CJ Keating - is querying

The image, made with free non-AI stock pictures, shows a horror-comedy novel cover titled "DAD BODIES." The top of the cover reads "THE GAME JUST TOOK A DAD TURN" with "DAD" in a different color. The background features a haunted house with multiple towers and illuminated windows against a dark backdrop. At the center is a 20-sided die (D20) used in tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, with visible numbers including 1, 7, 13, and 19. The die is surrounded by red blood splatter effects. At the bottom of the cover are six men with expressions of terror and shock. One man is wearing a white shirt over his head. These men are the dads referenced in the title.

CABIN IN THE WOODS × JOHN DIES AT THE END

When their detective friend is murdered at their annual gaming retreat, 5 dads must rely on years of #TTRPG experience—and puns—to solve the crime before they're all killed off like NPCs in a badly written supernatural campaign.

#QuestPit #A #H #MY #Q

Clinging to the Stones Adult fantasy heist by Hussain A. Ayoub 109K Words Multi-POV The river of fate drags everyone forward. Only the desperate dare to cling to the stones.

The heist: Acyrnar Acyrnar has fragile bones, a dying father, and only half the will to hunt his rogue master. But here he is anyway, because living hurts. When he learns his master’s mission might hold the only cure for the rot killing his father, Acyrnar turns coat and joins him. Simple enough. Except he must first kidnap the Empress of the Crimson Empire, brand himself an outlaw forever, and make enemies of some of the most powerful and vindictive people alive. The Counter-heist: Melam Across the sea, Empress Melam fights to protect her son from a succession ritual that will slaughter all but one heir to the throne. Scarred by personal loss and a world rigged against her, Melam does what any desperate mother would do—she turns to the criminal underworld to break her son out of the impregnable Cage. She doesn't need a savior; she needs a distraction. Their colliding paths are set to ignite a war, unravel loyalties, and decide the fate of nations.

Comparative titles: The Age of Madness series. The Lies of Locke Lamora. Andor. Grave Empire.

“You are marked by the stars.” Mother used to repeat that grim prophecy, her voice a warm feather tickling his cheek, her words an icy blade piercing his soul. “Like the Surabrenna, three daughters bind you: one will pass without you, one will weep for you, one will burn with you.” Clinging to the Stones A fantasy inspired by Syrian history & mythology.

Here's CLINGING TO THE STONES, inspired by Syrian history & mythology:

🌟A broken philosopher-warrior seeking a legendary spear.
🌟An imperial mother must extract her son from an impregnable fortress.
🌟Their paths are about to collide.

#QuestPit #Q #A #F #agentsguide

𝗛𝗶𝗺⚓The only fight I have left in me is for my son. I've no time for the houseguest the language institute sent me by mistake.
Until we talk. We click. Suddenly, I'm wishing for things again.
But she's not a choice I can make.
Come fall, I'll have to let her go too.
#Questpit #Q #A #R

What? You wrote a Nordic adult romantasy without vikings? ✨gasp️✨

UNFATED is instead set in a John Bauer inspired medieval Sweden, steeped in folklore, mythology and authentic Swedish culture...not a horned helmet in sight 🫢

A 92,000k standalone novel

#questpit #Q #A #RF

Movie poster-style graphic for novel called ‘ALL YOUR QASAMS’ with author’s name Neha Yazmin underneath the bold title. Image is a close-up of a young south Asian girl in south Asian bridal wear and jewellery, smiling down at her maroon outfit. Along the top of the poster are the names of two comparison book titles ‘NEVER HAVE I EVER’ and “THE BEST LAID PLANS”. In the left corner of the poster, are three 5-star movie review-style texts pertaining to different aspects of the book. 1: “South Asian Main Cast. 2: “Friends to lovers with a difference” 3: “Bengali teens in STEM”.

Moodboard for ALL YOUR QASAMS with a quote from the novel reading, ‘You are madness incarnate’ and five images: picture of a hot chocolate drink and heart-shaped cookies, a couple embracing during a boat ride, a young south Asian girl in south Asian bridal wear and jewellery smiling down at her maroon outfit, a close-up of a young man kissing the forehead of a young woman, a close-up the joined hands of a south Asian bride and groom, a young man in an aesthetic library reading a hardcover text book. The Moodboard is surrounded by arrows pointing to text that allude to the themes and tropes in the novel: “Meddling grandpa”, “perfect firsts”, “friends-to-lovers with a difference”, “only one bed”, “a decades’ old Qasam and some new ones”, “Bengali teens in STEM”.

Kavi makes BFF Ryhan a Practice Boyfriend so she’ll become the perfect girlfriend to her actual bf Aaron Mirza. It’s her last shot at love—due to a Qasam—& has to be perfect

But Ryhan has a secret & if her family learns of any of this, she’ll lose it all—inc dreams of studying🩺 in🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
#QuestPit #YA #Q

HAZELTHORN X THE SPIRIT BARES ITS TEETH
Journals of a Familiar
Hawthorne has never left the cathedral. Raised in silence and prepared for a future he doesn't understand, everything changes when he meets Violet, a witch with wild dreams of escape.
#questpit #W #YA #H #LGBT

A priest-detective is called to the scene of a murder, only to find the victim is one of the Undead.

#questpit #w # f

(my new WIP! Very exciting!)

oh god today's unintentional hilarious line

"Brokenose closes his eyes and pants"

... his BREATHING, guys. His BREATHING

Work is busy so less writing during the week atm... but it's Sunday so I'm writing!

today's writer googling... "what does crow smell like"

no wait. 28913. Damn you Scrivener and your inconsistent counting

current progress on new WiP is 24,224... and the quality of what I've written is WAY better than previous first drafts.

Very happy with what I achieved over the Christmas break!

more today... will need to take a break for a bit soon though, work is busy

25k words in I've very much reached a point where I need to take a step back and replot.

I'm very happy with what I've written but I do need to answer questions like WHAT IS GOING ON

I meant to write "den of scum and villainy" as a bit of a throwaway laugh in my long synopsis

What I wrote

Happy new year! Hope 2026 brings you joy and your dreams!

I know. it's awful.

1,104 words done! I've reached a place where I have two characters taking a boat trip to a place I know nothing about where an item I haven't fully worked out is being kept... I tried plotting this book out but the characters refuse to follow the plot....

need a better name for a water-dwelling demihuman* than Ooblooplaboop

ideas on a postcard please!

(*an individual, not the species)

I'm writing several scenes set on a wooden wharf/quary

HOW MANY TIMES have I referenced the fact the quay is made of wood

ugghhh.

didn't open Scrivener before dawn, 7 minutes late for that today... :D

writing the scene where the protagonist sees his husband, who's now undead, but who he's still really into

the days blend into a ceaseless mush, I write nonetheless...

is writing before dawn! (Which is not until 8.23am, scandalously. Think this might be the latest dawn all year)

is that a good thing or a bad thing? it's a nice place!

dealing with several parallel streams of thought. Two are related to work, one is the book I'm writing, the other is a game I want to create.

IF ONLY I COULD FOCUS

scrivener question...... does anyone know, why does the Project Targets word count for the session sometimes increase by the whole length of a document if you edit a new document?

time for more betwixtmas writing! And definitely staying on the fantasy crime WIP and NOT getting distracted by writing an interactive fiction game

Boxing Day! Time for... boxing? No! Time for writing!

1,048 words today! Plus a little plotting. For a day that started with a total inability to focus, I'll call that a win

ok so who else is fitting in some Christmas Eve writing?