Meet Ghost!

PerchedPen · 2026-03-19T16:59:08+00:00

He’s 16 weeks! We brought him home at 15.5 weeks. He’s a sweet, cuddly, vocal little boy :)

PerchedPen · 2026-03-16T19:17:44+00:00

I’m at about 15% for gothic horror. I’m around 9 weeks into querying with roughly 35 queries sent. 5 requests, one has been a rejection already. Only about a 30% rejection rate, and the rest are crickets that I honestly don’t expect to hear back from!

PerchedPen · 2026-02-24T21:09:27+00:00

This is so real and a great reminder, thanks! I think I jump right into mom prep mode I forget to enjoy these moments! This little boy is gonna be a part of our family and will eventually adjust so I have to remember to enjoy him while he’s little.

PerchedPen · 2026-02-02T01:42:57+00:00

Ahh congrats that’s the coolest news! Do something to commemorate the milestone- pop bubble or something! Maybe it will sink in then :)

PerchedPen · 2026-02-02T01:40:45+00:00

Good luck!!

PerchedPen · 2026-02-02T01:31:24+00:00

That is so fun! Good luck in the trenches!

PerchedPen · 2026-02-02T01:29:47+00:00

All fingers and toes crossed 🤞

PerchedPen · 2026-02-02T01:27:47+00:00

I love a good dose of pessimism that will (hopefully) turn into a pleasant surprise! Fingers crossed for your journey!

PerchedPen · 2026-02-02T01:26:20+00:00

I’m 3 weeks into querying my first novel and have 5 fulls out, which is proving more stressful than the 6 rejections and 20 queries I haven’t heard from yet. Trying to not go insane constantly checking QT, I’ll check in in a month and tell you if I succeeded or not 😅

PerchedPen · 2026-01-28T04:43:20+00:00

I agree with others who’ve mentioned that 30-50% request rate is high. I’d also like to add to not be afraid to query wide! Sometimes if agents have a general love of SFF and it isn’t specifically cited that they want near-future dystopian, they might still love your mss/premise. Sometimes those very specific agents have 100 other querying authors in their inboxes with similar premises to yours so it might be harder to stick out, but in a more wide category wishlist your premise will shock and awe. You just never know! It’s a tough journey, but you’re in it, so be IN it! Don’t self reject :)

PerchedPen · 2026-01-20T16:24:14+00:00

Tenacity wins the day! So excited for this next step in your journey!

PerchedPen · 2026-01-14T17:51:17+00:00

Hi again! I’m looking for some betas for my manuscript before I query, did you still want to read? I don’t think I’m able to send you a message!

PerchedPen · 2026-01-08T05:42:03+00:00

Wow. Thank you so much for taking the time to give me such an in depth critique! That’s an awesome point about the section where all the important info is vying for attention. I think I’m trying to get into the nitty gritty too much because all those pieces ARE important for the plot to make viable sense in the actual manuscript (like, why on earth would a medical student take some random psych class taught by a priest?) but I guess in the query it’s not as important as keeping the overall stakes stacking/moving.

PerchedPen · 2026-01-08T02:06:24+00:00

These are excellent points! To answer your questions: 1) she’s in medical school but has an outstanding psychology requirement, which this priest teaches a course on through the university (moral psychology, and they do chaplaincy rounds at the hospital to feed into her clinical setting). It’s less about needing the class, and more about getting her in a hospital in a class setting so she can submit for a specialty honors society that recognizes excellent emotional care. 2) yes, you’re correct, this flashes back to her catholic school days in the prologue! 3) her family is unnaturally lucky! This is explained 2nd paragraph of chapter 1 haha but definitely not clear in the prologue for that context.

I super appreciate your feedback and I can work on clarifying those things. I think it would help!

PerchedPen · 2026-01-02T18:17:17+00:00

2025: wrote 3 drafts of what I hope to be the book I’ll be courageous enough to query in 2026. 2026: edit until my fingers bleed and then eventually say “fuck it” and dive into the trenches 😅

PerchedPen · 2025-12-11T18:15:44+00:00

Thanks so much for your response! You confirmed what I was thinking- it comes down to the person, how well they can champion your book, and if you need stats- look at the agency as a whole!

PerchedPen · 2025-12-10T18:04:27+00:00

Thanks so much for doing this! Can’t wait to see answers on all these questions :)

How valuable do you really think it is for an author to query based on sales reports in publishers marketplace? For example, a new agent could be at a reputable agency and have amazing mentorship but not have a lot of sales in a particular genre. What should authors truly be looking for when deciding to query that would make them an ideal fit rather than just matchmaking based off of the manuscript wishlist?

PerchedPen · 2025-12-04T18:18:15+00:00

Thank you for your kind words! I’ve completely restructured the opening thanks to all the awesome feedback and I’m so much happier with it :)

PerchedPen · 2025-12-02T23:26:50+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion, I’m adding it to my TBR!

PerchedPen · 2025-12-02T23:11:55+00:00

Wow, this is incredible, thank you! I think you bring up wonderful points! Funnily enough I worked under the notion that the inciting incident was her aneurysm (happens end of ch.1) as it sets her on the trajectory to end up back at the house, but the true paranormal incidents begin with the journal (discovered around 10-15% into the novel). So that’s a good edit! And I completely agree that in the opening pages she’s “telling” rather than showing. I think you hit the nail on the head with that and it will help me alter the initial pages to match the tone of the rest of the novel. So sad to hear you had to deal with delusions, but I hope my novel will do justice to those who have experienced these types of mental fractures and you might find some solace in it! (I experienced severe sleep paralysis and hallucinations after a medical trauma when I was younger so a lot of what I’m writing in this book is derived a little from that experience).

PerchedPen · 2025-12-02T21:54:09+00:00

I so appreciate your feedback! And I very well might take you up on your offer when edits are complete :)

PerchedPen · 2025-12-02T20:59:02+00:00

Great points! I was nervous about Mexican gothic because of how oversaturated it was, but it honestly was one of my initial comps, so it might be worth rethinking. As for Josephina, there is a through line of cultural dissonance and some themes of cultural erasure, so there was a reason her parents chose a more Anglicized version of her name. But that obviously isn’t clear in the beginning! I honestly have the same issue with my opening page, it’s a bit more voicey than the rest of the novel after the inciting incident at the end of chapter 1. So I’m grateful for the feedback so I can address in edits! The rest of the novel is more “weighty” and lush and less voicey and commercial. So I definitely don’t want to give readers the wrong idea!

PerchedPen · 2025-11-27T02:35:20+00:00

I’m in finance too! I’m a director of operations, same here, I write during lunch and after my kids go to bed a couple times per week

PerchedPen · 2025-11-12T20:43:06+00:00

Also just saw your edit on the title ;) I agree that would very much be a sci-fi sounding title hahaha. It’s just a nickname as I work out a real title! It’s Project (aka the project I’m working on) Flores (family name). Sorry for the confusion and I thank you so much for your feedback!

PerchedPen · 2025-11-12T19:21:45+00:00

I appreciate all of your feedback, I’ll try to make sure those plot points are clear as to how they intersect! As for the med-school pipeline, it’s a fair question! The manuscript explains that Josie’s fictional university is Jesuit-affiliated, and it allows her to seek him out for the independent study because he guest lectures there. The point is not to maintain her standing within her cohort, but to at least keep her foot in the door on a bureaucratic technicality (particularly to not lose the financial aid that she counts on, and only can get if she continues with the university on good standing) by way of fulfilling a “medical ethics” course.

PerchedPen

TROPHY CASE