standalone at 98K words

💫 Found family
💫 Friends-to-lovers slowburn romance (w/ complications and yearning)
💫 Grump x Sunshine
💫 International setting
💫 FMC can manipulate soundwaves
💫 Upbeat with serious themes

#PopUpPitA #LuckyPit #F #YA
March 17, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Reposted by Helena is querying and drafting
rodenwrites.bsky.social
SIX OF CROWS X ARCANE

How to fight a Chaos storm caused by the overuse of magic? Sanjiin’s fists won’t help. Neither will Rayna’s Chaos. But together, Prof. Tinley believes science can be the glue to bind enemies and magical forces to save the last Haven city from itself.

#A #F #LuckyPit #PopUpPit
March 17, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Reposted by Helena is querying and drafting
sadiehartmann.bsky.social
You know I hate to do this (just kidding it's my favorite) but I have made a list of upcoming and anticipated Folk Horror books for myself, that I am not sharing with you. Go feral! Full list in the alt ✔️ @manylittlewords.bsky.social @shortwavebooks.bsky.social @timlebbon.bsky.social
Upcoming & anticipated FOLK HORROR titles! 🌾🔥🍂 . 🌾The Wilding by Ian McDonald 🌾MERE by Danielle Giles 🌾Meet Me at the Surface by Jodie Matthews 🌾Secret Lives of the Dead Tim Lebbon 🌾Little Horn by Gemma Files the cover looks folky! @shortwavebooks 🌾Greater Sins/Gabrielle Griffiths 🌾ITCH by Gemma Amor 🌾Playing Wolf Zuzana Říhová translated by Alex Zucher 🌾The Red Knot-Monique Asher 🌾When Devils Sing/Xan Kaur 🌾And the Trees Stare Back/Gigi Griffis 🌾Hallows Hill by Olivia Isaac-Henry
March 17, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Reposted by Helena is querying and drafting
courtneywrites.bsky.social
NONE OF THIS IS TRUE x WHAT LIES BENEATH

When Sophie is brutally dumped, she can’t help but wonder:

Is she possessed or just pissed?

🥀1950s flashbacks
🌊a coastal town with secrets
🔪female rage & revenge
🌊second-chance love
🥀a twist that will 👀

#PopUpPitE #LuckyPit
March 17, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Reposted by Helena is querying and drafting
demri18.bsky.social
WHAT THE RIVER KNOWS x THE MUMMY x INDIANA JONES

When Elaine accidentally uses an ancient artifact that brings an Egyptian king to life, they disrupt the balance between life & death & enter into a war between Egyptian gods.

#LuckyPit #PopUpPitA #YA
March 17, 2025 at 2:02 PM
nethermagic.bsky.social
In BLEEDING STARS (Adult Romantasy) Adara is a scholarly mage who must survive the deadly trials of the Culling, navigate a perilous romance with her fiercest rival, and unravel the dark secrets of the King's Cadre to secure her family's future.

#PopUpPit #PopUpPitA #LuckyPit
March 17, 2025 at 5:07 PM
nethermagic.bsky.social
A NA standalone fantasy novel for all the yearners. Gothic, whimsical, haunted, and romantic.

FATES WROUGHT IN MIST follows a witch in a manor in 16th-century northern Spain struggling to break a deadly curse that haunts the man she's falling for.

#LuckyPit #PopUpPitA #PopUpPit
March 17, 2025 at 5:02 PM
nethermagic.bsky.social
BLEEDING STARS is an 84k words adult romantasy with

📖dark academia
🖤rivals to lovers
😶‍🌫️unreliable narrator
⚖️the reality of class disparity
☠️deadly trials
🩸murder mystery
✨magic system based on Proto-Indo-European

#PopUpPit #PopUpPitA #LuckyPit
March 17, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Helena is querying and drafting
cpearsonwrites.bsky.social
A SONG TO DROWN RIVERS X WHEN THE MOON HATCHED

"Tell me, child, what do you know of the gods?"

NA Fantasy retelling of SEA folklore
⚔️ Badass FMC
⚔️ Rich World Building
⚔️ Found Family
⚔️ Forbidden Love
⚔️ An Unforgettable Relic Quest
⚔️ So. Much. Yearning.

#RF #LuckyPit #PopUpPit #A #NA #R #F
March 17, 2025 at 12:43 PM
nethermagic.bsky.social
CRIMSON PEAK X THE FAMILIAR
A man cursed for life. A witch doomed to die.

FATES WROUGHT IN MIST is a NA standalone fantasy novel deeply rooted in Spanish folklore. It blends gothic elements with classic fantasy romance in a haunted mountain manor.

#LuckyPit #PopUpPitA #PopUpPit
March 17, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Helena is querying and drafting
taylorrenee.bsky.social
Would you choose immortality?
Of course you would.
But let me tell you:
It’s a lie. A cruel, promise.
Because the hunger you live with—No, the hunger that you are—is worse.

House of Valentine - 98k words a gothic fantasy w/ a b-plot romance. #PopUpPit #PopUpPitA #Q #F #G #R #booksky #LuckyPit
'House of Valentine' by Taylor Renee. The background features a vintage, textured design with faded text, overlaid with watercolor illustrations of a skull roses, daisies, and pine trees. The title 'HOUSE OF VALENTINE' is prominently displayed in large, elegant white letters. Below the title, the text reads: 'TAYLOR RENEE | 98,000 | ITSTAYLORRENEE1@GMAIL.COM' and 'AGENT & EDITOR GUIDE' in smaller white font. The overall aesthetic is moody and romantic, with a gothic fantasy vibe. The background features a vintage, textured design with faded text, adorned with watercolor illustrations of roses and pine branches. The word 'EXCERPT' is displayed at the top in large, elegant white letters. Below, the text reads: 'TAYLOR RENEE | 98,000 | ITSTAYLORRENEE1@GMAIL.COM' followed by a poetic passage: 'If you could live for centuries—through famine and plague, through wars that razed cities and left ash in their wake, that not even a bomb crashing through your home could destroy you—would you choose immortality? Wouldn't you dream of such a gift? To remain as you were as the world crumbles around you, and rebuilds itself, endlessly? Of course you would. That’s the allure, isn’t it? The whispered fantasy of endless time, of infinite existence. But let me tell you: it’s a lie. A cruel promise. Because after enough centuries, you begin to wish for the plague to ravage your body, to tear through your flesh and wring you dry of life. You begin to long for the bomb to shatter you, burn away your skin until you’re nothing but bone and ash. You’d pray for the famine to hollow you out, for hunger to gnaw at your insides so violently that you might finally collapse under the weight of mortality. Because the hunger you live with—No, the hunger that you are—is worse.' The bottom is decorated with a border of watercolor roses in shades of red and purple. The background features a vintage, textured design with faded text, embellished with watercolor illustrations of roses and pine branches. The word 'BLURB' is displayed at the top in large, elegant white letters. Below, the text reads: 'TAYLOR RENEE | 98,000 | ITSTAYLORRENEE1@GMAIL.COM' followed by the blurb: 'When anthropology student Hazel Adler travels to a remote Swiss village for her thesis, she expects folklore and forgotten traditions—not a hidden world of vampires, deadly politics, and a centennial festival that’s more nightmare than celebration. She was never meant to survive it. Her only lifeline? Soren Valentine—a vampire with a past as blood-soaked as his fangs. As the lines between myth and reality blur, Hazel must fight to survive in more ways than one. Trusting Soren may be her only chance—but the monster who saved her life hides dangerous secrets of his own. Survival means risking everything. House of Valentine is a gothic fantasy filled with sharp fangs, fragile alliances, and a slow-burn b-plot romance that will leave you breathless.' The bottom is decorated with a border of watercolor roses in shades of red and purple. 'House of Valentine' by Taylor Renee, focusing on tropes, themes, and comps. The background features a vintage, textured design with faded text, adorned with watercolor illustrations of roses and pine branches. The text 'TROPES & THEMES & COMPS' is displayed at the top in large, elegant white letters. Below, the text reads: 'TAYLOR RENEE | 98,000 | ITSTAYLORRENEE1@GMAIL.COM' followed by a list of tropes and themes: 'ROMEO & JULIET, BEAUTY & THE BEAST, ALLIES TO LOVERS, MORALLY GRAY CHARACTERS, VAMPIRE SOCIETY, SLOW BURN.' The image includes three book cover comps: 'Interview with the Vampire' by Anne Rice, 'The Beautiful' by Renée Ahdieh, and 'A Discovery of Witches' by Deborah Harkness, each framed with a pink border. The bottom is decorated with a border of watercolor roses in shades of red and purple.
March 17, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Reposted by Helena is querying and drafting
kpbooksnstuff.bsky.social
My #agentsguide to CARELESS WHISPERS, a romantic suspense set on a Greek island.

REBECCA x RIVIERA x THE PERFECT COUPLE
The woman knew secrets; now she's dead. Everyone has a motive...
Secrets, Slow❤️‍🔥, Unrequited love, Betrayal, Murder

Longlisted for Joffe Books Prize 2024

#LuckyPit 🍀 #PopUpPitA
Page 1 - An Agent's Guide to Careless Whispers, Romantic Suspense, and piece of dialogue: '...our very own Greek tragedy,' says Troy. 'It has it all. Sex, money, adultery. Even - if you believe the rumours - murder.' Photo alongside it is a of a woman's pressing finger to her lips signifying secrecy. Page 2 - The Pitch with a blurred photo of a drowned woman alongside it. 'She's always tried to do the 'right thing'. But when a death becomes a suspected murder, a PR exec must decide how far she'll go to protect the people she loves who all have a motive. Especially the dead woman's husband, the man she's in love with.' Page 3 - Snippet with a photo of a man alongside it. An unpleasant smile warps his face. He steps closer and leans forward as if they're conspirators. His voice is low and soft, the words a sneer. 'I'm guessing you've not been fighting him off.' It's hard to breathe. He's too close, his breath on her skin smoky with whisky and cigarettes. She fights the urge to thrust him away. 'No,' she says in a hard voice. 'But then he's not you.' His head snaps back. The dull flush in his cheeks is evident even in the gloom. 'And you,' he says nastily, 'are not Rianna.' She gives a humourless laugh. 'From what I gather, that's not a bad thing.' 'He better not hear you say that. He loved her, you know.' Page 4 has Tropes & Themes - du Maurier's Rebecca vibes; Found family; Loss; Slow burn romance; Obsession; Unrequited love; Secrets; Betrayal; Murder And The Comps – Nanny Wanted by Lizzy Barber, End of Story by AJ Finn, The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and the Sky Atlantic series Riviera
March 17, 2025 at 12:07 PM