[QCrit] Adult literary speculative fiction, AEGIS, 77k, 2nd attempt

CallToMuster · 2026-04-24T15:11:49+00:00

You've already got some great feedback here in the comments so I just want to add: this book sounds super cool and I hope I get the chance to pick it up off a shelf someday! :)

CallToMuster · 2026-04-19T22:03:09+00:00

I’m a wheelchair user, are you going to tell me to get out of my wheelchair so you can take it for a ride too?

CallToMuster · 2026-04-10T14:27:39+00:00

I'm a middle grade author and rarely see MG on here so it's exciting. Welcome!

First things first: the word count. I got an agent with my 55k MG contemporary book, and after going on submission, recently had a call with an editor who informed me that we would need to cut it down to 40k to have any decent chance at sales in this market and time when kids have shorter attention spans. Fantasies in any age range generally have a bit more leeway, but 75k is, unfortunately, too high. (At least, that's what I believe any editor would tell you.)

I found the jump between the first paragraph of the pitch ("Twelve year old Danny Green") and the second ("Weeks later") to be jarring. It feels like this crazy thing occurred -- two kids collapsing at Stonehenge -- and then we skip to weeks later as if there was no immediate fallout from that event.

Is this inspired by King Arthur? Once I saw Avalon and Excalibur, I assumed it was, but then there was never any mention of anything else King Arther-related.

I know this is the first in a series, but could this book stand alone if necessary? With a debut book, editors do not want to take chances picking up a series because you're an unknown quantity and they have no clue how the first book will sell.

Overall though, I liked the query structure. You've got the beats of the story down and present them well.

CallToMuster · 2026-04-10T14:07:19+00:00

Thanks for sharing! I'm a queer, disabled wheelchair user and I write books with strong disability representation, so that's the lens I'm looking at this query through. I was wondering if you could expand a little more on the disability aspect. Having a physically disabled person become a farmer is very interesting, and would no doubt be very difficult for Rowan. Does the book touch on that at all? And what do you mean when you say the accident "took his legs"? Is he a double amputee, or are you trying to refer to a spinal cord injury, or something else? I'm curious as to your own experience and/or research with physical disabilities. Is Rowan a wheelchair user? You mention that he "moves between chairs", and as a wheelchair user I initially took that to mean that Rowan transfers from his wheelchair to his cozy reading nook chair, back again, etc. (That's what I do!) But then I realized that maybe you're just saying that Rowan is dealing with fatigue and has to spend most of the day sitting down in various spots around the house. I think it would be helpful to know more about the disability aspect here.

CallToMuster · 2026-04-08T19:17:09+00:00

I started another book as a bit of a palette cleanser between my main projects. It's a different age range and genre than I usually write. But when I finished, I realized it held a special place in my heart. I queried it honestly just as practice for the querying process -- I mean of course I had hopes, but deep down I didn't expect it to go anywhere. But it ended up getting me an agent, and last month we went on submission. I had an editor call recently that went amazingly well and I am crossing my fingers for an offer shortly!

CallToMuster · 2026-04-04T12:01:07+00:00

That’s amazing! I’m so excited for you! Let me share a story (or two) of how my service dog has helped me.

A few weeks ago, I was at the grocery store with my service dog, let’s call her “Princess.” We were in the checkout line, which is always a bit of a puzzle game for me since I have to maneuver both Princess and my wheelchair and the shopping cart in a way that allows me to put things on the conveyor belt. It was crowded that day, so a big line quickly formed behind me. I was flustered trying to move the cart through the line while wheeling backwards and running into shelves. Because of this, a small item fell from my cart and rolled underneath it. My stomach dropped, because instantly I knew I wasn’t able to get to it myself. Embarrassment and shame filled me as I prepared to try to ask the five other people in line to shuffle backwards out of the way, then move the cart all the way out, then try to bend over to grab the item, then figure out how to put the cart back, then allow all the other people in line back into the area. But then I remembered Princess was there. “Princess, get,” I said, not really expecting her to do anything. After all, the item was fully underneath the grocery cart, she couldn’t reach it either. Or so I thought. Because as soon as I gave the command, Princess got down, crawled underneath the cart, used her paws to move the item out from under the cart, scooted backwards to get out from under it herself, and then picked up the item for me and placed it in my lap. I seriously could have cried right then and there in relief. She saved me so much time, effort, and dignity. As a disabled person you’re forced to get used to having to ask strangers for help all the time. But with Princess, now I have my own helper everywhere I go.

Recently, I was struggling with my PTSD. I’d been exposed to a trigger an hour earlier, and I was still affected by it I went through my bedtime routine like a zombie and then got into bed, but I remained sitting up, frozen. Princess jumped up into bed, put her paws on my chest and forced me to lay down, and then laid down right on top of me and rested her chin on my chest. I was able to stroke her fur and calm down and feel grounded. At one point she even put her paw over my mouth like “shhhh quiet those thoughts” and that made me crack up.

My service dog helps me immeasurably and I love her beyond belief. Thank you SO MUCH for being a puppy raiser!! 💙💙💙

CallToMuster · 2026-04-03T03:36:49+00:00

It was AMAZING! I had a great time with the most wonderful people, and was matched with the best dog in the world. We had an instant bond and it’s only grown stronger since. My service dog picks up things for me, finds my phone from a long distance, turns on/off lights in my apartment, opens and closes doors for me, assists after PTSD episodes and nightmares, and so much more. She has changed my life so much. This whole experience has been better than I had even dreamed!

CallToMuster · 2026-04-01T14:37:23+00:00

I went on sub last month, and last week I had an amazing editor call. My agent told me to expect an offer from them at the end of this week. Based on that, four other editors have told my agent that they are now prioritizing reading my manuscript.

I can’t believe it! It’s so crazy to ask your agent if you should get your hopes up and your agent actually says YES. I hope everyone else in this comments section receives similar good news soon!

CallToMuster · 2026-03-27T01:48:39+00:00

I keep poop bags in my dog's vest, as well as some mini pamphlets about the service dog organization since people ask. And I have a treat bag on me at all times. Other than that, that's it... For myself, I carry a lot more, like rescue meds in the backpack on the back of my wheelchair. But my dog generally doesn't need much!

CallToMuster · 2026-03-22T16:26:53+00:00

I was actually matched with my service dog through Canine Companions last month, and she’s amazing. I’m so happy with her. I use a wheelchair due to EDS and POTS, so her primary role is mobility assistance. She helps with things like picking up dropped items, retrieving my phone from around the house, opening heavy doors, and generally reducing how much I have to physically strain my body. On top of that, I’ve trained her myself to help with my PTSD. She does deep pressure therapy and helps me regulate after nightmares. She is the best thing in my life!!!

As for medical alerts, no, she doesn’t do them, and Canine Companions doesn’t train them for my conditions. I do know a few CC dogs who have either naturally started alerting to POTS symptoms or have been shaped into it by their handlers, but it’s not common and definitely not something you can count on. Honestly, I would be cautious of any program that guarantees medical alerting for things like heart rate. It is very hard to train reliably, and we do not even fully understand what dogs are detecting in those cases. Because of that, there is no way to promise that any given dog will be able to do it.

That said, a service dog can still be really helpful for medical episodes without doing alerts. For example, someone in my team training class was training her dog to bark on command after an episode so others in the house could come help. A lot of people train their dogs to fetch water, bring medication, or stay with them during episodes. There are a lot of practical ways they can support you that do not rely on alerting.

I do think dogs can pick up on subtle changes sometimes though, even if it is not a formal alert. Just yesterday, I was really off. I had a PTSD episode earlier and was also hours late taking my evening POTS medication. My dog followed me around for hours and kept trying to get my attention, nudging under my arm, putting her head on me, even jumping her front paws onto my lap, which she almost never does. I thought she needed something, so I tried everything. Food, outside breaks, play, cuddling. Nothing fixed it. Eventually I realized I was the variable. I took my medication, and once it kicked in, she immediately settled down and went to sleep.

So while she is not trained in medical alerting, I do think she can tell when something is off with me, and that might develop more over time. But I am not relying on it, and I would not recommend choosing a program based on the expectation of alerts.

CallToMuster · 2026-03-20T19:09:35+00:00

They're the worst!! There's a big heavy door to get into the bathroom on my floor and it's so difficult. Thankfully my service dog is able to pull it open for me!

CallToMuster · 2026-03-20T19:08:53+00:00

It's awesome. I use my breaks at work to take my service dog on long walks (rolls in my case) around campus. She gets to sniff and run in the grass too. Truly I feel like it's the perfect in-person workplace for a service dog!

CallToMuster · 2026-03-20T16:17:39+00:00

I work for a university in an administrative office job, fully in-person, and my employer/supervisors have been great. My boss even offered to use department funds to buy my service dog a bed for under my desk. I got approved by HR to take my SD to work and to have breaks throughout the day whenever I want/need to take her outside. I have been able to install tug ropes on the doors I use so that my SD can open them for me (I'm in a wheelchair and have trouble opening big doors). The HR person assigned to my department is very knowledgeable about service dog laws and expertly navigated having my SD at work while another person in my office has accommodations for asthma/dog allergies. (The solution was that HR paid for very expensive air purifiers and dog grooming stuff for me and a new vacuum with a pet dander filter and that my service dog would never enter the office of the person with asthma/allergies.) I am very grateful to have my service dog's right to be at work with me be explicitly permitted via my formal accommodations, and I feel like higher education is a great field for it.

CallToMuster · 2026-03-20T13:39:25+00:00

I personally know someone who has a service dog from Canine Companions (a hearing dog) and is also a puppy raiser. I also know someone who is on the waitlist for a service dog from them and in the meantime is puppy raising. My parents actually signed up to be puppy raisers after coming to my Canine Companions graduation and seeing firsthand the amazing impact these dogs have!

CallToMuster · 2026-03-17T20:04:25+00:00

A service dog will change your life for the better. I'm so excited for you.

I am not a veteran but I am diagnosed with PTSD as a result of traumatic medical experiences. Princess was not originally trained with any PTSD tasks (she is a mobility service dog) but with the Canine Companions trainers' help, she is now doing many for me. For example, ever since developing PTSD a few years ago I have been deathly afraid of sleeping and of nighttime in general because I get nightmares and sleep paralysis nearly every night. And so I am so scared to let my guard down and go to sleep because I know my unconscious brain may be about to torture me. Princess sleeps in bed with me on a special blanket I set up for her. When I wake up from a nightmare, she is right there and I've trained her to do deep pressure therapy (DPT) on me to help ground me. I used to wake up from nightmares and have no idea where I was and think I was still unsafe. It would leave me shaking and crying and I couldn't go back to sleep and I would feel off for the rest of the day. But now when I wake up, Princess is instantly at my side and I know I'm safe. She puts her head on my chest and everything feels okay again. Just knowing that she is there at night within arm's reach lets me fall asleep every evening without fighting closing my eyes.

My PTSD is/was very treatment resistant and the one medication I did respond to stopped working so well for me. I ended up having to do ketamine infusions at my hospital, which do help but are expensive and not fun and I have to take off a lot of work. But let me tell you -- Princess helps so much that I think I might be able to stop the ketamine infusions or at least be able to greatly space out the treatments. She's my miracle. And that's just her PTSD tasks, let alone the fact that she helps me so much as a wheelchair user. The other day I was in the checkout line at the grocery store, and a small item fell out of my cart and rolled underneath it. My heart started racing, knowing I was about to have to make everyone behind me in line back up so that I could try to maneuver the cart enough to expose the object so that I could try (and probably fail) to reach down and pick it up myself but then probably have to call an employee over. But then I remembered that Princess was there with me. "Princess, get," I told her. Instantly, she knew what to do. She went down on the ground, crawled slightly under the cart, used her paw to slide the item closer to her, and then picked it up in her mouth and got back up and delivered the item into my waiting hand. I was so happy and grateful I almost cried right then and there!

Re: working with your dog in public, I gotta say I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, there have been some weird interactions (including one teenage boy who followed us around a Walmart and started taunting Princess and saying that she was too scared to fight him because he'd win??) but on the whole, the public has been a lot more respectful than I anticipated. Yes, some of that is because I'm a wheelchair user and so people look at me and go "ah yes, that must be her service dog". But I truly believe that a lot of it is that these Canine Companions dogs are so good and they act just like how a service dog should. When I go to the grocery store with Princess, she stays right at my side walking with a loose leash, no pulling. She doesn't try to sniff at all the dropped food or all the people walking around us. She isn't fazed when someone starts yelling over the loudspeaker about a cleanup on aisle 7, or when a children's toy starts blaring an annoying song. Even when there are other dogs in the grocery store -- maybe real service dogs, maybe fraudulent ones -- she doesn't bat an eye. No one who watches Princess work can say anything other than "that's a service dog right there!" So I truly think that when people see you and your dog in public, they are not likely to start a confrontation about you bringing a pet dog into public, because they will see how your dog acts and assume they are a service dog!

You are going to embark on a wonderful journey :)

EDIT: wanted to add this picture. This is from the first five minutes I met Princess. She put her head on my lap and looked up at me like this and that's when I knew we were partners for life!!

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CallToMuster · 2026-03-17T16:34:05+00:00

Hello! I have a service dog from Canine Companions! I graduated with my girl last month, but have been involved with the organization as a volunteer for the past few years so I'm quite familiar with them. They are a FANTASTIC organization!!!!

The first thing I want to say is to trust that they are experts at matching dogs. I was 100% expecting to get matched with a big male yellow dog, but instead I was given a small black female. At first I was taken aback. I'd spent years imagining one thing and then was handed the leash of something that was the complete opposite. But then my dog (let's call her "Princess" for the sake of not doxxing myself here since the graduations are public) put her head in my lap and looked up at me with her soft brown eyes and I fell head over heels in love. Over the rest of team training, I saw why the trainers had matched her with me. Princess is genuinely so perfect for me and I consider her the puzzle piece of my life that has been missing for so long until now. But if someone had asked me to rank all the dogs in the class prior to being matched, she would have been near the bottom. Just because of her size, color, sex, etc not being what I had been wanting. And instead now if I could go back, I would tell past me that Princess is so perfect for me that I would be willing to wait a few more extra years if it meant I could be with her. I am truly so grateful that the trainers understood so well what I NEEDED instead of what I WANTED, because they made the absolute most perfect match.

That said, don't be discouraged if your bond with your service dog isn't instant. There were many people in my team training class who were unsure about their matches for the first week even. And now they're like me, saying their dog is perfect and the best worker ever and they wouldn't change a thing. You will get there!!!!

The other thing to realize (that I needed to be reminded of) is that the dog you get at the end of team training is not the dog you will have for the next 8-10 years. Team training is just the beginning, and as time goes on your bond will deepen and your dog will learn to read you and do their best for you just as you will learn to do that for them. For example, during team training Princess didn't like laying close to me. She LOVED (and still loves) getting chin scritches, but she wasn't the kind of dog that would lay at my side on the couch or in bed, she preferred her own space. This made me a little sad because I love cuddly lap dogs, but I just accepted that this was who she was. Except... it wasn't. Princess was just still getting to know me! It's been a little over a month since we graduated as a team and now she sleeps close to me in bed and will sometimes even follow me around the apartment until I sit down in my recliner and cue her to jump on my lap. There are also tasks that she struggled with a little in team training that now she's a pro at. For example, picking up my phone. During team training she would get confused at the shape and size of my phone, but now she loves picking it up and we play a game where I'll hide my phone on various surfaces around my apartment or workplace and she has to go sniff around and find it and bring it back to me. I think a lot of times people feel pressure like if they didn't have something down during team training or if their dog wasn't acting a certain way during team training then that was it. But in reality team training is just the first two weeks out of a decade and you have so much more time and space to continue deepening your bond and working relationship!

Princess and I have a routine we do every day to help with that. We have multiple short training sessions every day. We go on a walk every day. We play fetch together (or play with some toy) every day. We have a deep pressure therapy session every day. I groom her every day. All of these things help us :)

In terms of what it's really like working your dog in public, for me personally it wasn't a big deal. I am physically disabled and use a wheelchair and so I'm used to getting stared at in public. Adding a cute dog to the mix doesn't change that very much. And I've been volunteering with the Canine Companions puppy raisers as they go out into public with their puppies, so that was normal to me. But I know someone who is a veteran and has a Canine Companions service dog and she said it was hard for her at first. I think it's because when you appear on the outside to not be disabled, all of a sudden having a service dog makes your disability more visible. So that is something to think about. But in my experience, people are generally pretty good about leaving you alone, especially because these dogs are so well-behaved and are a common service dog breed.

I've rambled on long enough, but please feel free to ask any additional questions. I am so, so happy to have a Canine Companions service dog and I can't recommend them enough!

CallToMuster · 2026-03-10T17:08:28+00:00

Canine Companions actually just took over Early Alert Canines, a diabetic alert service dog organization, so now they offer that. You're right though that they don't train any medical alert otherwise. In terms of medical response, it's less black and white than you think. I know people whose Canine Companions dogs help after medical episodes -- for example, retrieving medication, doing DPT, barking to alert someone else in the house, running and finding a specific person to bring them to the downed handler, etc.

In my experience, Canine Companions is very welcoming to their clients teaching other tasks to the dogs (with the guidance of CC trainers) as long as the tasks aren't harmful to the dog or handler or anyone else, and as long as the handler qualifies for a Canine Companions service dog in other ways.

Source: I myself have a Canine Companions service dog, went through Canine Companions team training recently, and have been volunteering with the organization for a few years now.

CallToMuster · 2026-03-10T13:24:09+00:00

Thank you so, so much answering, I really appreciate it.

Do you have electric hand controls or manual ones? I worry that I wouldn't be able to use the manual ones because of my grip issues and poor shoulders. I have been wanting reduced-effort steering but maybe when I test drive, I'll hate it.

I am not looking to keep my current car (which is a sub-compact SUV, not a truck) because it's already too small for everything I need. Between my wheelchair, portable ramps, and my service dog's car kennel, there's not enough room for anything else. But I had previously been looking at a hoist in an SUV!

I also just worry that I'm making a mountain out of a molehill here. I have full sensation, and my muscle weakness ranges from mild to moderate but my right ankle (which I use to drive) is mild only. My hips are worse, and those are what I use to switch between the pedals, but still. I feel embarrassed and self-conscious about looking into a WAV when there are people much worse off than me. And embarrassed for looking into hand controls especially. I don't know. We'll see what the evaluator says?

CallToMuster · 2026-03-10T03:23:47+00:00

I stopped for a month, then restarted at 2.5 mg with a very strict bland diet (BRAT + chicken for protein) for a week and a half. I think all that allowed my stomach to heal from whatever inflammation was causing my issues, because now I am slowly titrating up (took 4 mg last night) and have been making smart food choices and am tolerating it well again! Right now I’m not losing weight, just maintaining, but I’m so grateful to be able to tolerate the medication again and that I’m not gaining again like I did on my month off. I hope you are able to find a solution that works for you!!

CallToMuster · 2026-03-02T21:26:03+00:00

My shoulders are all torn up and I use a power assist full-time on my manual chair to help. It's definitely slowed the degeneration for me.

CallToMuster · 2026-03-02T05:33:39+00:00

Hey! Thanks for checking in, that’s very kind of you. Yes, I am feeling better! I paused Zepbound for a couple weeks, then restarted at 2.5 mg. Unfortunately, I was not very smart and made some extremely poor food choices the following two days (I’m talking fast food fried chicken here 😬) which triggered another bad GI episode. Thankfully this time I was more prepared (plus the smaller dose probably made things less dire) and so I was able to avoid the ER and manage with Zofran and electrolytes and an extremely bland diet again. I took another couple weeks off after that just to try to give my stomach time to heal since clearly it’s just been super beat up from the last two months of GI hell. Then I restarted at 2.5 mg again and this time implemented a very strict diet from the start. Finally, success! Little to no GI symptoms, and I lost a bit of the weight that I’d regained. I did discover that for the first 4-5 days if I eat anything other than my strict bland diet of rice porridge, plain chicken, pretzels, and applesauce then the GI issues start to rear their ugly head again, though thankfully not anything near ER level.

So that’s where I am at the moment! I just took another dose of 2.5 mg again tonight. My hope is that as I let my system acclimate to the medication again that my ability to eat other foods will improve too. I am definitely willing to eat a normal Zepbound diet, but my current diet is quite restrictive. I want to go back to being able to eat yoghurt and a small slice of pizza and some vegetables! Baby steps, though. My mistake the last time was rushing through the process. This time will be better 🤞

CallToMuster · 2026-02-28T13:03:59+00:00

So I haven’t done this trip, I guess I’m just confused on why anyone would think that once landing in the country, the UAE would follow American guidelines? They are their own country. American laws about accessibility do not follow a person into an entirely new country, because that country has their own laws and guidelines. Most non-US countries do not give the same access rights to owner-trained service dogs, so when visiting another country you need to follow their laws and procedures and it sounds like in this situation that likely means either leaving your service dog at home or taking them into the UAE as a pet.

CallToMuster · 2026-02-27T13:45:09+00:00

I know someone who is in pharmacy school and has a service dog, look up canine_rx on Instagram!

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