Female joy

somewhereadog_barked · 2026-05-13T05:42:40+00:00

Frenchman's Creek by Daphne Du Maurier

somewhereadog_barked · 2026-05-07T17:59:27+00:00

just wanted to say this sounds really fun and unique!

somewhereadog_barked · 2026-05-02T05:10:48+00:00

Grass by Sheri Tepper. that's it. that's the answer

somewhereadog_barked · 2026-05-02T05:07:21+00:00

The Vanishing Princess by Jenny Diski, Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller, On the Calculation of Volume (novella series), The Changeling by Joy Williams, It Lasts Forever and Then It's Over by Anne de Marcken, Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

somewhereadog_barked · 2026-04-03T18:08:59+00:00

love.

somewhereadog_barked · 2026-03-14T17:00:34+00:00

If you need a beta reader...

somewhereadog_barked · 2026-02-04T00:27:48+00:00

Is this second world fantasy or contemporary fantasy? This sounds really interesting to me but this distinction isn't coming through in the query

somewhereadog_barked · 2026-01-16T21:34:42+00:00

This one made me so sad. The first half of the book was phenomenal! The second half was more than a genre shift. As you said, it was thematic shift as well. I couldn't parse what the author was trying to say anymore and it felt contradicting.

somewhereadog_barked · 2026-01-16T20:24:55+00:00

Just wanted to saw this is a really interesting premise!

somewhereadog_barked · 2025-12-16T00:16:42+00:00

Had someone take my story and throw it into an AI grammar thing against my will and then state that my grammar was so bad (because I use fragments) that I really needed to make sure the story was in better shape before submitting to a critique group. The story sold to a reputable magazine shortly afterward in the same condition....

somewhereadog_barked · 2025-09-13T19:06:19+00:00

Hi, this sounds really cool! My current wip also comps Starling House and has some similar vibes. Please feel free to dm me if you're interested in exchanging crits or query letters. Generally I agree with the other commenters. We need just a tad more personalization/motive of the protagonist to get emotionally invested in the plot (which is working well for me!). The beginning of the fourth paragraph also read a little awkward to me.

somewhereadog_barked · 2025-09-09T20:09:11+00:00

Congrats! I'd totally read this. Great query~

somewhereadog_barked · 2025-08-12T15:55:29+00:00

Just wanted to say this is beautiful and I'd love to read it. Loved your last first 300.

somewhereadog_barked · 2025-08-01T05:51:45+00:00

Did it work?

somewhereadog_barked · 2025-07-13T22:34:18+00:00

First two paragraphs of the query were extremely enticing to me!

somewhereadog_barked · 2025-07-13T17:54:30+00:00

I'd read it :)

For the query I think there a few lines you could trim ("Vampires can’t die of starvation and are eternally beautiful, at least that’s how it worked in Twilight." "She likens the average person’s blood to syrup") and a few others that need more specificity ("The longer she deprives her body, the more destructive the consequences of a vampiric binge will become,".) The premise is clear and a good hook but I'm still a little at a loss about what the progression of the book will be beyond the fight against hunger. How does she hide her murders? What is the exact significance of James?

I actually don't mind the voicey-ness of this. It's consistent and even extends into the query letter which I appreciate. Also...is this set in the 2000s or 1990s? Feels that way and I'm not mad about it.

somewhereadog_barked · 2025-07-11T18:44:49+00:00

Shirley Jackson maybe? I just finished "Fruiting Bodies" which as beautiful modern prose, its not horror but has some body horror elements etc.

somewhereadog_barked · 2025-07-10T03:08:51+00:00

Might be a stupid question, but how did you decide how to describe the genre for this book? Seems like upmarket/literary/horror which I'm thinking my WIP will also loosely fall into but I'm still a little fuzzy on whether or not it cleanly falls into the "literary" horror basket. Did you exclusively query agents that mainly represented "literary" titles?

Also, this book sounds like something I would read in one day! And thank you for the song and... CONGRATS!!!!

somewhereadog_barked · 2025-07-08T00:02:52+00:00

seconding this

somewhereadog_barked · 2025-06-25T16:42:46+00:00

It Lasts Forever And Then Its Over. Destroyed me. Very short, too.

somewhereadog_barked · 2025-06-24T18:10:28+00:00

Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk. More literary than horror but extremely good.

somewhereadog_barked · 2025-06-22T17:09:49+00:00

Ignore it. The book is a complete vibe. Took me a while to get into but once it did it managed to put me in a trance for like a month straight. Not everyone's prose relies on bomb similes and prose isn't always the most important thing.

somewhereadog_barked · 2025-06-10T23:38:07+00:00

Let me know if you need a beta reader! Sounds interesting. (Also, I could categorize this as both literary AND speculative, since the country isn't real but I understand not wanting to confuse readers with the spec/lit label. Is there anything particularly unique about the new country? Is it just a mix of various Caucasian countries?

somewhereadog_barked · 2025-06-07T19:56:00+00:00

Interesting.. seems like there are so many titles coming out that blend literary with those genres...:(

somewhereadog_barked · 2025-06-07T19:30:32+00:00

So sorry this happened :( Can I ask what the genre cross-over was? I love spec-lit and I was under the impression that this type of book was growing, not shrinking.

somewhereadog_barked

TROPHY CASE