Clean Slate is back on a weekly schedule! Sorry for the gap since March. If you've been following Lavender's story, Chapter 7 Part 1 is now live. If you're new, you can start from Chapter 1 at the link. New chapters every week from here on out.
readcleanslate.substack.com/p/chapter-7-part-1
It's a bit frustrating that I've written a cool children's book with polyamorous family with nerdy elements and most people who I tell want to read it but I can't get any agent interested in it yet. Anyone out there?
#amquerying #PictureBooks #kidlit #OwnVoices #QueerKidLit #WritingCommunity
I'm still posting chapters! If you don't know what it's about, here is a summary:
Lavender wakes up from Clean Slate, a memory replacement program where you can design and live your ideal childhood, only to discover she's actually someone else.
open.substack.com/pub/readclea...
If you could erase your trauma and start over with a new past, would you? Clean Slate explores what happens when that choice gets made for you. Chapter 4 part 1 is live!
readcleanslate.substack.com/p/chapter-4-...
Hello! It's designed for polyam folks to give to friends or family who want to be supportive so anyone like that. :)
If Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind met Severance - what would you erase if you could reprogram your entire childhood? Clean Slate explores memory, identity, and the lies we tell ourselves.
Chapter 3 is live! readcleanslate.substack.com/p/chapter-3
Waking up from a happy, normal childhood to find out you programmed it all and now have to decide what to remember while dealing with the secrets of those around you.
That's Clean Slate. Chapter 2 live! open.substack.com/pub/lolaphoe...
#speculativefiction #substack #serialfiction #memory #scifi
Cursed with immortality, Maria survives a car crash only to be trapped in locked-in syndrome. As her attacker stands trial, she confronts what eternity means when you can't die.
THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE meets THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY.
#A #SF #DVpit #OWN
What if you could program your perfect childhood and relive it? Lavender did, only the program malfunctioned. Now she has to decide if she wants to remember her past before the plug gets pulled.
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND meets THE MATRIX.
98K #A #SF #DVpit #OWN
An AI predicted Cora's parents would become addicts and took her at 6. They died anyway. Now 16, she must use AI to save an illegal beehive and learn that humans matter more than tech.
MINORITY REPORT meets A PSALM FOR THE WILD-BUILT.
76K #YA #SF #DVpit #OWN
8yo Sadie introduces her 5-parent polyamorous family through their weekly game night. Each D&D character reveals how their real family works. The representation kids need.
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS meets THE FAMILY BOOK by Todd Parr.
#PB #DVpit #OWN
Cursed with immortality at 40, Maria is now 70 (looking 40) when a car crash leaves her with locked-in syndrome. Conscious but unable to communicate. As her attacker stands trial, she must face what it means to live forever when you can't die, waiting for another miracle.
#A #SF #DVpit #OWN
She signed up to erase her trauma. The program gave her a new past, new memories, a new self. But when Clean Slate malfunctions, Lavender/Naenia must decide which version of herself deserves to live among the breakdown of the entire program and the people who run it.
#A #SF #DVpit #OWN
Cora was 6 when the Zoe Project AI labeled her parents "high risk" and took her away. They died of overdoses after. Now 16, she's learning beekeeping from a woman who uses AI for tarot. Can she separate the tool from the trauma when she needs it most? For fans of Becky Chambers.
#YA #SF #DVpit
There are ZERO age-appropriate books for kids in polyamorous families until now. Sadie uses D&D characters to show how her 5-parent family works. Gaming meets family diversity in this joyful celebration of different kinds of love.
#PB #DVpit #OWN
"When a cell doesn't die, we call it cancerous. When a human doesn't die, we call it miraculous." Maria has lived 30 years beyond her curse, but a car crash leaves her paralyzed & exposed. A meditation on immortality, forgiveness & letting go.
#A #SF #DVpit
Lavender's perfect life is a lie. Implanted memories from a trauma recovery program. When the tech fails, she must choose: keep her fake happy past or reclaim the traumatized woman she really is. For fans of Blake Crouch & dark psychological SF. 98K
#A #SF #DVpit
The AI that ripped 16yo Cora from her parents destroyed her life. Now she's found purpose in beekeeping, but her mentor uses AI for tarot readings. When her mentor dies, Cora must choose: let hatred of tech destroy the illegal hive, or learn that humans matter more than tools.
#YA #SF #DVpit #OWN
8yo Sadie explains her 5-parent polyamorous family through their weekly D&D game. Mom's the Tank, Dad's the Healer, Momma's the Sorcerer. Each character reveals how their real family works. A needed book showing kids that love makes a perfect party.
#PB #DVpit #OWN
24 Hours until DVPit! If you want to support me, please comment on my pitches, but don't like or RT them. Hopefully you all see this!
#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. Your pitch must include the #DVpit hashtag (illustrators pitching their art must use #DVArt) 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.
Less than a month until #DVpit, a pitch event for marginalized creators looking to find an agent & get traditionally published! Here's a reminder of the rules!
For more guidelines & info go to dvpit.carrd.co
See you all at DVpit on October 8th, 2025!
#writersky #booksky
Still deciding on what pitch I think is best. If you want to have a vote, please do!
take.supersurvey.com/poll5576953x...
Congratulations! I would honestly have passed out.
I get agents are super busy and field thousands of queries a day but... so do recruitment agencies and HR departments. If companies can take steps to remove barriers to the traditional application process, why can't more agencies? #writingcommunity #amquerying #booksky
But when AI is introduced, literally within less than a year, at least new questions about AI on query forms are introduced.
Why hasn't there been any new innovations to change the query process to lower barriers to entry? Is it a wonder then why there is a lack of diversity?
Same processes. Same barriers to entry. Same potential for discrimination.
Outside of pitching competitions for diverse audiences and things like @mswl.bsky.social but outside of that? The process has been the same for over a decade with (from what I have seen) very little pushback.
I see companies making interview processes more accessible and potentially less discriminatory.
I see colleges creating ways that applications can be fielded outside of the traditional set-ups that create obstacles.
In the over decade I've been querying? I've seen no change.
Not trying to be shady, but I genuinely wish I could see as much effort from agencies to remove the class and social barriers from the querying process as the effort made to prevent people using AI.
Finally decided to come over here. :) I'll mostly be posting about my writing things!