First Page Contest #9:  Romance and Women's Fiction -- Judged by Agent Rachel Beck of Liza Dawson Associates FREE CONTEST FOR WRITERS! Welcome to a  First Page Contest . Contest #9 is for writers of  Romance and Women's Fiction. If you write in these categories, keep reading and submit your work! This...

Last day to enter this @writingdaywksp.bsky.social contest! tinyurl.com/wdwcon9

An author at her book table at a library author fair

The speed of light on a library display

Had so much fun yesterday at the Huron Public Library Author Fair! Libraries are the best. 📚💖🥰

The image shows a poster of a dark forest. There is a light rainbow in the center of the page leading to an old teal journal with a brown pen. The text at the top reads “The Littlest Darling”. There is text on the left that reads “Queer YA Peter Pan Spin”, while the text on the right reads “A story of longing to belonging.” There is text along the bottom that reads “Otherworldly by FT Lukens”, “Not For The Faint of Heart by Alex Croucher”, and “Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas”. There is one line of text below that reads “How many lies did Wendy tell to keep the story straight?”

Hook x Heartstopper

The Littlest Darling is a queer YA Peter Pan spin-off.

💜Disabled MC
💙Found Family
🩷Queer Cast
🧡Family Secrets
💛Magic Forest

#PosterPit #Q #F #FT #YA #DisabledAuthor #QueerAuthor #AmQuerying

IT FOLLOWS X RED RABBIT GHOST X DIAVOLA

⛏️Legacy
⛏️Sacrifice
⛏️The Occult
⛏️Twisted Fate

#posterpit #q #h #a

Illustrated poster for my sci-fi horromance novel. Two men in glowing, futuristic space suits stand close together in the foreground, Jack with his arm around Elias. Both wear helmets with cyan-lit panels; one has blond hair and a beard, the other has dark curly hair, glasses, and a mustache. Behind them is a dark, eerie ice cave background with faint glowing eyes hidden in a crevice. Surrounding the scene are vertical film reels of images showing the two men in various intimate moments. Text at the top reads “From the producers of Annihilation and Brokeback Mountain.” Large title text reads “Babel on Callisto,” with the subtitle “A queer sci-fi horromance.” Text at the bottom reads “Rep: Matthew Valdez @ Megibow Literary Agency.”

ANNIHILATION x BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

two men stranded on a frozen lunar prison outpost develop a tender and terrifying bond as they work together to survive an ancient entity awakening beneath the ice

#PosterPit #SF #H #R #LGBT #agented

BIG 5 EDITOR INTEREST😽
PIRANESI x SOMEONE YOU CAN BUILD A NEST IN

Be drowned as a cat.
Be reborn human.
Ascend.
Kill your murderer as the New God of Revenge.

Marsh sheds humanity to become revenge itself. Except humanity's what she always wanted.

#PosterPit #A #F #H #DF #W #DIS #POC

Movie poster style image featuring an illustration of the main character (a skinny Asian nerd with glasses) and his fox spirit-shaped robot friend on a red background; Title: Snaggleteeth, A Novel; Tagline: Clear Eyes. Sharp teeth. Can't lose.; Other text: 96k words/adult SFF; queer/bipoc characters; Asian/ND rep; Restricted Rating symbol box: disaster bisexuals, questionable life choices, robots gone rogue; NOW QUERYING; small text: nerdy agender archivist embarks on a quest to save his fox spirit-shaped robot friend, unravels a mystery involving stolen memories and falls in love with a grumpy bookseller in the process.

PSALM FOR THE WILD BUILT X SORRY TO BOTHER YOU

When a down-on-his-luck archivist takes a job from a shady tech company to save his robot friend, he uncovers a darker plot involving stolen memories while falling for a handsome anarchist with a grudge against his employer.

#PosterPit #Q #SF #SPF #A

Funeral In Berlin x The X Files

When an intelligence agent is framed for the UK’s role in a temporal disaster, he must clear his name and seal a lethal time rift - before a Russian spy from the future gets everyone killed.

#PosterPit #A #Q #SF #T

To find the truth, she must face the past that comes back to haunt her. YOU HAVE TO GO BACK. Newly revised; querying now; full manuscript with multiple agents.

GUEST LIST+HAUNTING OF MADDY CLARE

Twenty years after a study abroad trip ended in tragedy, Rosie returns to Ireland to face her haunted past - and a real haunting - as she teams up with a local man to solve a murder.

🖤Enemies to lovers
🖤Gothic vibes
🖤Murder mystery

#PosterPit #Q #A #H #R #Dis

5 years of The Speed of Light, 9000 reviews, holiday romance, chronic illness rep, thrilling suspense, dual timeline, with quote from the book: one moment can change everything. A shooter. A devastating diagnosis. A handsome stranger. The terrifying truth about life is you never know which one you're going to get. What a terrifying, beautiful truth.

A compelling and provocative debut novel told in intersecting timelines over a tumultuous, defining year in one woman’s life. Simone is trying her best not to think of what she’s lost. Diagnosed with MS, she awaits the results of another anxiety-inducing MRI. She’s just walked away from Connor, “a fixer” but possibly the love of her life. And nearing the holidays, the sights and sounds of winter in South Dakota only prick memories of better years gone by. Then, on a December morning at the university where she works, jarring gunshots pierce the halls. In a temporary safe place and terrified, Simone listens and pretends this will all be over soon. As she waits for silence, her mind racing, Simone’s past year comes into focus. Falling in love and missing it. Finding strength in family and enduring friendships. Planning for the future, fearing it, and hoping against hope in dark places. Her life has been changing at the speed of light, and each crossroad brought Simone here, to this day, to endure the things she can’t control and to confront those that she can.

It's March 1, which means it's the first day of MS Awareness Month, and also the book birthday for my debut novel, The Speed of Light! 📚 I can't believe it's been 5 years...thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, and supported my book! 🧡 elissadickey.com

I love Leap Year so much! 🥰

A collage. TOP ROW: "These guys": A picture of Anthony and Kate from Bridgerton. "But dancing like this": A picture of a couple from Strictly Come Dancing in a sizzling tango pose. MIDDLE ROW: "Like in Jumanjii when the plants become a problem": A picture of a huge tropical flower bursting into a living room from the film. "But more like Stranger Things": a picture of the creeping vines in the house in Season 4. BOTTOM ROW: "On the trail of a killer": a picture of Knives Out 3, with Daniel Craig and the cast staring down into a grave. "But with geeks": Steve and Nancy from Stranger Things Season 4, dressed up to hunt Vecna, like they mean business.

Here's my #UnhingedPit #NA #F #R #W – that I've nicknamed the 'Plantomasy' Project – in vibes & pictures only!
Boy meets girl: plants get in the way, with knitting, tango-dancing, annoying little sisters, troublesome relations & a pet house plant.

Hurricane Advisory 10 500 PM AST Sep 15 ...MIMI STRENGTHENS TO MAJOR HURRICANE OVER THE CENTRAL TROPICAL ATLANTIC... SUMMARY OF 500 PM AST...2100 UTC...INFORMATION ---------------------------------------------- LOCATION... 26.1N 68.9W ABOUT 500 MI...805 KM ESE OF PALM ISLAND MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...120 MPH...193 KM/H PRESENT MOVEMENT...NW OR 315 DEGREES AT 17 MPH...28 KM/H MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...965 MB...28.5 INCHES WATCHES AND WARNINGS -------------------- A Hurricane Watch is in effect for the Southeast Atlantic Coast DISCUSSION AND OUTLOOK ---------------------- At 500 PM AST (2100 UTC), the center of Hurricane Mimi was located near latitude 26.1 North, longitude 68.9 West. On the forecast track, Mimi is expected to impact the small island town of Palm Island, North Carolina. With strengthening in the forecast, BNC News is sending meteorologist Theo Andrews to cover the storm. Unbeknownst to him, he will be working with former rival and Palm Island’s own Josie Cannon.

Latest LOVE YOU LIKE A HURRICANE public advisory from the National Tropical Storm Center.

#UnhingedPit #A #R #RomCom #OWN #AG #Disability

cartoon illustration of my novel SNAGGLETEETH's characters as dogs: main character Bertram as a scrappy terrier, love interest Cedar as a big gentle Newfoundland, antagonist Bijou as a fancy spoiled lapdog

I spent way too much time to bring you: SNAGGLETEETH characters as dogs

#UnhingedPit #A #SF #LGBT #BIPOC #ND #Q

a woman in a purple dress is standing in a library Alt: a ghost in a library

KNIVES OUT + LEAP YEAR + GHOSTBUSTERS

I (39F) am staying at an inn on the Irish coast and got caught up in a murder investigation with a local man (40M) who I can't decide if I love or hate. Oh, and a demon might be chasing me. AITA?

#UnhingedPit #A #H #R #Q

Scene from Twister with Jo, Bill, and Melissa. Melissa is on the phone and the caption says "I gotta go Julia. We got rivals to lovers meteorologists who take on a hurricane together, with a disabled lead character."

Hey editors! If you like TWISTER then consider LOVE YOU LIKE A HURRICANE.
#UnhingedPit #A #R #OWN #AG #Disability #RomCom

Scully meme [skeptical sighing]

Mulder meme Do you think I'm spooky?

For #UnhingedPit, here's my gothic romantic horror in X-Files memes:

🖤 A Mulder-and-Scully-esque duo trying not to fall for each other while
👻Ghost-hunting and solving a murder in Ireland

SPOOKY MULDER + SKEPTICAL SCULLY

#A #H #R #Q

A collage depicting interracial couples, Christmas, quotes, and a small town

A mood board for Hometown Mistletoe:

Amber is single, back in her hometown, & now fake dating the owner of a game store in order to win a Christmas-themed couple’s competition. What could go wrong?
#Cupit #A #Q #CR #RC #AmQuerying

LUTHER x BLADERUNNER

The city simmers with interspecies violence. A series of human/Wired double murders threatens to make things worse. It’s up to private eye Eliot and his android ex-lover to find the killer before the state decommissions all Wireds.
#Cupit #A #SFR #POC

Mood board for Sage owen’s untitled Christmas romance novel. Includes a dark haired woman, a man in a cowboy hat, snowy small town countryside scenes, a holiday market, a piano and acoustic guitar, a woman cuddling a golden retriever, and a close up of a man and a woman’a hands loosely entwined.

An excerpt from a sage owen romance WIP, text as follows: "Need a jump?" he guessed out the window. If it was much more than that he wouldn't be much help. A face peered around the hood, squinting in his headlights. Well then. "Lark? It's Billy." Relief gave her the softest expression she'd showed him yet. She came around to his driver's side. How long had she been out here alone? She looked half-frozen. "Hi. My battery's dead, I think." "I've got cables. Want me to take a look?" "Thanks. I'm... hopeless about cars." He folded awkwardly into her driver's seat and tried to start the little car. It didn't make a sound. He dug around behind his seat for jumper cables and after a few minutes with the cars connected he tried her Toyota again. She was shifting from foot to foot, shivering, wasn't dressed for a prolonged stand about in the weather. "Go on and sit in the truck, why don't you? This'll take a few and it'll either work or it won't, no sense getting frostbite over it." Lark muttered something but after a moment she accepted his suggestion. He tried a few more things but five more minutes later he gave it up as a lost cause. He opened his passenger door and leaned in, relishing the blast of heat. "No luck. I can drop you someplace and we can deal with it tomorrow, or I'll wait with you for a tow." "We?" she sounded skeptical. "Not to presume but I work the opening shift at the nearest auto parts store, so I'm probably who you'll need to see for a new battery, unless you take it to a shop and give a middle man the privilege." "Unbelievable." She hissed under her breath. He stepped back, didn't want to loom over her. Lark closed her eyes, tipped her head toward the ceiling, drew in a slow purposeful breath. Then she straightened and nodded. "Alright. Let me get my things." So he closed her hood and his, then held the passenger door for her. She gave him a look. "Are you kidding?" "No ma'am." He grinned, and maybe it was a little rude to needle her when she was a

Lark is at rock bottom. Betrayed, career in ruins, lying to everyone she loves… and the holiday market she’s working keeps running her into a man who smiles like he’s never met a problem.

🎄holiday romance
🔥 slow burn
🤫 secrets
😒🤠 grumpy/sunshine
🏘 small town
🌶reluctant chemistry
#cuPit #w #a #cr

My current Fantasy Rom Com WIP:

👸Royal fake dating
👑Princess x King
✨Humor (I think?)
💔Hopeless romantic who has given up on love
💚’Party 4 u’ vibes
❤️‍🩹Healing each other
🧚Fairytale vibes

#Cupit #RF #CFR #BIR #WIP

Side by side photos of a woman with curly hair and a male firefighter. Text: THE SLOW BURN: A small-town holiday romance

Now Querying!

THE LOVE HATERS X LOVELIGHT FARMS

🎄an event planner with a promotion on the line
🚒 a firefighter who works for her dad
🎄 planning a gala together, but "let's keep it casual"
🚒 their chemistry threatens her career, family relationships, and the gala itself

#cupit #cr #rc #q #a

An Agent's Guide to Shadows in the Sky, historical espionage romance, 71000 word count, @mbsteel.bsky.social

In 1935 Spain, a British spy fears the woman he loves more than the Italian assassin determined to kill him. He’s fallen for the infamous arms dealer he’s been sent to eliminate—a woman who has haunted him ever since his flawed intelligence led to her husband’s assassination.

Helena Santos Mother, Respectable Spanish Industrialist, Illicit Arms Dealer Tenacious, Strategic, Protective, Opportunist Sicarius British Spy whose flawed intel led to Helena’s husband’s assassination Intellectual, Perceptive, Arrogant, Idealist Cassia Fierro Italian agent sent to eliminate Sicarius, and previously Helena’s lover from finishing school Methodical, Shrewd, Determined, Pragmatist

The Librarians of Lisbon, Historical espionage with slow burn romance The Huntree, Multi-POV from morally grey operatives Creation Lake, Dangerous infiltration with sensual power dynamics

CASABLANCA X KILLING EVE

Shadows in the SKY

A feminist re-trope of the broken spy romance

🍷 She’s more dangerous than he is
🍷 Bisexual heroine
🍷 Sapphic antagonist with on-page romance
🍷 Autistic rep #ownvoices
🍷 Consent-focused kink
🍷 30+ MCs

#Cupit #Q #A #RT #LGBT #Bi+ #Sapphic

Book aesthetic with six images. A satellite photo of a hurricane. Two sets of feet tangled in sheets. A TV camera. A beach with palm trees blowing in the wind. Storm clouds. A silhouette of a man and woman about to kiss. And the words "Love You Like a Hurricane".

#Cupit #A #CR #DISR #OnSub
TWISTER x RAIDERS OF THE LOST HEART
Meteorologist Josie Cannon is always prepared for natural disasters. But when she’s forced to cover a major hurricane with her college rival, Theo Andrews, she discovers she’s completely unprepared for just one thing – falling in love.

Collage of photos including an Irish cottage, a face, church, the sea - you have to go back

LEAP YEAR + THE HAUNTING OF MADDY CLARE

When Rosie returns to Ireland, she must face her haunted past—and a real haunting—as she teams up with a grumpy-but-handsome local man to solve a murder.

🖤 Enemies to lovers
🖤 Gothic
🖤 Murder mystery

#Cupit #A #Q #HOR #GR

When a dare to say yes to everything and pretend like it's Vegas leads Gabby into the arms of her brother's old friend, it's all fun and games until his secret collides with her biggest gamble yet. #Cupit #Amquerying #A #RC #CL #disabilityrep #invisibledisability

BRIDE X KING OF GREED

refreshing voice like Ali

MMC gets a wake-up call like Dominic

But give him golden retriever vibes?

🐺 shifter CEO x undercover EA
🥡bonding over (delicious) food
👠 fashionista FMC
🧁 cinnamon roll MMC
✌️dual POV
🥰 he falls first, she falls harder

#cupit #A #PR #RC #MlR #CR

A gothic style original painting of a vampire dressed in black holding a man dressed in white linen in a stone corridor, surrounded by candle light and moonflowers.

A pitch card that reads benevolent vampire Ishmael’s carefully balanced life is shattered when Edric, the tutor of his adopted nine-year-old spirit medium son, awakens a love he thought lost centuries ago.

A tropes and themes page that reads: DUAL POV, love after grief, queer love and joy, soft gothic, sentient manor, soft fatherhood, ghosts, awkward vampire and sunshine human, Victorian era, queer normative setting, opera house and music, yearning soulmates, and happily ever after

A snippet page that reads in every world, in every time, I would choose you. You are the song of the stars, and the whisper among the trees. It has been you. It has always been you.

A Vampire’s Lament 🖤🦇🥀
Book One in the Time and Time Again series. Benevolent vampire Ishmael’s carefully balanced life is disrupted when Edric awakens a love he thought lost centuries ago.
#Cupit #PR #GR #LGBT #writingcommunity #writerscommunity #queerwriters

Collage-style promotional graphic for the novel Babel on Callisto. Four illustrated polaroid images show two men, Jack (blond) and Elias (dark-haired with glasses), in different scenes: wearing space suits, working together in a lab, leaning close in a quiet moment, and kissing. The background is pink and textured with scientific sketches and handwritten notes. A torn paper excerpt of prose is centered. Text on the images reads “Babel on Callisto,” “Now Querying,” “88K Sci-Fi Horromance,” and “@saraduranauthor.”

Now querying!

• • •

ANNIHILATION x BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

✨two exiled men (and their secrets)
✨one lunar prison (and its horrors)
✨a cosmic entity that wants them dead
💖the love they’ll lose if they don’t survive

#SF #H #R #LGBT #AmQuerying #CuPit

A vengeful ghost. A 20 year old murder. A mysterious stranger. Finding the truth might cost her life. Now querying.

Rosie's trip to Ireland is to die for. To survive, she needs to:

❤️ Solve a murder
❤️ Try not to fall for a handsome stranger.
❤️ Escape the vengeful ghost stalking her across the Irish countryside.

THE HAUNTING OF MADDY CLARE + THE GUEST LIST

#Cupit #A #Q #HOR #GR