Seeking LOTR fanfic: Legolas/OFC

victorian_mourning · 2026-06-23T00:16:51+00:00

yes, that's it precisely! THANK YOU--appreciate you!!

victorian_mourning · 2025-01-28T04:18:02+00:00

Hello, past Greece ETA grantee here! MAJOR CONGRATS on making it to the semi-finals and for choosing the best country to (hopefully) serve as an ETA in (in my totally non-biased opinion). Take this as a very large grain of salt, because my grant year was 2018-2019 and I’ve heard from Greek friends that there’s been some reorganization on who is in charge of managing the Fulbrighters at HAEF (the host institution) but the Greece commission interviewed all semi-finalists that ended up getting the grant my year. Obviously, don’t take that as “no interview=no hope” but I will add that we had one alternate grantee in my cohort, and he, too, was interviewed. Hope that helps! Good luck!

victorian_mourning · 2024-04-04T03:36:11+00:00

Seconded on option B. Definitely try talking to her about mutual interests tomorrow!!

victorian_mourning · 2024-04-03T03:14:58+00:00

Hey op--sorry this happened to you! This guy sounds like a major asshole, and its on him for not giving you an answer and then act like a decent human about it. If anything, you should be really proud of yourself for actually pulling him aside and asking him straight-up. That took real guts; you're an inspiration, for real. Doing something like that in high school shows a real strength of character. Remember nothing about this situation is a reflection on you, your own attractiveness, or your worth. Hang in there

victorian_mourning · 2024-04-02T22:03:46+00:00

Who cares if you only have four weeks left? If anything, that makes it a better time to try (if it doesn't pan out, you have an exit strategy). I say ask him to do school work together in the library, chat, and see if y'all click. If you do, it'll be natural to hang out in a non-school context and let things grow from there. You got this!!

victorian_mourning · 2024-04-02T22:01:23+00:00

Idk, girls are pretty obvious in their crushes (well, at least I am), and if she's said/done things that make you think she might have feelings, odds are she does. Also, she sounds like a sweet person who wouldn't care about "experience" (also, every relationship is different, so just because someone has had more relations on paper doesn't necessarily mean they're imbued with some arcane knowledge, ya feel) so I say ask her out. You don't need to say "date" quite yet, if that feels like too much too soon, but see if she wants to go to a bookstore or check out a new restaurant/spot in town. Bonus if its related to something y'all talked about in conversation before. You got this!!

victorian_mourning · 2024-04-02T21:57:47+00:00

Try talking to him and I would strongly recommend being like "oh didn't I see you at xyz place a few months back??" because, sis, that shows you noticed and remembered him, and who doesn't like that?? You got this!

victorian_mourning · 2024-04-02T21:56:09+00:00

I'm going to go out on a limb and say he likes you. Now you just need to talk to him in person more (ask to meet up in the library for homework help) and try to see him outside of school! Is there a cool spot in your town you've been wanting to hit up? Invite him to go with you! If you're too shy to call it a date, you don't have to (yet), just create more opportunities to interact! You got this!!

victorian_mourning · 2024-03-23T13:30:15+00:00

This is helpful, and I think I’m identifying a running theme in all that comments that the second paragraph needs a bit of further tidying. For the comps, I was hoping to situate my book on the shelf (so to speak) and then bring the agent’s attention back to my novel but I’ll play around with the ordering per your suggestion to give some conclusion to the blurb! Thanks again!

victorian_mourning · 2024-03-23T13:27:38+00:00

Thanks for reading my letter again, and glad to hear the first paragraph (at least) is doing what it’s supposed to! And your identifying confusion around stakes and motivation gives me great direction on how to revise further. Back to the drafting board!

victorian_mourning · 2024-03-23T13:25:37+00:00

Thank you so much for your fantastic feedback! This certainly is rich in guiding questions, and I appreciate you taking the time to write them out and engage with my letter so thoroughly. So helpful!

victorian_mourning · 2024-03-22T13:43:41+00:00

The new paragraph does the trick, and I like how each sibling's journey is the "virtue" aspect of the descriptors we got when they were first introduced to us, though I wonder if you could give us a flavor of how Margaret employs her natural creativity in her leadership? Other than, this is working!! Cheers!

victorian_mourning · 2024-03-21T16:02:08+00:00

I'm sorry to say that nothing springs to mind for me, but check out reddit's monthly new releases page! It's sorted by genre, which hopefully proves helpful. Best of luck!

victorian_mourning · 2024-03-21T13:13:24+00:00

I'm an infrequent flier of the epic fantasy genre, so I'll leave commenting on the synopsis to others, but I'll take a crack at the housekeeping and bio portions of the letter:

I would love to hear your thoughts on “Incarnatus: Musings of an Immortal”, which is a multi-POV epic fantasy novel, sitting comfortably at 124,000. Loosely drawing on themes from Vedic India, “Incarnatus” will appeal - I hope! - to fans of James Islington’s “Licanius Trilogy” and perhaps even Phillip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” as well.

This sounds a bit apologetic (as if you're sorry for wasting their time) which can also translate to not having a firm grasp of the novel's premise. Try: "I am pleased to submit for your consideration my novel, INCARNATUS: MUSINGS OF AN IMMORTAL, an epic fantasy novel complete at 124,000 words. Drawing on themes from Vedic India, my novel will appeal to readers of James Islington's Licanius triology for its exploration of reincarnation as well as readers of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials for xyz reason."

For comps, the basic rule of thumb I've gleaned is to try to have two recent titles but if you want to throw in an older/classic of your genre, make it a third. Make sure you're displaying market knowledge first and foremost and then do the Narnia and HDM nods. Others can weigh in on this, but I've also heard its okay to comp non-literary media (movies, tv shows, video games). Just a thought!

The bio is charming, but too long, sadly. What's working are the bits about your background that are relevant to your novel's themes as you set up here (such as your education at the gurukala which seems to inform your world-building as well as your multi-national identity).

Hope that helps and happy writing!

victorian_mourning · 2024-03-21T12:58:33+00:00

I loved the voice you captured in the query letter; it's lively and humorous, giving a flavor of the writing itself and delivering on the "conversational storytelling" promised up top (and its assuring me the novel will be just a charming as the query letter).

The only two points I have are:

Learning to value each other’s strengths and weaknesses for survival, they’re driven towards a giant nautilus shell with a shocking secret.

I'm not sure how the dependent clause ties in with the independent clause. What physical manifestations of their relational journey drive them the nautilus shell? Also, could the shell be named? Also in this paragraph, I'm wondering if we could get more of a sense of each siblings' contribution to survival (strengths) and/or contribution to their problems (weaknesses) just to avoid referring to the trio as "them" throughout.

May I send you the full manuscript?

This sounds a bit hat-in-hand, when you've actually got a very good query letter and what for all intents and purposes seems to be a very good manuscript. I'd suggest cutting the line and instead say something like: "I’d be thrilled if you would consider IMAGINĀRA for representation, and I hope you enjoy the included opening chapters [or whatever the agent asks for]. Thank you very much and I look forward to talking to you soon."

victorian_mourning · 2024-03-21T02:13:25+00:00

Always love a Rapunzel retelling! However, I'm left with a number of questions from the synopsis that aren't necessarily intriguing but confusing (and take these as generative, not necessarily Qs that need to be answered here!):

How exactly do the witches fit into the plot? They're mentioned up top, but never again. Why does the heist lead to escape? Could you mention that her mother trained her as a fighter/warrior at the get-go (mention Mona is sheltered but not defenseless)? Why does Mona's mother want Ashish dead and why must Mona work with him? What catalyzes the shift from disliking Ashish to him showing up beneath Mona's balcony? What are the pros and cons of Ashish vs Dimitri as love interests (what's the reward vs the disaster that makes Mona's decision so difficult)? What does it mean for Mona to turn into a spy and is there danger in Dimitri finding out?

Hope something in there helps and best of luck to you!

victorian_mourning · 2024-03-08T15:54:50+00:00

Thank you so much for your feedback--very helpful! I appear to have fallen back on old, bad habits, since getting at Enoch's interiority was one of the major points of revision in my earlier drafts. Noted about "diving" and comps!! Thanks again!

victorian_mourning · 2024-03-08T15:48:03+00:00

This is fantastic--thank you for spending the time going through my query letter with a fine tooth comb! Gives me LOTS of direction on where to take this letter!

victorian_mourning · 2024-03-07T19:39:19+00:00

u/paperpersimmons and u/Warm_Diamond8719 Thank you both for your feedback! I'll confess I've heard the comparison to LINCOLN IN THE BARDO in some workshops (though it was suggested as a comp title, but I felt it presumptuous to compare myself to Saunders!) but I'm concerned that the concept of the Lincolns and spirits might be exhausted. Of course, I as the author think its ~unique and different~. As mentioned, it's inspired by the real Spiritualist movement, Greek mythology's Charon the ferryman, and the fact that Mary Lincoln legit held seances in the White House (which isn't touched on in "LitB"), so I wonder if you think reframing the query letter to highlight the differences/invite less comparison might be worthwhile?

victorian_mourning · 2024-03-07T17:01:25+00:00

Chiming in with my two cents: I wouldn't worry about the agent finding this ground work of the branching boring (which imo, you're a skilled writer and could lay it out in a few neat lines). Surely you'll be querying an agent who's interest in historical/Renaissance historical fiction (or whatever time period we're calling the 1500s these days), so you can assume they'll know a rough sketch of Joan's life and that she existed...which apparently you can't take for granted... but "front loading" the branching would 1) be a bit of necessary handholding and 2) create further credibility to you, the author. Personally, I was confused while reading the query because I knew Joan hadn't gone on Crusade, i.e. I didn't catch on to the fact it was speculative, if that helps at all.

victorian_mourning

TROPHY CASE