In today’s Books with Hooks, Carly and CeCe each look at two query letters, and in the process discuss making sure interiority adds up—showing not just what a character thinks, but how they think; ensuring the line-level writing and unfolding of tension is allowing the reader to actively put the pieces of the puzzle together; ensuring there is specificity and the story climax in the query letter; making the first scene dynamic by giving the character a story-forward goal and a clear obstacle with power imbalance and sharp specifics; showing on the pages what a camera could capture and having interiority elevate that; using comps instead of themes in a query letter; using a selling type of language instead of a synopsis type of language in a query letter; and ensuring your hook can wow agents and editors, even in areas of a genre that are “soft” in the market right now.

After which, Bianca chats with Roxana Trabulsi, author of Of Mud & Honey about deciding on writing fiction instead of memoir; research vs personal experience; what constitutes ‘bloody good writing’; bringing a place alive that readers are not even remotely familiar with; reaching out to experts on the subject you’re writing about; publishing with an indie press; and including foreign words within the text.

Find us on our socials:

Twitter: @TSNOTYAW @BiancaM_author @carlywatters @ceciliaclyra

Instagram: @biancamarais_author @carlywatters @cece_lyra_agent @ the_shit_about_writing

Facebook: @tsnotyaw

Websites: www.theshitaboutwriting, www.biancamarais.com and www.carlywatters.com

Roxana can be found at www.roxanatrabulsi.com and on Instagram at @roxanatrabulsiwrites