Maria Poppy

Thaumaturgy - "proper name" for magic
I might need more because this one is the only one I remember lol. Technically thaumaturgy is a real thing that involves the working of miracles but I use it to describe any type of magic in the book.

My main villain is a god who wants to be released from his eternal prison and thinks humans shouldn't have free will. He's charming but not necessarily likeable and with all he puts the main characters through, I think most people will find him interesting but ultimately very hateable.

Kresimir is a March Aries and would totally be represented by the five of wands and ten of wands because he's argumentative and petty but also carries way too much responsibility. My boy is tired. He needs some four of swords energy in there. Let him rest (I say as if I'm not the one writing him)

Moodboard with pictures of a poison vial, a man with dark hair, someone taking an offered hand, an illustrated book page, old European city, a man with curly hair, and a bunch of blooming irises. The text in the center is in a lilac box and reads: “I do believe it’d be better if I stayed home.” “And let me potentially die alone?” The King lifted a hand to his chest, pained. “So you admit we might die.” “I admit it’s a possibility.”

110k #romantasy #pitch practice
Marvellous Light x Mask of Mirrors

Vengeful courtesan-turned-assassin Kresimir Zaheriev has his eyes set on killing the king. The king has his eyes set on making Kresimir join his band of magic investigators. Both get more than they bargained for.

What are people's favorite tips for trimming a manuscript? I want to cut out 10k from my manuscript 😭.

For kresimir, it's his best friend, Iza. It used to be his parents before they died. And over the course of the story Athanasi becomes his home too.

Athanasi lost his home but is regaining it the more time he spends with kresimir. For both of them, home has always been the people they love.

Soft. There are some ground rules but most of it is just vibes lol. It's fun to play around with bc the characters are basically magic researchers. Overall, very mythic vibes.

He's a special boy lolol. He got his divine gift from the earth goddess. It mostly only extends to earth magic bc of that.

There are some gods who still interact with their chosen humans. The king was given his power by the earth goddess as a child just bc he saved her favorite iris. Now they've got a mentee/mentor relationship (think Athena and Odysseus from epic). His power is a secret tho bc magic is mostly illegal.

Knieja is the name of the continent (translates roughly to dense forest from Polish) they're on while Irisja is the name of the MC's country. Lots of nature themed names bc the Earth Goddess is one of the most important deities in the pantheon

One day I will remember to use hashtags 😑

#SundaySnips

Good luck! You can do it!

I want to trim 13k off my completed manuscript and get started on brainstorming for my witch librarian x demon prince urban (?) romantasy

Black text on a white background surrounded by white roses, against a larger background of a dimly lit hallway. The Chancellor continued. He wouldn’t let this go, would he? “Your Majesty, if I may be so bold as to advise you. We should investigate the matter thoroughly, rather than letting it be due to our own . . . affections for the boy.” “Indeed, we should.” The King was staring at him again, as if he were trying to pry into his mind. “But we shouldn’t fall prey to our own prejudices either.”

Kresimir has been taken to court and the king will do anything to save him from a death sentence

Kresimir would hate the paparazzi

#AwesomeCharacters

This was my first #questpit and omg there is so much talent in this community! Love how supportive everyone is too. 🥰 Looking forward to the next pitch event!

Kresimir would kill it. Athanasi would politely place it outside or even leave it in its place and name it (much to Kresimir's chagrin)

Both athanasi and kresimir do. Athanasi has an amethyst drop earring he is partial to, and kresimir likes anything pretty and silver (because my boy is cool toned)

I'm maria! My world is based on polish history. A lot of the story centers around the relationship between gods and humans. The gods abandoned humanity years ago, but many cults still exist. Some of them do magic using artifacts (heresy), but only one person (the King) can use magic at will.

So far, probably leaving his best friend so he can pursue vengeance. Kresimir would do anything for Iza except prioritize his own wellbeing

Dark, moody fantasy moodboard with imagery suggesting magic, forged weapons, and emotional power, created for an adult fantasy novel pitch.

DAWN OF THE CICADA
adult fantasy, 105,000 words
Disney-style enchantment with folklore teeth.

Her enemies wield steel; Lisara wields their darkest emotions, animating them into living weapons that could consume her as easily as her foes.

#questpit #F #Q #RF

#agentsguide
The Good Place x BEST HEX EVER with inspiration from Indian Mythology

✨ Second Chance Romance
✨ Millennial Married Couple
✨ Three Absurd tasks
✨ Slow Burn Romance
✨ Karmic cycle philosophy
✨ Soulmate Compatibility
✨ Scary Mermaids

#Questpit #F #R #A #Q

A moodboard featuring nine photos in a 3x3 grid shape. From left to right, top to bottom: 1. A shot from the back of a person wrapping their arm around another person. They’re both leaning on each other, while sitting down. They appear to be next to a river or pond and sitting on grass. 2. Hands holding up a flower crown. 3. A close-up of an elf-like, long pointy ear. Colorized to be almost black and white. 4. A hand holding up dirt with what appears to be parts of a plant. Below it a patch of dirt with more green plant parts can be seen. 5. A wooden sign, pointing to the right, with big letters that say, “HOPE.” 6. A hand being stuck in water. The water seems to have dirt and some debris in it. I interpret it as a river. 7. A rustic village with a winding road, lots of trees and greenery, and a cluster of houses visible on the left. 8. Two hands hovering above a green plant. 9. An assortment of five chickens sitting on a wooden fence. Greenery can be seen in the background. (Images from Pinterest)

Blurred image of daisy flowers with text on top of it: Project.Greenfield Playlist: 1. Favorite Place (Humbear) 2. Somewhere Only We Know (Keane) 3. Sunflower (Amber Run) 4. Always Home (Leucadia) 5. Woodland (The Paper Kites) 6. Wolves of Worry (Chance Pena) 7. Waking Up (Sam Burchfield) 8. To Build A Home (The Cinematic Orchestra)

Short Pitch: Set in a war-torn country. An orphaned boy and his older brother feel like everyday is a struggle and a reminder of what they lost. Until one day, when they get the opportunity to move to Greenfield — a small, rustic village on the outskirts of the country and a chance at a real home. There, the boy meets Sam — a mysterious, closed-off girl with pointy ears. Together the two kids realize that facing their internal fears might not be so scary if they don’t have to do it alone.

Hello, #QuestPit!

🌲🌱 Meet Project.Greenfield, a cozy slice-of-life fantasy!

~ My passion project
~ Multiple POVs
~ Status? Drafting! (130k words so far)
~ Part of a CHUNKY series
~ Cottagecore vibes
~ Covers heavy themes, but it’s full of hope

#W #F #Writing #Writesky #WritingCommunity

88 K Bipoc psychological thriller

The pitch for The Scent of Delusion, a BiPoc psychological thriller.

Blurb for The Scent of Delusion, a #BiPoc psychological thriller.

Tropes and Vibes for The Scent of Delusion, a #BiPoC psychological thriller.

CASSANDRA × A MARRIAGE OF LIES

1 graphic designer faces
2 financial ploys & loses the trust of
3 friends bcoz of her
2 dozen paranoid episodes that culminate in
1 intruder aiming for her life & sanity
Now she depends on her home automation system & hyperosmia—both malfunctioning.
#A #T #QuestPit #Q

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

BABEL ON CALLISTO Querying February 2025 @saraduranauthor sara.duran@bsky.social COMPS The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler, labeled “isolated research station” and “philosophical alien threat.” The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw, labeled “queer, visceral horror” and “love as a consuming force.” The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei, labeled “psychological unraveling” and “fracture under mission pressure.” PITCH “On a lunar prison outpost, two exiled men uncover a cosmic presence waking beneath the ice. As their uneasy alliance against it twists into something tender and terrifying, they are confronted with the one thing they never expected to find on a dead moon: a reason to live. But the ice is thinning.” TASTE “Neither spoke as Elias bypassed the security protocol on the keypad. The metal hatch shuddered as it unlocked, slinking back to hidden panels in the wall. They cleared the first few floors with carrion precision, methodical as Dermestidae stripping a carcass to bone. In Elias’s imagination, the gore thinned into something vaster—the time-lapse unraveling the ruin from above. Wordlessly, corridors were scoured to nothing as he and Jack moved like insects beneath an overhead lens. As the hours dissolved, their work became abstracted into a cold anatomy, intimacy pared away as cleanly as flesh from the frame until only the architecture of survival remained. When Jack hacked into the collapsed doorway to the next stairwell, Elias marveled at the contradiction: how those same brutal hands had, only that morning, traced him with the delicacy of a scalpel.”

Coming soon to agent inboxes!

• • •

ANNIHILATION x BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

💫two exiled men (and their secrets)
💫one lunar prison (and its horrors)
💫a cosmic entity that wants them dead
💫the love they’ll lose if they don’t survive

#SF #H #R #LGBT #amquerying #QuestPit

"Agent's guide to The Iris and the Aconite". On the left side there is a locket, toadstool, and a book with a rose on it. On the right there is a vine wrapping a crystal, mushrooms, and a vial. Below the title, there are two men in princely attire. One of them is wearing a crown.

This slide has two men on it. One is a king with dark hair and dark skin, dressed in total attire (our ML). The other has long dark hair, pale skin, and is wearing modern attire because the author could not find a suitable image on Canva of a man with long hair and formal, fantasy attire. The king is described as a simp, kind but a lil scary, divinely gifted, and besties with a goddess. The MC (Kresimir) is described as an ex-courtesan, investigator, impudent brat (and proud of it), and as loving his bestie would die for her. A pink arrow with a heart is above the two men

Blurb:Seduce the King. Kill Kiss him. Don’t Do join his band of magical investigators. Certainly do not fall in love with him. The only thing that courtesan Kresimir Zaheriev wants more than a happy life for his best friend is bloody vengeance against the king who executed his parents. When word reaches him that the powerful chancellor is searching for an assassin to slay the king, Kresimir jumps at the chance without a second thought. All he has to do is catch the king’s attention while working in the palace. Easy work for a courtesan. Too easy! The king will not let him be! He’d merely helped find a small part of a criminal cult, and now the king has decided to make Kresimir his new toy. Everywhere Kresimir turns, the king is there to recruit him for yet another insane plot, never allowing him even a moment to breathe. And the worst part is that Kresimir might even be enjoying it. Not only the investigation into the cult, but also the company of the king, who has proven himself to be nothing like Kresimir’s longed-for tyrant. He is, instead, maddeningly cheery, kind, and infuriatingly handsome. The longer they are together, the more Kresimir doubts his mission and the circumstances of his parents’ execution. But he has already promised the king’s death to the chancellor, and going back on his word means not only losing his life, but that of his best friend as well. And there is nothing that Kresimir would not sacrifice for her.

Slide with a picnic basket, flower vine, and mirror. Snippet: “Why do you want it so badly?” Kresimir asked. “I wish to use it as bait for the rest of those traffickers,” the tree man replied. “But I loathe to put you in danger, of course. It’ll be best if it’s off your hands.” Touching. Kresimir was hardly listening. He was calculating the price. What use was this old page to him anyway? What use was it to this tree man, who couldn’t even read it? Unless he was lying about his illiteracy, but what reason would he have to . . . Indeed, it was better to assume he spoke the truth for now. “Fifty thousand lijas,” Kresimir said. “Fifty,” the tree man said faintly. “I’ll settle for thirty thousand.” “Settle?” Kresimir turned away. “I suddenly feel rather attached to this page. Perhaps I will keep it—” “Thirty thousand,” the tree man said. “A contract for thirty thousand lijas will be delivered to your accommodation by tomorrow morning.” “I’m glad we could reach an agreement.” Kresimir pulled a pen and paper from his coat pocket. It was always best to be prepared. “Shall we get it in writing?”

✅ m/m romantasy 👨‍❤️‍👨
✅113000 words
✅Courtesan to investigator pipeline
✅Silver-tongued ex-courtesan MC
✅Assassin x king 👑🗡️
✅ King with divine gifts
✅Gods that do things
✅Slow burn + yearning ❤️‍🔥
✅Cults with magic 🪄
✅ Simp ML x black cat MC
#questpit #RF #F #LGBT #amquerying #MMromance

Confused baby raising its arms

Was no one going to tell me I overuse adverbs??????? 500/114000 words. Don't get me started on just. Nobody talk to me.

#amediting again I guess 😑

“Take this paper to a man named Lionel Parsol. He will understand its contents. If anyone stops you along the way, assume they’re an enemy. Do you have a knife on you?” Kresimir scoffed. “Of course.” Whether he could use it was another question. The man shifted, his head dipping slightly, as he watched Kresimir with something like amusement in his expression. Or at least, what Kresimir could see of it. “Of course.” The man was mocking him. Kresimir snatched the piece of paper from his hand and was about to storm off in the other direction, but concern, that troubling emotion, kept a firm grip on him. “Will you be alright?” Kresimir asked the man, stepping toward him. “Depends on how quickly you can get that note to Lionel.” The tree man walked back to the door, waving as he did so. “I suggest you make haste.”

Edit: added alt text. Context is Kresimir has to get the police bureau before the crime ring kills his new friend (acquaintance!) who has decided to go and deal with the criminals himself (with violence).

Text on parchment over a picture of a library. In the lower right corner is an iris and in the upper left there are two hearts.

I fear Kresimir would judge me for untidiness 😔