Renae Rhoads

Title of my novel; blurred images of faces behind a veil

The pitch for my novel, with a moodboard featuring doors, a dark forest, an empty factory, and shadow figures lurking in doorways.

The covers for my comp titles: The Midnight Library, Under the Whispering Door, The Hollow Places, and Dark Matter

A snippet from my novel

#litagents, I'm happy to present my #agentsguide #agentguide for my #amquerying adult speculative novel, THE WORLD OF NO, complete at 97k words.
It features:
🟢 coming of age (even for adults)
⚫️ second chance love
🟢 twisted realities
⚫️ Life is messy; jump the hell in already.

Image is a stormy sea batting against rock outcroppings. Over top of the image are the words: An agent's guide to The Selkie's Daughter YA Fantasy Romance 94k

Image has the same background as previous, with the text: Pitch When Meirta learns that the village she’s called home her whole life may be hiding secrets (one of which might concern her selkie mother who fled to the ocean years ago), she must count on unlikely allies to help her unlock the magic of her selkie heritage and discover what the village tried to bury.

Image has the same background as previous, with the text: Snippet Neither of them let go of the other. But Lena did raise her other hand, & a second later, Meirta felt the pattern of the wind shift as Lena took hold of it. The snow swirled around them, caught in the flow of Lena’s magic, so it danced in restless, ever-changing mosaics. There was a bird, and then a butterfly, and then a deer. When Lena let the magic go, she took a step closer to Meirta, whispering in her ear. “Now you try.” Meirta shivered, feeling the warmth of Lena’s breath flutter down her neck, the ghost of her nose tracing her skin. She leaned towards her without thinking, not wanting Lena to move away. Lena didn’t. She stood so close to Meirta that she could feel every breath the elf-girl took. Meirta raised her own hand, trying to focus on the wind when everything inside of her was chanting fire, fire, fire, but this time it was a delicious sort of fire that she thought she would crave for the rest of her life.

Image has the same background as previous, with the text: Comps Isolated seaside small town setting Sweet, slow-burn romance (but make it queer) Uncovering lies Girls with big, complicated emotions Atmospheric prose Creatures from Celtic mythology Girls discovering their own anger Beside the comps are images of four books. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid, A Consuming Fire by Laura Weymouth, and A House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin Craig

I am happy to share an #agentsguide for my YA Fantasy, THE SELKIE'S DAUGHTER.

#amquerying #agentguide #yafantasy

A greenish gray background with an image of a foggy island and the text “An Agent’s Guide to FORGED IN DARKNESS YA Celtic-inspired fantasy 89k”

THE PITCH A teen blacksmith must embark on a quest with the boy she hates to reforge a magic relic and free their island from a tyrannical god — otherwise, her life belongs to the island's fog-worshiping cult.

SNIPPET Cold wind burned Barra's cheeks as she exited the church, but at least the rain had stopped. She gazed out over the cliffside and down to the harbor, where three ships nearing completion swayed in the choppy water. Barra tensed at the sight. If only she could destroy them and everything they stood for. The Salt Sisters at work below were like a swarm of ants, and the sound of their steady hammering carried across the breeze. Barra eyed the shrouded sun's position in the sky. The solstice ever-neared, along with the vows she was pledged to take.

COMPS The cover of The Hedgewitch of Foxhall with “Slow burn” and “Celtic setting” the cover of BLADE OF SECRETS with “Blacksmith MC” and “Anxiety Rep” and the cover of THE BONE HOUSES with “Banter/Humor” and “Dangerous quest”

Take a look at my updated #agentguide / #agentsguide for the YA fantasy manuscript I #amquerying

YA SPEC HORROR - Youth Without Youth is a discussion of beauty standards. It explores how the rich, the beauty industry, & the influencers they employ perpetuate these standards at the expense of working-class people & for their own gains. (words on flowing blue silk background)

Tropes: body horror, commentary on the beauty industry, influencers as a vessel of control, eat the rich, dark & twisty mystery. Comps: house of hollow, Jennifer’s body, natural beauty, wilder girls, whalefall, the substance. (White background with indigo stained & seeping lips in middle)

Pitch: when a high school senior contracts a virus that turns her blood blue, she must infiltrate the elite beauty industry & sort through the lies spread by their influencers to find a cure before she dies like the rest of those infected. (White background with dark blue blood splotches)

Youth Without Youth - YA horror (blue soaked hand on teal background 🩵)

It's rough putting yourself out there (hello fellow #amquerying authors) but it's so damn nice to have friends read your work, give you valuable feedback, & understand your art.

Love this rad agent guide @ambucsaru.bsky.social put together 🩵🩵

Pile of assorted fabrics and notions: black lace, pink & black striped chiffon, pink velvet shoes

Pausing on writing to create art I can wear. My procrastination is on full display but I can probably cobble together something presentable in a day 🤞

And it's mispelled. A fitting failure for 2025 💀

Silver lining? Definitely written by a human and not AI.

#amquerying

With this novel, I've decided I won't obsess. It's good. I like it. It's edited and workshopped and beta read. I'm not going to constantly stress about the minute details.

So I sent queries to all my fav agents. And as I wait, I peek at the first page...the first sentence...the first word...

I am ready to scream from the rooftops about Ana's amazing novel -- it's dark and riveting with so many twists that are both thrilling and heart-wrenching. Such a unique fantasy & I absolutely love it 🖤🖤🖤

Love love love Vodesa 🖤🖤

A different angle showing the kidnapping of Runeysa Ozturk by U.S. secret police in Massachusetts.

(via Daniel Boguslaw on Twitter) x.com/DRBoguslaw/s...

Wondering if you're closed to YA? It's still listed as one of your genres on QueryTracker but not an option on your QueryManager form -- I assume you're only looking for adult but thought I'd check!

This is not what the people want -- this is a travesty. The statehouse was packed, Democratic representatives gave impassioned speeches and pleas from constituents, local businesses stood up for transgender civil rights, and yet, here we are.

It's a dark day for Iowa.

Hey, artists, in case you were wondering if your work matters: I'm a scientist working on climate change and biodiversity, and I would not be who I am today without The Lorax, The Secret of NIMH, Watership Down, The Last Unicorn, and The X-Files. I know I'm not alone. Thank you for all you do.

Happy #MSWL day! I’m Aiden Siobhan at @ldlainc.bsky.social. I rep Adult, YA & MG! I am on the hunt for:
-Diverse stories that are joyful, defiant, inspiring
-Genre fiction & blends
-Fresh settings/adaptions/myths
-Disability, mental health, and ND rep

www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/ai...

9 square moodboard soaked in blue hues: a distraught eye in center with golden glitter tears, woman in blue clutching neck, sapphire flowing silk fabric, wrist with black veins, jean jacket with “we see what we want” scrawled in black, back of woman in blue dress twirling against sky backdrop, blue drops bleeding into water, white flaking skin treatment, blue coiled snake.

ROUGE x HOUSE OF HOLLOW
Hell is being a teenage girl—and that’s before your blood turns a surreal shade of blue & to save yourself from a grisly death, you must steal the cure from a toxic beauty corp
💙decaying youth
🩵bioengineered beauty
🩶the kids aren’t alright
🖤eat the rich
#YA #SPEC #H #QuestPit

I have revised this manuscript countless times and have just come across... a rye smile...

An agent’s guide to: Youth Without Youth 4 slides, all with dark backgrounds in black and blue hues with an ethereal snake silhouette and bone colored starbursts / splashes of fuchsia color Slide 1 /4 Intro: Hell is being a teenage girl -- and that’s before your blood turns a cerulean shade of blue & the teens in your town start dropping like flies - a YA spec horror

Slide 2 /4 Comps: Four book covers: House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland, Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang, Whalefall by Daniel Kraus, & Wilder Girls by Rory Power also for fans of: Jennifer’s Body, the Substance, & Alexander McQueen

Slide 3 /4 The Pitch: Fashion-obsessed Imogen wants nothing more than to leave her teenage years behind, if only it were that easy. Still mourning her mother, her fashion dreams in NYC are shattered when her perpetually drunk dad “borrows” her college savings. But after witnessing her classmate’s sudden death, Imogen’s not sure she’ll even make it to graduation. Because the mystery ailment that killed him is circulating through her own veins, turning her blood a surreal shade of blue. As Imogen’s condition decays, she’s entangled with a cohort of friends—and her ex—in a quest for survival. But everything changes when she finds out there’s an antidote. She’ll do whatever it takes to get it, even if that means sneaking into a bioengineering skincare corporation and stealing it from an affluent society hellbent on perfecting eternal beauty. Because if she fails, Imogen will stay seventeen forever—as the next gruesome casualty.

Slide 4 /4 Tropes: Moodboard with moody blues, sad girls, and deteriorating beauty used as a trope map for: hell is being a teenage girl, corrupt corporations, youth is forever, midwest wasteland, quest for a cure with the ex that ghosted you, beauty obsessed, olivia rodrigo meets the Replacements, eat the rich, & the teens are dying.

Dropping this here before I continue to doomscroll:

I wrote another book! I'll be scouring the MSWL posts later this week--but if any #litagents are looking--here is my #agentguide

#amquerying #YA #WritingCommunity

Me to my teen: Listen to this song I'm using for my runway piece

My teen: Oh cool. It's from Rick & Morty

Me: No... it's Blonde Redhead

Teen: Rick & Morty

Me: 😶

For anyone who needs a reminder, billionaires don't become billionaires magically--they get wealthy off of all of us.

It's hard right now, it's overwhelming by design. But here's the thing, they're the minority. Start the easiest form of resistence today--do not give them more of your money.

Elon Musk now has access to your Social Security number. The world’s richest man has gained access to the confidential personal information of every taxpayer in the United States.

Not sure how many agents have found this little oasis in the current hellscape, but I threw out a couple pitches for #2025pit today ✨️

Cheers to all the amazing pitches! I'm leaning back into writing--preferring on page demons to the ones in the news. Anyone else here querying YA or horror?

LOVE this moodboard 💚

I'm intrigued -- I think I'd like Vespin 😅

Love this moodboard ❤️

OH these comps 👀 Absolutely love the sound of this!

LOVE this premise! Also, a fan of your header picture 🤣

This sounds amazing 👀 Love psychological horror

I'd read this in a heartbeat! Love the comps

This moodboard is amazing! 🖤