John Zeleznik

two men in medieval costumes are standing next to each other and one of them is saying `` a fool . '' ALT: two men in medieval costumes are standing next to each other and one of them is saying `` a fool . ''

She: An empress in hiding that doesn’t know it.

He: The son of a dark lord trying to do right.

They have to work together to restore her throne and stop a war his dad is trying to start.

Romantasy adjacent.

90s 3 MUSKETEERS movie x MWT’s Thief books.

#YA #F #UnhingedPit

a person skiing down a snow covered slope with trees in the background ALT: a person skiing down a snow covered slope with trees in the background

HALLMARK by Kevin Smith. Framed as a mix tape & set in a 90s ski town, two teens from rival high schools fall in love amid their friends’ shenanigans all while working to fulfill their dreams: he as a writer, she as an Olympic skier. Male fat positive. #YA #RC #UnhingedPit

Have you ever seen the Bob’s Burgers episode Stand By Gene? Same idea but replace the two-butted goat with a crashed UFO, a megalomaniac billionaire & an exact duplicate of the kids neighborhood all set in 1988. #MG #SF #unhingedpit

Is #unhingedpit still going on? I’ve been busy all day!

Thought I had a link for purchase in my profile. I have to fix that!

Thanks!

Found this photo in a serial killer’s house, now I need to figure out who she is and what she has to do with said serial killer. And now there’s a fire monster showing up when I’m making out with a girl! Help. Think IT but less problematic. #YA #H #T #unhingedpit #Q

three men are standing next to each other with their arms crossed and one of them is a little girl ALT: three men are standing next to each other with their arms crossed and one of them is a little girl

Think GAME OF THRONES with none of the incest or rape with very little bloody violence and lots of thrilling heroics. Its got courtly intrigues, secret powers and an elite military academy. Written originally as #YA but probably more like #NA. Call it WESTEROS 90210. #UnhingedPit #P

This comic strip captures the relationship between the male MC and his best friend perfectly. A male fat friendly #YA #F adventure that features an empress in hiding that doesn’t know it and a dark lord father trying to kill her to start a war. #unhingedpit

a movie poster for stand by me shows a group of young men walking down train tracks ALT: a movie poster for stand by me shows a group of young men walking down train tracks

I did a project with 10th graders last year where we read Stephen King’s The Body & studied the “kids on bikes”’trope. Then my students had to pitch an idea for a TV series based on their own original concepts. This book was born from the model I used to show them what to do. #MG #SF #Unhingedpit #Q

a person skiing down a snowy mountain with the youtube originals logo ALT: a person skiing down a snowy mountain with the youtube originals logo

Male fat positive is a big deal to me. That’s one of the reasons I wrote this 90s set #YA romcom set in a ski town. It’s not a memoir but it could’ve been. We need more male body shapes repped in YA lit! You don’t need great abs for skiing! #unhingedpit #Q

I don’t like when I whine and all I’ve been doing today is whining.

I’ve got SUCH a book for you, I’ll just have to wait until you open!

Agents, I have one or two projects that are perfect for what they are looking for!

Clockwise from top left: beefy guy, desert castle, raging river, a princess, a desert princess, a man in a black coat, a comic strip and creepy woods.

AN EMBER IN THE ASHESxTHE 3 MUSKETEERS: Two apprentice warriors, an empress in hiding that doesn’t know & the son of a dark lord trying to do right, are forced to work together to stop a war his dad is trying to start. Romantasy adjacent. Male fat positive. #Q #YA #F #WSPit

Clockwise from top left: a jeep, a skier doing a daft, skiers, skiers relaxing, an indigo prom dress and a ski slope.

HALLMARK by Kevin Smith x NEVER EVERS: Framed as a mix tape & set in a 90s ski town, two teens from rival schools fall in love amid their friends’ shenanigans all while working to fulfill their dreams: he as a writer, she as an Olympic skier. Male fat positive. #Q #YA #R #Co #WSPit

Winter's Discord: Book One of The Seasons of Destiny Winter's Discord: Book One of The Seasons of Destiny [Zeleznik, John] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Winter's Discord: Book One of The Seasons of Destiny

WESTEROS 90210: Told from the POV of 5 teens just learning the game of thrones in a decadent capital where dark portents and kingdom altering intrigues hint at a coming cataclysm that one may start and another may have to stop. #P #YA #F #WSPit

www.amazon.com/Winters-Disc...

(THis is not on submission, it's out for query but I'm not deleting and reposting again!)

Clockwise from top left: a girl dancing in the woods, a creepy house, a fire monster, creepy forest, a black bird and an abandoned factory.

IT X THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD: Max finds 2 photos, taken years apart & quests to unravel the mystery of the girl in the pics & her link to 7 missing girls while tangling w/ the eldritch horror their crazed cult leader murderer unleashed on the world. #Q #YA #H #T #WSPit

Clockwise from top left: the cover to The Crystal Shard, a hedge maze, a mansion, the Hellfire Club, a space suit and the suburbs.

THE FORTxBOBS BURGERS: 1988. Suburbia. 13 yo Vinny goes on an epic kids on bikes adventure w/ his friends to find a crashed UFO. Along the way they find an exact duplicate of their neighborhood, a secret mansion & uncover a conspiracy that threatens more than their neighborhood. #OS #MG #SF #WSPit

I'm going to throw out a couple of #WSPit posts. I missed today. I was mostly offline because it was my birthday.

I was listening to a podcast where they interviewed Matt Dinniman and I think I figured out my stumbling block on litrpg: I don't play video games and although I love D&D, I've never actually played it. I know, I'm a bad nerd.

Bullet points three and four feature HEAVILY in all my YA writing. They are major writing motifs! It's time agents, get in while the gettings good. I'm here for you!

gizmodo.com/teens-declar...

One of my biggest gripes is that I don't have a lot of "writer friends" and this is the one place and time I can talk about it with like minded folks. #kidlitchat

Sounds cheesy but I look forward to Tuesday nights 9-10 every week. #kidlitchat

I do a lot of modeling of writing in class. Especially when doing something new. POetry or creative writing. #kidlitchat

I wish. I don't have as much time in my curriculum to do so. I teach 11th grade (there's a state test that year), college prep and a college course, so it's tough. #kidlitchat

I haven't fully committed to it yet. I joked with my buddies about it. I walked into lunch and asked, "AM I cocky enough..." and they all answered "Yes." #kidlitchat

How do y'all celebrate the "wins?" I mean besides baking and eating your tasty treats? #kidlitchat

I've done one and I liked it. It all ties into my kids on bikes obsession. I'm due for a third blog post about the trope/genre. #kidlitchat