Max Gruff

Title image: An Agent’s Guide to Where Heaven’s Teeth Grow; a horror-romantic literary fiction complete at 74,000 words.

The pitch: Her life for a dream. That's the forgotten bargain Isla made with the god of sleep. Haunted by an enamoring, cruel god and the gruesome nightmares of her past, Isla must sacrifice her life to save her friends from a mysterious viral plague, all while ensnared into more bargains to sustain the god's vitality.

Snippet of the opening chapter: PART ONE: BONE OF MY BONES CHAPTER ONE We spend our lives protecting our bodies from the rot we chase in death. But there is peace in decay. It marks the quiet end to a life that’d finally perfected the art of letting go. Death comes for us all. It’s life we should fear. “Get in your room, Isla.” My wrist burned where my uncle squeezed, nausea clawing up my throat. He grasped my fist and held it in front of his face, my bones aching from the pressure. He towered over me, his eyes glazed over.

Comps & Vibes—cover photos of Ethel Caine album, Rhapsodic, Dracula, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. Quote: “His voice was a candlelit dinner, a raw slab of still-bleeding meat awaiting to both kill and satisfy.”

#questpit is on bluesky too?!?😱

Her life for a dream—that's the forgotten bargain Isla made with the god of sleep.

🩸Dracula, but immoral gods
💀Find you in every lifetime
🫀Dealing w/ Trauma & Abuse via Body Horror
🩶You came, you called
🥀Contemp, Gothic Fantasy & Historical themes

#Q #A #LF #R #H

My #AgentsGuide for ✨ALICE & THE AFTERLIFE✨ #QuestPit #Q #PR

Reluctant medium Alice accidentally lands a job cleaning haunted houses & exorcising spirits...

🏡 cleaning haunted houses
🌊 ghosts by the coast
🎭 dark humour
🔪 serial killer plot
🧠 autistic herione
🌈 queer & trans rep

Image of a girl floating beneath the ocean, blowing bubbles towards the surface. A seaweed motif sits behind bright green text that reads, ‘The Ballad of Agnes Day’.

When a freak storm wrecks his island’s passenger steamer, sparing only a strange girl believed to be one of the monstrous Finfolk, a grieving musician must uncover who she really is before more of his people die.

#questpit #A #His #M #H #Q

Image shows hands with blue nail Polish holding a copy of Ponies at the Edge of the World

⭐️⭐️⭐️BOOK GIVEAWAY⭐️⭐️⭐️
To celebrate the return of #Shetland detective series I am giving away 2 signed copies of Ponies at the Edge of the World with 2 wish bottles with Shetland shells or seaglass. To enter just like, share and comment on this post

Oh thank you! It’s part of a pair.

Green background. Images of a woman's face in a gold picture frame. Splashes of gold.

A woman with long dark hair turning sideways, hair blowing in the wind, eyes closed. Splashes of gold paint. A gold handprint.

Background is the close up of a woman's face, splashed with gold paint. Three bookcovers. Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors, a young woman's sad face, The Push by Ashley Audrain and The Picture of Dorian Gray and a young handsome man with a partially diseased face.

Green background splashed with gold paint. Images of a model on a Catwalk, a woman having injections in her face, a group of spooky trees, a photographer and an evil hand reaching out for a pale woman's hand.

Presenting my #agentsguide for
'Beauty is a Brittle Glass'
BLUE SISTERS X THE PUSH X THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY.
🪞 Adult 82k
🪞 Dual POV
🪞 Speculative Elements
🪞 Beauty & Fashion
🪞 LGBTQ
🪞 Friends to Lovers
🪞 Disability Rep
#questpit #A #Q

In We Cut Tongues For Ourselves the pastoral horror of Starve Acre meets the historic sweep of Outlander.

If you were torn away from your home, your way of life and your language could you do the same to somebody else?

#questpit #LF #OS #Q #H

An agent’s guide to The Banshee of Clan Murtagh, 71,000 word gothic horror by Anna Hirsch

Tropes: He’s human, she’s immortal • Only one grave • Byronic hero protagonist • Uncovering lost memories • Medieval Irish setting • Tragic ending Comps: The death-touched romance of Nosferatu, the Catholic guilt of The Possession of Alba Díaz by Isabel Cañas, the black plague of Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, the folkloric love story of Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

Pitch: When Ciarán Murtagh hears the cry of his family’s banshee for the first time in a decade, he knows one of his own is fated to die. But they don’t believe his warnings--why would they? The last time Ciarán heard the banshee he didn’t tell a soul until after his cousin’s tragic death, and they’ve never trusted him since. Desperate for redemption in his family’s eyes, Ciarán hunts down the banshee in search of answers. She’s equal parts frightening and alluring, and in his struggle to confront her, he inadvertently triggers the banshee’s memories. Memories of when she was a servant of his household, generations ago, named Deirdre. Deirdre claims that Ciarán’s physical touch restores her memories, and demands more. He agrees to meet by moonlight in hope of learning whose death she foretold. With every encounter, Ciarán’s attraction to Deirdre grows, setting him on a path of macabre desire. When the devastating bubonic plague befalls the Murtagh household, and Deirdre’s memories reveal a dark scandal in the family’s history, Ciarán must decide whether to stay by his family’s side in their final hours or embrace the seduction of the death-bringer.

I was a boy of ten when I first saw death, but I’d heard her for years. It was an early summer’s day when we went to the lough. Niamh led us through the forest along the stream, babbling all the way with a lightness that opposed her urgent pace. “This could be our best chance to see the merrow! Auntie said the veil is thin. They’ll be near and then we can speak!” “She also said we shouldn’t go this far,” I begrudged her. Again about the merrow. She had been speaking of them for days, and insisted that Deaglán and I journey with her to the lough, where they lay beneath the surface. Finbar wasn’t supposed to come, but Aunt Eithne had made us watch him while she harvested yellow flowers on the hillside. He slowed us down, and Niamh’s frustration roiled off her like steam against the cool breeze. Though the land was ripe with life, winter still dragged a claw through the air. As we ventured deeper into the forest, a feeling of unease grew within me. A sound rang in my ears, so faint I could not tell if it was imagined or real. Because for weeks, it had haunted my dreams.  

#AgentsGuide to my upmarket #gothic #horror novel, THE BANSHEE OF CLAN MURTAGH 🖤

🇮🇪 Medieval Ireland
🥀 Doomed romance
☠️ The black plague
💌 2025 #SmoochPit Mentee

#questpit #W #A #H #HF

When Seo-Yun returns to her estranged and ailing grandmother’s island estate to investigate her family’s history of disappearances, she finds the once-illustrious house steeped in rot and the prized garden now withered and dying. As Seo-Yun's physical and mental health deteriorate, her grandmother’s inexplicably improves. The decay in the house mysteriously begins to heal, while creeping vines from the garden hungrily spread throughout the halls, whispering warnings of a faceless ghost that draws closer each passing night. On the verge of her mind and body unraveling, she must unearth generations of her family’s secrets—and the truth buried in her grandmother’s garden—before she becomes the next woman claimed by its dark history.

Photo grid: statue covered in ivy, a woman staring into the forest, a woman covered in a sheet, a person wrapped in ivy, a picture of a woman's face scratched out, a woman standing in fog, a moth on a hand, a person sitting in the dark, a hand wrapped in ivy

MEXICAN GOTHIC X CRIMSON PEAK

A biracial woman returns to her birthplace in S. Korea where she must choose between unearthing her family's history of disappearances—and the truth buried in her grandmother's garden—or become the next woman claimed by the its dark history.

#questpit #A #F #H #W

Dark moodboard with images of a skull, white taper candles, a graveyard, a gloved woman's hand reaching for a man's, a vase with pink flowers, a dark haired white woman in a white regency era dress, a country estate with a lake, a garden with pink and red flowers, and a table with vials and smoke rising

Piper's father taught her everything she knows about necromancy. But when he's murdered, she must join forces with the season’s most eligible bachelor to infiltrate London’s secret necromancer society and catch the killer.
#QuestPit #YA

This sounds amazing!

“She makes death taste like chocolate.” Picture of a girl in a white dress in a dark lake with her arm over her chest and white roses over her torso. “Grave of flowers by Dua Ceren Ay”

Grave of Flowers by Dua Ceren Ay Opening Lines: Every sane person knows better than to paint their walls eggshell white, but electric blue? That had to be a crime. Like whoever decided on the color scheme of this place was avoiding the topic altogether; yes, we were all crazy in here, and yes, we all knew they wanted to avoid the clichés. So, no straitjackets, no padded rooms, no dull hospital gowns, just rooms and rooms and rooms of color until we bored ourselves to sleep or knocked ourselves out from the overstimulation. We had Kelsie the high schooler folks who had become regulars around here liked to call Iron Fist—to thank for that demonstration. It was just that the windows didn't open from the bottom, everything had a soft edge or lock, and the nurses had a way of always smiling at us as if we birthed their children. It was the little things that poked me. So it was even more ridiculous that the early morning hour made the place seem... peaceful.

Comps. A Flicker in The Dark by Stacy Willingham: past repeats itself, small town, investigation. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig: Depressed MC, Magical Realism, Healing and new beginnings. Anxious people by Fredrik Backman: dysfunctional group of friends, social isolation, hope

Tropes: found family, unreliable narrator, treasure hunt/investigation, lost memories, small town. Themes: second coming-of-age, feminism, identity, overcoming trauma, friendship

On an island quietly haunted by ghosts of grieving women, a depressed chocolatier teams up with five strangers—with scars of their own—to find their killer. Of the six, only five are really alive.

Spirited Away x Shutter Island

#QuestPit #W #A #F #T #PR

Grid of pictures: Hands coming out of the dark, a woman with a cloth over her face, a silhouette of a couple, a korean woman, a woman walking down a hallway, a woman with stained red hands and face

Here's a moodboard for GUMIHO:

🇰🇷 Inspired by Korean folklore & mythology
🖤Told from the eyes of an anti-hero gumiho
🌧Set in modern-day PNW
🥀Dark, intimate atmosphere
🌀Psychological unraveling & physical transformation
❤️Slow-burn romance

✨️Currently revising w/ SmoochPit✨️

#QuestPit #A #F #H #R

a moodboard detailing nine images related to my book ALL THE DEVILS aka devilswip. in order from right to left they are: london notably the landmark big ben, a band performing on stage, a sheet of music, a record store, the silhouette of a rockstar, some musical instruments scattered on a bed, two men running, a pile of evidence and finally a hand holding a cigarette

🎸 daisy jones x knives out 🗡️

the songstress, the high-flyer, the gambler, the sweetheart, the watcher, the matriarch and the rogue. seven suspects. one the killer of renowned rockstar sam corvi. but who? only they can tell you

#questpit #Q #A #LF #MY

Made from non-AI free stock images. This image is a book cover design for a novel titled "Happy Death Inc." by B. Van Bodegom. The cover is divided into three distinct horizontal sections: 1. Top Section: Features a cartoonish blue sky with white clouds and a bright sun. At the top, a tagline reads: "How much would you pay to die with a smile?" The word "HAPPY" appears in large, playful, hand-drawn-style font, partially overlapping the sky background. 2. Middle Section: A photograph of a deceased man in a suit, lying in a casket. He has an exaggerated smile on his face, almost unnaturally wide and clean, suggesting artificial enhancement or post-mortem alteration. Overlaid on this image is the word "DEATH" in the same large font as the previous word. 3. Bottom Section: A cartoon city skyline in pastel tones, similar in style to the top sky background. The word "INC." is overlaid prominently in the same large font. At the very bottom: A novel by B. van Bodegom

BLACK MIRROR × SEVERANCE × THE GOOD PLACE

Having a happy death is a luxury service for the rich and Wren is the rising top salesman—until a cynical coworker and a depressed billionaire force him to rethink it all in a world where even your last smile has a price tag.

#QuestPit #A #S #SF #W

9 grid image with a red-brown color effect. Horizontal Row 1: silhouette of a girl in front of a bonfire, forest, profile of a girl with wavy hair. Horizontal Row 2: a Romani-like caravan in a field, a beast hiding between trees, a girl doing a tarot pull. Horizontal Row 3: a girl bowing in front of a bonfire, a coven of witches dancing around a fire, a girl using a mortar & pestle to grind herbs. The Witch of Gatlinburg by Demri Redmon

WEYWARD x THE BEWITCHING

When two witches in different times find themselves battling the same ancient forest spirit, they must use magic to communicate and find a way to save their covens from destruction.

#questpit #Q #A #H #S

Moodboard with alternating images between black and white and vivid color. A greek statue, a raven, a girl crying, a girl with hand lifted, an oracle, a light magic, a face statue, Nashville neon lights at night. Text: Music will be the death of me.

PJO XTrumanShow
Being the gods' pawn isn’t new to 15y/o Mia Miller, an anxious girl w/ music magic. But when a quest to Nashville is derailed by a book where she’s the MC, Mia & BFF must find the author & salvage her quest, before Olympus finds out.
#QuestPit #Q #YA #F

Image of a woman’s face half displayed and cut away to reveal a skull. Floral vines frame the central image. The text reads ‘Woodbine’ with the d and b forming a heart.

When a lonely stained-glass artist is invited to restore a set of windows depicting the haunting story of Tristram and Isolde, he must reassemble the fractured pieces of his memory before his own budding romance ends in tragedy.

#questpit #A #G #T #Q

In the highlands and in the glens, where the volcanic streams tick with waters yet prime, and the corncrake cries and the air is a Gaelic hymn, where blood was ploughed from a crop of people now peregrine.

#questpit #LF #historical #OS #Q

Poem written for my daughter Sylvia who turned one today. #poetry #poem #poet

Oh thanks! Yeah I still really enjoy all the character art/ design stuff when I get a chance. Hope you’re doing well

For Trickster’s Net I emulated the work of Carl Otto Czeschka. The first two are mine, all images were envisioned in pairs as the images of Czeschka’s Die Nibelungen were. These first two were envisioned as the primordial origin of the world. #illustration #design #conceptart #trickstersnet #TTRPG

So tricksters net, the project by @playframe.co.uk and Loco Ludus, was an interesting game design exchange project linking German students with Welsh students to help build and define the world of Tricksters Net, a TTRPG. I was only brought on to make some inspirational touchstone art

Some more #illustrations and bits of #conceptart #characterart

These were done for @peakrillpress.bsky.social King Arthur vs Devil Kitty.
#kingarthur #arthurian #illustration

For anyone who only knows me as someone querying a novel, there have been times when I’ve worked as a concept artist and illustrator on various projects and I’ll probably be sharing a few of these over the next few days

Artworks done for the Trickster’s Net project by @playframe.co.uk and Loco Ludus #conceptart

Old art, sometimes good art. #illustration

YouTube video by DawgTanianTheShitketeer Grinderman - Star Charmer

It’s not CGI?
Also have you heard this grinder man song?

m.youtube.com/watch?v=bog2...

Congrats! Love the cover!