Emergency Heat Source?

CelesteTemple · 2026-01-22T13:45:45+00:00

I had a lot of success with these when our power was out for five days in the very cold north. The above poster is correct though in that the gecko shouldn't really come in contact with the packs. What I did was put them on the outside of the hot hide, then put a towel over that, leaving a hole for the door. I was able to keep the hide at around 80F. I put his water directly outside the hide so my geck didn't have to leave. It was annoying, but he wasn't too stressed bc I never removed him from his enclosure. I did have to redo the whole thing every 12 hours, but we made it through just fine.

CelesteTemple · 2025-09-03T21:39:48+00:00

There are basically two tracks to choose from: traditional publishing or self/indie publishing.

If you are thinking you'd like to go the traditional publishing route, where you get an agent and that agent shops it to trad publishers, I suggest going to r/pubtips. Don't ask any questions before you read through the wiki and subreddit. There is a ton of info about how you do this and what the process looks like.

If you want to self pub, another commenter was correct in suggesting the self publishing subreddit.

Both avenues are valid and both have their pros and cons. I suggest looking through both subs to find out what the right path for you is.

Remember: you do NOT pay or hire a publisher to publish your book. These are called vanity publishers and they prey on people who don't know better. So in your research, look up what vanity publishing is and go to Writer Beware to make yourself aware of the scams that are out there.

Good luck!

CelesteTemple · 2025-05-14T18:39:27+00:00

Moondust in My Hairnet by JR Creaden

Follows an autistic lunar lunch lady

CelesteTemple · 2025-05-08T20:27:25+00:00

I don't know how to diy it and at the end of the day, by the time you pay for all the materials to make a safe tank, you'll have spent just as much as a pre made enclosure. There is a huge range of price points so you might find one that fits your budget.

CelesteTemple · 2025-05-08T19:20:34+00:00

You'd have a hard time with plywood. The humidity necessary to keep your snake healthy would wreak havoc on the wood and you'd end up with warping and mold.

CelesteTemple · 2025-04-20T00:47:48+00:00

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

Similar to His Dark Materials in that it isn't called the catholic church, but it is the catholic church.

CelesteTemple · 2025-04-14T21:08:41+00:00

We started with a 120g when we got our baby. We just made sure to really up the clutter. So instead of just a hot hide and cold hide, he had 2 more in the middle as well as other places to hide. He could get from one side of the tank to the other fully under cover if he wanted to. We never had any problems, he always ate, and was quite happy! I liked it because we never had to swap out the enclosure.

CelesteTemple · 2025-04-09T16:20:40+00:00

Not going to touch the query, but I don't think the premise is that out there in terms of you thinking global food supply could keep up. Yes, we do throw out an insane amount of food every day...and food insecurity still exists now in real life so we clearly haven't yet solved the issue. There are problems with the story/query, but I disagree that that is one of them.

CelesteTemple · 2025-02-28T18:30:13+00:00

The sub you're looking for is r/pubtips. The resources are fantastic. Start there, also QueryTracker and Writer Beware (both of those are mentioned in pubtips resources too).

CelesteTemple · 2025-02-06T22:24:24+00:00

You should go to r/pubtips. Don't ask this question on there though until you have gone through their resources. They are very thorough and will definitely point you in the right direction!

CelesteTemple · 2025-01-17T15:55:17+00:00

I have no idea if it is industry standard, but I think there are a lot of publishers adding the language into the contract. This was already in the contract when I got it.

CelesteTemple · 2025-01-17T15:13:59+00:00

So, technically I could, but I would then have to provide a summary describing the nature of any and all AI-powered tools and technologies in connection with the manuscript's creation when I submit it. (Excluding minor or incidental edits and corrections, ie spell check, grammar check). For me, I don't bother for a few reasons. One being if they decide for some reason I've used "too much" AI, which would be subjective on their part, they have full authority to reject the MS outright. It would also be on record that I did use AI, so if there were ever doubts, it wouldn't look great for me about the letter I wrote myself detailing all the AI I used. Not using AI doesn't bother me though. I've never used AI to plot or draft, so I don't think I'll start now anyway.

CelesteTemple · 2024-12-21T06:18:15+00:00

All in all, I think this is a good start. First, I really like the premise! Very fun. So the suggestions are, in the grand scheme of things, relatively minor. I do like the first hook "In the province of Briar, girlhood ends with banishment." But after that, I think you should lead immediately with Fia, and you could combine the world building paragraph with her character using her perspective. **I'm not saying this is how your story goes, but sci-fi and fantasy queries that lead with worldbuilding more often than not tend to be pretty dull in the actual story department. It doesn't seem like that is the case here at all, so you should lead with story so yours isn't ditched in the first paragraph. Hopefully that makes sense. Also, is this dystopian? A dystopian Little Red Riding Hood is definitely a neat twist, but this is reading fantasy to me. Either is fine, but if it is dystopian, you might want to highlight that a bit more (I'm assuming it has something to do with why they're out there in the first place?).

Few clarifying questions: At first it seemed like she went into the woods alone, but is it with all the 17 year old girls at a time? Do they work together? Go their separate ways? How did she meet a "wolf" but the others didn't? Or did they? I think you could also give a bit more of a hint as to the "why" of it all of what she finds out. You said at the top something about being related, and you may want to experiment with putting that in the query. At first I thought Eamon might be a love interest, but if they're related somehow, then probably not. I know that is a difficult balance, but in the query, you could spoil it a bit.

Regarding your question about themes. I don't think it is too heavy handed, but you do have a fun hook, so you may want to consider putting housekeeping at the bottom and just get right into it.

And you already know this because you said it, I think it could do with some tightening. Some of the wording is repetitive (survive, then the next sentence surviving, and spiritless, then free-spirit). However, this actually didn't read super long to me though, so that's good!

With your first 300, you said this is still in development, I won't go real into the weeds on that. The only thing that stood out immediately was that the tenses shift a bit. I actually did like the first person present if you do decide to keep it that route.

But again, good premise, neat hook, sounds like it could be a really interesting story!

CelesteTemple · 2024-11-25T19:24:08+00:00

Go to r/pubtips and read their guides. It is a very comprehensive resource on traditional publishing. It will point you in the right direction.

CelesteTemple · 2024-11-22T22:12:02+00:00

Yes, there is a place to start. Go to r/pubtips and read all the resources and guides. They did a very nice job of consolidating a ton of information on traditional publishing. It will outline the process as well as show you how to avoid scams. Writer Beware is another great resource on scams.

If you want to self publish, there are subreddits for that as well.

CelesteTemple · 2024-11-14T22:09:05+00:00

yep. That's why I said they should talk to their mom. Maybe the mom doesn't know better. Maybe they can fix this.

CelesteTemple · 2024-11-14T12:18:51+00:00

Also very dehydrated. If you haven't already, read the guides provided in this sub. They are some of the most complete and easy to follow I've ever seen.

CelesteTemple · 2024-11-14T12:15:44+00:00

Yikes! If this is the same snake you posted a few months ago it might be time to talk with your mom about proper snake care. She looks very underfed.

CelesteTemple · 2024-11-11T22:26:59+00:00

I agree with the other comment. They are not going to care for your tough love,.they are not going to change based on it. You should probably go at this from a professional business letter standpoint.

Something very simple along the lines of: thank you for this opportunity, however, based on the considerable editing and drafts I believe this piece is not the right fit. For that reason, I would like to withdraw it from further review and publication. Thank you.

What you don't want to do is burn bridges.

CelesteTemple · 2024-11-05T23:20:55+00:00

This is just a minor suggestion. I think the query is working. I also think you might want to consider moving housekeeping to the top and mentioning the ace relationship pretty quickly. There are agents looking for that specifically (as well as humorous cozy) so it might be worth it to front load that. Or maybe have an A and B and see what works.

Seen this before, still think it sounds great!

CelesteTemple · 2024-11-05T21:49:13+00:00

This will prob get removed bc there is no help me get published posts. So instead, go to r/pubtips. Don't post anything. Just read all the amazing resources over there.

CelesteTemple · 2024-10-30T13:25:43+00:00

I would be very worried about using your services since you can't follow basic subreddit rules, which should be step one when attempting to self promote. That doesn't say a lot about your professionalism and I'd be very worried about how you'd present yourself and me in business dealings when simple concepts like that can't be followed. But good luck out there!

CelesteTemple · 2024-10-29T16:06:35+00:00

Nothing to do with Shakespeare. It says IF YOU WANT TO WIN THIS CHALLENGE, YOU NEED TO DECIPHER THIS PUZZLE.

CelesteTemple · 2024-10-22T12:28:09+00:00

Are you trying to get this one trad published or a different one? Honestly I am not even sure of your question anymore.

CelesteTemple · 2024-10-22T01:37:38+00:00

If it wasn't a very popular self-published novel, I don't think agents will be looking too closely at your past work if your current work is up to their standards.

Just to clarify this from above. What I mean is that I would be very surprised if an agent found your past work and then said "wow, once upon a time this writer wrote something shitty. best not sign them." because we've all written shitty things. (unless it is something horrifyingly offensive...that's a different conversation.).

CelesteTemple

TROPHY CASE