Bestselling author Claire Lombardo returns (and Bianca somehow manages to keep her sh*t together)
Plus, queries in two popular genres get the Books with Hooks treatment, The Query Lab is back, and Julia Phillips shares some writing advice we can't wait to try out at our next family gathering
Happy Friday, writing friends!
What’s everyone got on for this weekend? If your plans don’t include listening to our latest episode, you might want to move some things around to make time for it because we’ve got none other than New York Times bestselling author Claire Lombardo on the podcast this week! If you’ve been around for a while, you might recall Bianca having a totally justified fangirl moment during Claire’s first appearance on the show. We really can’t blame her—Claire’s ability to get inside her characters’ heads is pretty awe-inspiring, so we’re thrilled to have her back and sharing her thoughts on interiority and characterization with us, so that we can in turn share them with you.
It’s another great 📕Books with Hooks🪝 segment this week, too, featuring two genres we know a lot of you are working on: rom-com and YA. (Speaking of popular genres…we’re announcing a brand new learning opportunity this week, so be sure to read all the way to the end so you don’t miss it!)
This week’s edition of The Query Lab features a query so good we can’t believe we have to wait until 2025 for the novel it describes—glean all you can from it then go make yours just as compelling!
We’re also excited to be sharing a video from National Book Award finalist Julia Phillips, in which she tackles a question (possibly THE question) that strikes fear into the hearts of writers everywhere.
One final (writing-adjacent) note…Yesterday one of our hosts celebrated a milestone birthday, and we could not let the occasion pass unacknowledged because (like all of you) we’re so very glad she was born! So please join us in wishing CeCe a very happy birthday and an inspiring year ahead! 🥳🎂🎉
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading! ❤️
The Shit No One Tells You About Writing Team
P.S. Still not sure about upgrading to paid? Check out our Tuesday Teaser below to see what you’re missing!
This Week’s Podcast✨🎙️✨
This week on the podcast (listen to it here!), Bianca, Carly, and CeCe critique a rom-com and a YA submission during📕Books with Hooks🪝. They discuss:
The importance of clarity in your query and avoiding language that might cause confusion
The necessity of a clear major dramatic question in your query
Ensuring your protagonists aren't anticipating everything that happens in your pages
The necessity of including a character's tone in dialogue
Properly mapping out how your plot points connect
Thinking in specifics and futurization; and
An example of strong opening pages.
“There's no surprise. Without surprise, there's no story.”
— CeCe
After which, Bianca chats with Claire Lombardo, best-selling author of The Most Fun We Ever Had and Same As It Ever Was. They discuss:
Opening pages
Advice for creating tension
Claire's drafting process and how she approaches interiority
Getting to know your characters in moments that aren't necessarily life-changing
Successfully writing a novel where a character is alone most of the time
Balancing interiority and emotionality with avoiding too much telling
Why Claire chose third-person POV instead of first
How she approaches characterization and fleshing out her characters to make them more realistic
Why she chose to have a single POV rather than multiple like in her first novel; and
How the book evolved into a dual timeline.
“I think the key for me for interiority is not always going for the most obvious moment in someone's life. So, it's not necessarily going to be the character's wedding day or the days that people think would be like the largest and most seminal because that's not really how life is, or it's not how it's proven to be for me. I think the most revealing moments often are quite quiet or sometimes they happen when you're walking through the grocery store or when you are, you know, just alone, not talking to someone in a car.”
— Claire
More information about Claire can be found on her website here. She's also on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).
You can purchase Same as it Ever Was on our Bookshop.org affiliate page here. Buying books through this link supports a local indie bookstore, as well as The Shit No One Tells You About Writing 📚❤️
The Query Lab 📝🖊
Welcome to The Query Lab where each Friday for the next few months we’ll be
sharing a successful query letter that got an author their agent AND their book deal.
Today we’ve got a query from Jessica Guerrieri, author of Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea 😍:
Dear [REDACTED],
BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA (82,000 words) is a work of book club fiction. It is written in first-person and spans several months with flashbacks into the protagonist’s past. The novel will appeal to fans of Liane Moriarty and has themes similar to Barbara O’Neal’s When We Believed in Mermaids. A peek behind the curtain into the origins of modern-day “mommy wine culture”—think prequel to Quit Like a Woman: The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol but in fictionalized form.
After an accidental pregnancy, Leah, a free-spirited artist, reluctantly swaps her bohemian lifestyle for a domestic role within the established O’Connor family in the coastal town of Half Moon Bay, California. Luckily, Leah can always depend on her trusted confidant and fellow married-in-outsider, Amy, to exchange side-eye glances over sacred O’Connor traditions. But lately, the family’s codependent enmeshment and her mother-in-law Christine’s perfectionism, are only tolerable with the stream of a steady buzz.
As Leah evades looking inward, her flirting, gossiping, and drinking land her at the epicenter of a mysterious affair and secret pregnancy. With Leah’s credibility dwindling, her only ally, Amy, begins conspiring with her antagonist, their mother-in-law. A dual for loyalty ensues. As Leah dances with the devil during her descent into alcoholism, will the family she rejected ultimately be her salvation or her undoing? BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA explores the desire for escapism within the confines of motherhood. There is nowhere to hide when the villain is reflected in the mirror.
I have a BA in English from UC Davis with an emphasis in creative writing. I’ve been a recurring guest speaker on motherhood and mental health podcasts. I am currently the marketing manager and content editor for Fit4Mom Davis-Woodland, the nation’s leading prenatal and postnatal fitness program. I was previously represented by Lori Galvin from Aevitas Creative, but we parted ways extremely amicably after our creative path forward stalled. My articles have been published on Scary Mommy, Yahoo Life, Mom.com, BluntMoms, Filter Free Parents, and Sonoma Family Life and Mendo Lake Family Life magazines. In May of 2023, I celebrated 10 years of continued sobriety.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Jessica Guerrieri
You can learn more about Jessica here ❤️
Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea will be available for purchase in 2025 🥰
Click below for the downloadable version of Jessica’s successful query!
Tuesday teaser 😉
In next week’s newsletter exclusively for our paid members, we’ve got not one but two insight-packed author Q&As for you!
First up, Ted Fox, self-confessed “plantser” and author of the upcoming sophomore novel Date Week, shares how words from William Faulkner and Taylor Swift (!) help keep him going when the writing gets tough, as well as some real encouragement for anyone who finds it hard to find the time to write. Next, we’ve got Tasha Coryell, author of debut novel Love Letters to a Serial Killer, whose determination to keep going when faced with some pretty harsh criticism is truly inspiring. We could tell you more, but we don’t want to spoil the fun of reading it for yourself.😉
Not yet a member? For just $8USD a month or $80USD a year you get:
an exclusive newsletter on Tuesdays featuring bonus author Q&As and other exclusive content from industry experts
weekly access to Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra’s written notes on queries from the podcast’s Books With Hooks feature
monthly bonus podcast episodes, AND
regular Ask Me Anythings / Q&As with Carly, CeCe, and Bianca Marais.
If that doesn’t kickstart your writing journey, we don’t know what will!
Julia Phillips Shares the Secret to Capturing Your Story’s Essence
Author of two novels, the international bestseller Disappearing Earth and the forthcoming Bear (described as “Thrilling and propulsive, glorious and terrifying" by Ann Patchett!), Julia Phillips offers our subscribers some valuable insights into the power of clarity in defining your story. Insights that will not only help with your writing, but with those awkward social situations (you know the ones) where someone finds out you’re a writer and before you can run and hide in the loo they’ve said those four words all writers dread hearing: “What’s your book about?”
You can purchase Bear from the publisher’s website here. 📚
Something Special This Way Comes…✨🔥
There are certain universals when it comes to writing fiction, but there are also some genres that have their own unique conventions (and the associated challenges that go with them). If your first thought on reading that was “fantasy”, that’s no surprise—interest in (and sales of) this genre have skyrocketed in recent years, with more people reading (and writing!) fantasy than ever before. Are you one of them? If yes, mark your calendars for Bianca’s all-new webinar on September 28, and stay tuned for more details in the weeks ahead!
Be Part of Carly’s Masterclass 😍📝
Carly’s class includes 10+ hours of writing and publishing video lessons you have lifetime access to, monthly Q&A sessions, and fresh content every quarter.
Did we mention there’s an app, too? You can keep learning on the go. Don’t miss a minute of Carly’s top career advice for aspiring, emerging and published writers. Get the writing career you’ve always dreamed of.
Bianca’s Great Beta Reader Match Up!
Are you looking for beta readers, some of whom might potentially become writing group members down the line?
Are you wanting to be matched up with those writing in a similar genre and/or time zone, so they can critique your work as you critique theirs at the same time?
Your manuscript doesn't have to be complete to sign up for this 3000-word review!
Registrations are open from now until July 31, with the match emails going out on August 1.
For more information and to register, click below!
That’s all for this week’s news! If you enjoyed it, why not share the love? 🥰
Tune in again next week for more invaluable wisdom from our wonderful hosts! Until then, happy writing! 😍
❤️ The Shit No One Tells You About Writing Team
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Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra are literary agents at P.S. Literary Agency, but their work in this newsletter is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly and CeCe in this newsletter are solely that of themselves and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.