I'm excited to share that my manuscript, Nora and the Nightmare King (currently querying), is a Gertrude Warner Middle-Grade Fiction Finalist!
13.02.2026 23:46
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I'm excited to share that my manuscript, Nora and the Nightmare King (currently querying), is a Gertrude Warner Middle-Grade Fiction Finalist!
Just found out I made the 2025 Gertrude Warner Long List for Middle Grade Fiction (as did a friend of mine) 📚 very exciting in the midst of waiting to hear back from queries. Now we wait to see if I’ll make the short list 👀
You can’t control when trends hit. The only thing you can control is finishing the book.
A STRANGER KIND OF MORTUARY SCIENCE ✨elements include:
🍄 Found family
🌲 cozy, atmospheric small town
🍂 Spooky, whimsical vibes
🗡️ If I touch her, she could die
🪦 funeral parlor & embalming room settings
🧪 FMC is a woman in STEM
🌈 queer MCs
🧡 Characters in their 30s & 40s
Soon to be on sub!
As a public figure himself, Kirk did not restrict himself to politeness. He was incredibly crude and cruel about the deaths of other people. Reflecting on his life should reflect the truth.
Dave Portnoy tweet saying ‘absolutely disgusting and disturbing video from Charlie Kirk shooting today. Hoping for the best for him and his family. Anybody who is happy about this is a disgusting human.’
Pop Crave Tweet: ‘Barstool Sports CEO Dave Portnoy says he hopes a missile hits Greta Thunberg’s boat as she sails away with aid: “I hope they hit a f*cking, like, a missile on her boat. Knock that boat down. Greta or whatever her name is”
This explains it better than I can
Yes! I also love, during editing, when I re-read a chapter I haven't touched in a while and discover a favorite line I forgot I wrote. Did this recently with my WIP.
Waiting for agents to open this fall like 👀 because my MG manuscript will be best read in October 🖤🕸️🕷️🕯️🖇️🖋️🗝️
Would appreciate any and all love that anyone has to give this post 🖤
Two of my friends are going on submission soon and I'm 🥹 @victoriabilstein.bsky.social @annametz.bsky.social
Opening line of VIGILANTES ANONYMOUS, my 76k adult spicy dark rom-com that blends the all-consuming, boundary-pushing spice of LIGHTS OUT, with the dark humor and murderous thrill of BUTCHER & BLACKBIRD 🔪🖤
#editors #bookpitch #darkromcom #darkromance #romcom #onsubsoon #onsubmissionsoon
I’m thrilled to introduce my manuscript soon to be on submission, A STRANGER KIND OF MORTUARY SCIENCE, a cozy, adult fantasy novel 🌈⚰️🍄🧚♀️💀🪦✨
#editors, I’m represented by the wonderful Ciara Smith at Spencerhill Associates!
#editorsguide #cozyfantasy #bookpitch #amagented #soontobeonsubmission
An #editorsguide to VIGILANTES ANONYMOUS, my high heat adult dark rom-com on submission to editors soon! 🔪🖤💋
#editors if you're ready to experience the chaos that is Lana and Nic, feel free to interact or reach out to Aurora Fernandez at Trident Media Group
#amagented #writingcommunity #pitch
I love this!
I want to read this, agents, please
Readers definitely judge books by their covers. When you're looking at books on the shelf at the store, or online, the cover is the first thing you see and it acts as an ad for the book itself.
As a writer who also works as a designer / in marketing, I would invest in your website, your cover, and getting your book in the hands of readers that can make a difference (whether that is sending PR boxes to content creators who would be a good fit or attending book events in your area).
Just coming on here to say, if you can afford to hire an illustrator to bring your manuscript to life, it’s a magical experience.This one is for my MG project, NORA AND THE NIGHTMARE KING. And do not, please do not, use AI. Support human beings 💕 Illustration by Savannah Lazo! (Savannahlazo.com)
Full rejections hurt. ❤️🩹
Do not ever do this under any circumstances. You will be held to the actual contract, not the AI summary, and the AI summary has no way of knowing which terms you might personally care about or have questions about. Dooooo notttttt dooooo thissssss.
In this post, I talk about what I did differently this time around and share some of the feedback, rejections, and positive comments I received throughout this process.
Including the query letter I sent out and my query stats 🫣
My second Substack post is up: Writing & Querying My First Manuscript open.substack.com/pub/kirabrun...
I currently have so many books that I want to read bad enough that I've considered just reading them all simultaneously. It's an incredible and also stressful position to be in. Is this how agents and editors feel all the time?
Hmm… I'm gonna go with plot epiphany for my new WIP. There are a couple chapters that could use some love and I haven't decided how I want them to play out yet.
My first ever Substack Post is live! In my next post, I'll talk about writing and querying my first manuscript, including the query I sent to agents, what I did wrong, and querying stats. Let me know if there's anything specific you guys would love to know about!
If any literary agents or editors see this, I'd love to know your thoughts on writers querying in the summer 👀 It seems like so much has changed over the years when it comes to querying. Is summer still considered a "bad" time to query?
Repost w/ the five shows you would be happy to rewatch over and over again for the rest of your life, as your sole TV diet:
Parks and Rec
Madmen
The Wire
Game of Thrones
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
What an insane list I just created.
Did they adopt his beliefs as well? lol
