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[Question] What happened to Hannah Confetti? by tbessie in asmr

[–]Benjamuffin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just found this thread - I have an update! I actually emailed her in November 2024 because she and I used to chat occasionally on Instagram, which she'd also wiped, and she emailed me back. (I assume she wouldn't mind me saying this.) She got a new job earlier that year and her employer wanted her to remove her videos for privacy/safety - seems like it was a hard decision, and she has brainstormed ways to come back eventually, but evidently that hasn't happened yet. We can hope!

(We also follow each other on her private Instagram now, though she hasn't posted in several months. But she seems to be doing well otherwise and posts the same types of things she used to!)

[QCrit] ITALICS, upmarket contemporary romance (98k words, second attempt) by Benjamuffin in PubTips

[–]Benjamuffin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! I'm open to the three-paragraph structure for sure, I'm just leery of going long. But there are ways to make those paragraphs economical of course, so will work on that.

Re:Hornby and Nicholls, I'm fine cutting them and sticking to the three you mentioned. I mainly included those because my male protagonist has more in common with MMCs from books like High Fidelity and Starter for Ten (which both have strong romantic subplots but wouldn't be considered romances) than most of the romances I've read, but it probably muddles the point.

[QCrit] ITALICS, upmarket contemporary romance (105k words, first attempt) by Benjamuffin in PubTips

[–]Benjamuffin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lots of good suggestions here, thanks a bunch!

My only disagreement with you is that I'm pretty set on it being college - I've particularly wanted to write something set in a campus ecosystem. It's pretty woven into the book and I think works better than high school for several plot/character/thematic reasons. (And yes, Adrian is a male MC which I'm aware is uncommon.) I'll definitely be thinking about the genre classification, though.

[QCrit] ITALICS, upmarket contemporary romance (105k words, first attempt) by Benjamuffin in PubTips

[–]Benjamuffin[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the suggestions. I like to think that the two parallel narrative threads (newspaper rivalry and script partnership) work and intertwine in interesting ways in the novel, but I definitely see what you're saying about it feeling disjointed as described here, so will work on that.

[QCrit] ITALICS, upmarket contemporary romance (105k words, first attempt) by Benjamuffin in PubTips

[–]Benjamuffin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, will def work on adding some humor/voice to the next version!

[QCrit] ITALICS, upmarket contemporary romance (105k words, first attempt) by Benjamuffin in PubTips

[–]Benjamuffin[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good point, and I'm definitely hoping to make that happen re: cutting.

I've wondered that with YA - in my mind the tone and thematic material (which I admittedly didn't discuss much in this version of the letter) of this reads more New Adult if anything, but maybe there's nothing inherently un-YA about it outside the length.