In today's Books with Hooks segment, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe discuss keeping names in a query to a minimum; an 'excellent' query with opening pages that have almost no notes; the importance of having movement in opening pages; a three POV query letter; CeCe meets a prologue that she likes; using a third person bio; and the effective use of weather in opening pages.

After which, Carly chats with her client, Jane Healey, author of Goodnight From Paris. They discuss her path to representation and publication; winning writing contests and anonymous pitching; having a long-term relationship with editors at one publishing house; how much is too much research in historical fiction; keeping the plot moving forward while building a historical world; knowing where to start the story when writing a real person’s life into your novel; author’s notes; her advice for writers seeking to publish; and historical happy hour!

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.com, www.biancamarais.com, www.carlywatters.com and www.cecilialyra.com

Jane can be found at janehealey.com and on Instagram @healeyjane.