@lilybeth-writes.bsky.social
Author | PNW | 🏳️🌈 | Disabled Combat Veteran Mother to Some, Auntie to All Querying: Lookout Tower romcom🐞 WIP: Speculative Fiction-Historical Fantasy IG: @lilybeth_writes www.authorlilybethschultz.com
Historical Fantasy WIP Research List 8/4/25:
- Ley Lines
- Scottish & Orcadian Folklore
- Etymology of “War Crime”
- Glaistig
- Taoist Dualism
- Trow/Fae of Scotland
- Precolonial Indian subcontinent
- Prince Albert, champion of innovation
- Cultural appropriation
- Historical whitewashing
Got a manuscript eval done by my dev editor. 🤯
Here are the things that happened:
- 2 New Chapters
- ~5k new words
- Rewrote the ending
- Smoothed out pacing
#amquerying a lightly speculative, contemporary romance set at a FIRE TOWER in the Oregon wilderness.
Think 🤠 vs 🧙♀️ with pranks, hexes & 🐕
It’s time to go back to the story that started it all for me: Beats an Iron Heart.
This historical fantasy is set in a post-war 1885 London after reliance on magic nearly caused societal collapse.
Own-Voices, Queer-normative & richly diverse.
#writingcommunity #adhdwriters
"I Don't write out of what I know; I write out of what I wonder. I think most artists create art in order to explore, not to give the answers. Poetry and art are not about answers to me; they are about questions." —Lucille Clifton
27.07.2025 19:51 — 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
Happy Birthday to me!
Thank you for all of the well wishes!
😘
AITA for refusing to leave MY fire tower after the Forest Service hired me + a random cowboy as a married couple?
He wants me to go so he can “start over.” I’m grieving my parents. So…I wished him luck. BAD LUCK.
AITA?
#unhingedpit #R #Q #romcom #amquerying #enimiestolovers
www.ted.com/talks/joelle...
14.07.2025 02:59 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Because I’m posting about my #own-voices speculative fiction #WIP, here is a great TED talk on #PTSD .
I’ve been in therapy for CPTSD on & off for years since I retired from the US Air Force.
My FMC is not just my experiences, but the amalgamation of 6 other #femalevets living with PTSD as well.
Playlist moodboard for my story!
Under Locke & Kibum
☀️idol with dating ban contract
☀️ESL teacher who has sworn off men
☀️chased by fans, stuck together
☀️think they’ll never meet again
☀️universe laughs in their faces
☀️hilarity ensues
Grumpy x sunshine, but it’s the idol who is sunshine ☀️
#BluePit📖 #NA #R #Q #ND #RomanticComedy
a 3x3 image grid moodboard. in the top row, the first image is of scattered tarot cards, the middle image is of a group of people on a beach around a fire at sunset, and the third image has various colorful paper-mache masks hanging on a wooden wall. first image on the second row is a close up of a christ statue nailed to a wall, the middle image is a red, melting popsicle, and the third image is of a skill half obscured by mulch. the first image of the last row is an areal view of the coastal city of San Juan, the middle image is of a hand reaching out of a body of water, and the last image is of tall grass against a blue sky.
What's a trans guy to do when all practitioners in his family have been women? Try to survive the monster his late grandmother set on him, of course.
DEFINE HOME TO ME is a folk horror/creature feature set in my home country of Puerto Rico. The chupacabra is also there.
#BluePit #BluePit📖 #A #H #Q
Some editors I adore recently started freelancing, so I updated this resource page.
If you’re looking for an industry expert to help polish up a query letter, manuscript, synopsis, you name it… this might be for you. www.ericsmithrocks.com/blog/2019/01...
"I would love to see stories grounded on our world that have a subtle speculative twist."
@clgslr.bsky.social #MSWL
psliterary.com/submissions/
An agent’s guide to : CHOSEN 21 - A fast-paced YA sci-fi
The pitch - Peter Miles’s ordinary adolescent life shatters when he’s brutally thrust into ruthless trials, designed to select the best 21 teens for a humanity-saving mission to planet Nor. Trapped with no way out, Peter must push past his own limits and face an impossible choice: Fight to become part of the chosen ones - and leave his old life behind forever. Fail on purpose - and face a terrifying fate.
Aesthetics & Vibes of CHOSEN 21
Are you ready to dive into your next YA sci-fi obsession?🫵🏽 Meet CHOSEN 21 🛸⚔️🌒 #Bluepit #YA #SF #amquerying
13.07.2025 19:47 — 👍 21 🔁 11 💬 0 📌 1
A black and white picture of a woman in a dress facing a man through fog on the streets of London
Set in a queer-normative 1885 London, Beats An Iron Heart is a magic vs machine story of sacrifice, identity, acceptance and family.
🏳️🌈Pan FMC + Bi MMC
⚙️Steampunk
✨Magic
💍Arranged Marriage
😠Grumpy
🌞Sunshine
Fem PTSD rep
#Bluepit #bluepit📖 #OV #DIS #ND #A #SP #F #LGBT #W
It’s a labor of love.
This is me trying to make characters with PTSD more accessible to the people who might identify with them. Too many of us have to DNF books due to being triggered by the writers depictions. Or only finding male characters w/ PTSD.
A page from an old book showing a skull drawing and the word MORTEM, a well-dressed couple in shadow staring at you with glowing eyes, two skyscrapers looming overhead in the fog, several pistols lying in a cushioned case, a black hole, two doctors performing surgery, a man with his back turned and a woman's hand cradling his head, a cork board of documents and string, six figures cloaked in black and gathered in a semi-circle.
JOHN WICK x THE COLOR OUT OF SPACE
For readers who like:
🩸 dangerous criminal underworlds
🩸 secret occult organizations
🩸 married villain protagonists
🩸 no-nonsense women in STEM
🩸 attractive men covered in blood
🩸 terrifying body horror
🩸 the threat of an Elder God
#BluePit #BluePit📖 #A #H #W
I found a published romcom author who offered the service for $85. I have seen some who charge up to $200. This is why I said it’s important to vet them. There are a lot of scams out there trying to take writer’s money.
13.07.2025 17:47 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
A romantic and eerie mood board collage for A Poison So Divine. Elements include a vintage-style plaque that reads: “Not every monster wants to hurt you,” a woman in a white dress reaching upward, a close-up of fingers penetrating a flower, a Greco-Roman statue partially buried in grass, and a man in an open white shirt clutching a necklace. Overlaid text reads: “the things I would do to you” and “if I could only touch you.” The background is textured with vintage paper, florals, and alchemical bottles.
Would you read a book about a poisonous girl, a haunted estate, and the man who loves her so much he forgets who he is?
Rappaccini’s Daughter meets Crimson Peak, with blood-fed roses and a slow descent into madness.
#bluepit📖 #Q #NA #H #R
A photo collage style moodboard on a plum background. The photos include a purple Ferris wheel, green magic illuminating a hand, two hands brushing in black and white, a partial image of a young man’s face, a display of Sharpies for sale, a total solar eclipse, a silhouette of a house with a purple sky behind it, an ink stained page, and green ivy partially covering a window. Below these images is white, sharpie-style text saying “Alignment by Lizzy S. Briggs”
The Pitch: Jack B. Nimble is all-too-familiar with his ex’s plans for world domination. He was supposed to be at the center of it, serving as his right-hand alchemist. Instead, after a brutal reckoning, Jack has crawled out of rock bottom by keeping his head down and avoiding his dark past. Jack’s fragile present as a barista for a magical coffee shop cracks when his illegal secret menu leads to his arrest. It fractures when his former best friend, now a cop, offers to be his parole officer after years of estrangement. It shatters entirely when his ex, Hugo, puts his plans into motion, blowing up the Magisterium in pursuit of both vengeance on Jack and a mysterious artifact. Jack learns he isn’t his ex’s only victim when a handsome necromancer tracks him down, leveraging Jack’s past to secure his help in stopping Hugo’s plan to usher in his new, demonic world order. Can Jack face his past - and his truth - in time to save the world from being rewritten?
Comps - Valiant by Holly Black, Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews, Finder by Emma Bull, The Last Sun by KD Edwards. Tropes - Childhood best friends to parolee/parole officer, magically bound together, only one bed/shower/mausoleum, second chance romance, actual love triangle, vengeful exes, queer AF. This text is surrounded by Polaroid-style photos of green flames, a coffee shop, a cathedral window covered in ivy, and a man’s hands in handcuffs
Favorite Quotes: “Magic gave us a second chance. Anyone who tries to tell you differently is selling something.” “It made sense he’d require a blood price for me to leave. I just hadn’t expected so much of it to be mine.” “When I was a kid, I used to pretend I could feel the warmth of my imaginary mother at my side, or the comforting weight of my invisible father’s hand on my shoulder. But I had neither, and those memories were stolen, phantoms borne of after-school specials, late-night sitcom reruns, and a desperate, aching hope that wouldn’t fucking die that one day, they’d come back for me. But I guess that’s what real faith is. Unkillable.” “Oh honey, you have no idea who I became without you.”
Enchanter/Barista seeks help saving the world.
Looking for: authority figure w/heart of gold, ok w/blood, murder, and petty crimes.
Must love: saving the world, trashing the State Fair in epic magic battles, & making out in alleyways/mausoleums.
Must have car.
#BluePit📖 #LGBT #Q #A #F
A SOUL AWAKENED
Adult BIPOC paranormal romance, grounded within our world. 85K words. Book one of trilogy.
Multicultural
Friends to lovers
Slow burn
Found family
Romantic suspense
Fate vs destiny
Tragedy & lost
Mid to high heat
#BluePit📖 #Q #A #PN #R #F #POC
A mood board for the book 'Downdraft' . It depicts various fantastical landscapes alongside themes of darkness and fading away.
NAME OF THE WIND x GODKILLER
DOWNDRAFT
Valandra is a legend—the only delver to reach the bottom of the Abyss and return. But few know the costs of such a journey.
Decades later, as new threats form in the shadows, she must retell her story or finally face the consequences.
#Bluepit📖 #A #F #Q
Astaire Bloom, an unfeeling man devoid of hope, takes a job in a remote castle under a mysterious employer. As sinister events unfold around him, so do emotions he thought himself incapable of. To uncover the secrets buried within the castle’s ancient, decrepit walls, he must endure more than he ever imagined.
Hurt, and bleed, and, fuck, and fear. Fear it all. Feel it all.
🩸Interview with the Vampire x Hannibal🩸
💀 Gay wrongs
💀 Blood & Lust
💀 Forced Proximity
💀 What are morals?
💀 Nihilist x Existentialist
#bluepit #bluepit📖 #a #f #r #w #ov
Dating Swamp Women's fiction / romance
The pitch Madi has a plan: if she doesn’t fall in love by Labour Day, she’s moving to London. As she moves through a summer of friends’ wedding events, Madi meets the charming Felix and reconnects with her ex, Jonah, with whom she has unfinished business. Will Madi choose Felix, Jonah, a new life in London, or some of the above?
Comps four weddings and a funeral - Wedding settings magnolia parks - Twisty, glamorous love triangle social engagement - Millennial wedding satire
“You had a very beautiful wedding.” In the pictures, the way he looked at her looked like how someone would look at someone they really loved. It was the way Jonah used to look at me. It was the way I wanted Luca the tennis player to look at me. Intense eye contact, big smiles. Felix loved that girl. “I’m not sad about it,” he said. “We were together for a long time, and we made the most out of it. Maybe we were too young, but I’ll marry someone else one day.” He put his hand over mine and squeezed it. He looked out into the abyss and blew rings of smoke from his lips. The sky was almost royal blue now, the last of the pink and purple taking its final breaths for the evening.
FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL FOR ZILLENNIALS
In this spicy romance, Madi promises herself she'll move to London if she doesn't find love this summer. Her friends' wedding events bring her two gentlemen callers. Who will Madi choose: Felix, Jonah, London or herself?
#bluepit📖 #bluepit #w #r #wf #a
If grim reaper Daphne can prove she wasn't supposed to die, she may get a second chance at life - literally. Then again, some things may be worth staying dead for.
(UNDER THE WHISPERING DOOR X A GRIM REAPER'S GUIDE TO CATCHING A KILLER)
#F #YA #BluePit #querying #writingcommunity #Q #LGBT
A woman in a white empire-waisted gown stares into the distance. A gold clock is superimposed over her. The text over the image reads, "The Genesis Clock."
Pitch for The Genesis Clock: Imbued with time magic, chronoglass could alter the Napoleonic Wars. For cryptographer Georgiana Adams, it gives her the chance to erase the moment that soiled her character and forced her betrothed to leave her. For Joshua Durand, the chronoglass would undo the mistake that crippled him in the Battle of Trafalgar and cost him his job as a British spy. When they catch each other stealing chronoglass, they make a deal: they won't turn the other in as long as they work together and ration the precious magic. The deal should be easy--until they fall in love.
Comparable titles for The Genesis Clock: - The Austenian writing style of Pride and Prejudice - The time-traveling spies of This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone - The feminist social commentary of Queen Bee by Amalie Howard - The Regency magic of A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft
A snippet from The Genesis Clock: "The opportunity to control time, to hold raw power even for a moment, lured Joshua in. His fingers closed around the chronoglass. Frigid cold shot through his bones, so cold he wanted to drop the glass, so cold his knee almost collapsed, but then it warmed to his skin. He looked around the room for a sign that something had changed. Everything was the same. The map, the steaming tea, Mr. Brooke standing beside the ticking clock. Brooke smiled and opened his mouth, but something about the movement of his lips was odd. He spoke, speech gargled. What in heaven's name ...? Joshua's gaze sharpened. Steam curled back into hot liquid. The second hand moved backward one, two, ten seconds. He reached for his gloves, and they rose on their own to meet his fingers, skin and velvet meshing. His body reacted before his mind did. Muscles unclenched, and velvet and chronoglass crumpled to the desk. Joshua sucked in a breath. The stories were true."
PRIDE & PREJUDICE x TENET
A socialite-turned-cryptographer must time travel to reverse her ruined reputation and get her fiancé back—but when she meets a handsome time traveler, she wonders if finding love in the past is worth the risk.
#BluePit📖 #Q #YA #F #DIS #ND #agentsguide #amquerying
Beetlejuice X Phantasma
👹 The villain is an allegory for oppressive societal views of women
🖤Latina FMC
🌴 FL island resort
🔮 Conniving coven & their politics
👩🏻❤️💋👩🏽 Sapphic romance
🧘🏻 Mental health rep
🫀 Mean mommy trauma
🐦⬛ Fantasy but with horror undertones
#BluePit📖 #Q #A #F #H #R #OV #LGBTQ+
Love seeing all the great pitches for #bluepit today. Mine is a contemporary MG STEAM-themed novel. 📖 🧪 👩🏼🔬 🎨
13.07.2025 17:05 — 👍 14 🔁 6 💬 1 📌 0
In center, there’s a quote with white background that says “When it feels scary to jump, that is exactly when you jump, otherwise you end up staying in the same place your whole life.” First row: Girl in blue dress holding camera with trees, sky, and street in background. Second image is girl holding camera in front of her face and the sun shining behind her. Third image is of three photos beside the bottom corner of a Mac laptop. Second row: Boy with red shirt plays guitar to dark-haired girl, and they’re sitting on a brick ground with trees and buildings in background. Third image is of boy and girl standing in front of backgrounds watching sunrise. Third row: Boy playing electric guitar with speaker in background. Second image is boy playing guitar with back turned to camera, sunset clouds in background. Third image is iPhone laying with black earphones plugged in.
LOVEBOAT TAIPEI X TATB
#FilAm Emilyn’s Summer Checklist
📸Take shot at contest behind parents’ backs
😈Break rules (and law!)
👩🏻❤️💋👨🏼Slow burn romance with soft guitarist
👯♀️Step outside of sister’s shadow
😰Face fear of public speaking
#BluePit📖 #YA #RomCom #Agented #OS
ACT YOUR AGE EVE BROWN X GREEK MYTH
Determined to woo his new flame, a lovestruck single father must find a way to balance between her wish to preserve an historical villa and his family business plans to turn it into an hotel—all while the business threads on bankruptcy
#bluepit 📖 #R #A
