Tessera

Folgen

Ashley Leone

@authorashleyleone.bsky.social

Dark Romance writer Currently editing: MURDER & MISANDRY

13 Posts43 Follower 114 Folgt

wott 🌱@wottenmoss.bsky.social · 4mo ago

The last Conduit is dead—and Magpie of Lornwhen, perpetual troublemaker and incurable dreamer, is thrilled about it. Two clueless lesbians. A forest full of spirits and giant mushrooms. A journey of love and ascension. #agentguide #querying #QuestPit #Q #F #NA #LGBT #ND

Text: An agent’s guide to When the Magpie Flies by M H Wottenmoss. Background of mountains, trees, and giant mushrooms. A magpie flies in the sky.

Pitch: Magpie of Lornwhen, hobbyist scholar and incurable troublemaker, refuses to believe she hasn’t been chosen as a Conduit.

Wild spiritwoods cage the human cities of Iridis, and the Conduits are humanity’s only defense against the monstrous spirits that lurk within. Magpie has always dreamed of becoming one of these elite spirit-whisperers, who never want for anything, never wonder where their next meal is coming from, never have to shelter in a half-crumbled clocktower no one else wants. When Magpie is definitely, absolutely chosen by a spirit, she finally has her chance.

Calladonna, her best friend and partner-in-survival, doesn’t want Mag to be a Conduit. There are rumors about how it changes people, how they don’t come back quite right. More than human — or less. Determined to reassure her friend and keep them together, Mag convinces Calla to follow her in secret, hidden from the other Conduits as they undertake a sacred journey into the heart of the spiritwoods. But Mag’s secrets can’t stay hidden forever, and when the consequences turn deadly, she has to make a decision: abandon her dreams or risk losing Calla forever.

Comps: A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft: clueless lesbians, murder and betrayal, journey of ascension. Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher: found family, humor and darkness, perilous quest.

Also featuring undiscovered magic, monstrous spirits, chaotic academia, ill-advised rituals, haunted forest, queer & autistic ensemble cast, giant mushrooms, original music

Opening lines: The world went dark just after she jumped off the roof. In one moment she could see the clocktower before her, the ledge beneath its defunct face familiar and inviting, and in the next there was nothing. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence, necessarily, but damn if that wasn't inconvenient timing.

Grace Rea @airilaya.bsky.social · 4mo ago

An agent's guide for THE DEPARTMENT OF BLACKMAIL & PAPER TRAILS. 📋✨ The bodies aren’t buried in the ground—they’re in the filing cabinets. 📌Bureaucratic Romantic Fantasy 📌Hyper-competent, control freak FMC 📌Ex-sniper, addict MMC #questpit #agentsguide #Q #A #F #RF #DF

Emilia Young | Author @emiliayoung.bsky.social · 4mo ago

☕️ THE THINGS WE RUN FOR #Editors Emma Bridge has done everything to make this plan work. She’s got the new name, the new town, the new life . . . She’s also got a nosy boy next door who’s stopping at nothing to get to know her. #QuestPit #YA #C #MY #R #AG #OS #LGBTQ #OV

Editor’s Guide To:
The Things We Run For
YA Contemporary with Romance and Mystery
82k Words
Represented by Amanda Wooden at SBR Media

4/13/1996
Run. What a powerful instinct.
Emma Bridge had wanted nothing more than to be with her two siblings in a home that felt safe, but those wishes never came true. With nothing left to lose, Emma runs away from the spotlight of the Hills to a small town across the country, but this new home is anything but the safety she’d been after.

The weight of the world has fallen on her shoulders, and she can’t carry it alone. But with her old name in every police station and her new name on every tongue in town, she’s not sure who she can trust to help carry the burden.

What we know:
-Runaway in Hiding
-Fake Identity (turned real identity)
-Mental Health Rep
-Genderfluid and Pan Rep
-Found Family
-90s Small-Town Nostalgia
At the bottom, the name Emma Bridge is crossed out and replaced with Peyton Freys

6/23/1996
“The Hills have Eyes”

There’s a collage of pictures. Picture one is of two people, one sitting on the counter with the other in front of them. Picture two is go a small-town street with snowy homes to either side. Picture three shows a row of high school desks. Picture four shows a box of police evidence. Picture five shows a group of kids sitting behind an abandoned building. Picture six shows someone flipping off a police car. Picture seven shows a paper with the words “Child Custody Hearing” printed on it. The last picture shows a boy sitting at a school desk, writing something into a notebook.

In the bottom right, it says ON SUB SOON

📚 Ellie Rhymer! Spaceships and Scoundrels 📚@ellieyellu.bsky.social · 4mo ago

A guide to Always Get In a Spaceship With a Scoundrel, a queer, heisty, spicy, sci-fi romance manuscript. Good Heists. Bad Decisions. Great Chemistry. Are you its reader? 😍🌈🥵🌌🚀❤️

The first page of a pitch deck. A neon pink art deco border pulls words out of a romantic starry space background. This border and background repeat over the following images. The title page reads in art deco gold and neon pink: An editor's guide to -- Always Get In a Spaceship With a Scoundrel -- A Sci-fi Romance by Ellie Rhymer. Representation Christi Cardenas.

Romantic pink and sci-fi neon and stars: Pitch. Good heists. Bad Decisions. Great Chemistry.

Anora is the quick-thinking manager of an illegal casino, fleeing the assassination of her gang's boss with the hyperspace treasure maps thrust into her hands as he died.

Jayro is a mouthy interstellar smuggler from the wrong side of the hyperspace lane with the only ship that can get Anora off Hecate IV before the emperor's relic-hunting space witches close a net around the planet.

The two bad-at-feelings bisexuals try to tamp down simmering, inconvenient attraction as they are forced to work together with the scrappy, tight-knit crew of the Helle Wanderer to survive in the criminal underworld and discover the secret at the end of the dangerous maps.

Their love story is a heist and they're stealing more than each other's hearts.

Always Get In a Spaceship With a Scoundrel by Ellie Rhymer

Romantic neon pink and a starry background: Excerpt. “Those are pre-set…” Jayro warned as Anora toggled a series of switches at the nav computer and began actively moving data streams around the screen.
“Pre-set for scans for //stationary objects//. You pick out your nav programs like you pick out your paint schemes?”
Jayro felt annoyance rising up in him again. The cockpit was his domain. Never mind that he agreed with her about the deco. “It took Fish weeks to get those programs running!”
“Look, unless you want to meet an asteroid face to face, shut the hells up and let me work.” Anora frowned as she watched some data return from the program. “Call engineering.”
“Gladly.” Jayro opened the channel on his wrist communicator.
“Yeah?” Fish’s voice responded.
“The new navigator is having trouble with her—” Jayro broke off as Anora grabbed his forearm and yanked his wrist in front of her own face, causing his chair to whirl towards her.
“What on-boards are your pre-sets accounting for?” she asked into the communicator without a glance at him.
“The hyrdobeacon,” crackled Fish’s reply, “the fore and aft isotrope routers…and the gravitic drive buffer, I think.”
Jayro was frozen as Anora swiped at the nav one-handed. He could feel her warm breath on his palm as she spoke with Fish through his communicator, her hand gripping his forearm almost burning him through his flight jacket. She was close enough to smell the blaster emissions wafting off her, the sharp, citrus scent of the steam bath clinging to her skin. His fingertips were millimeters from her cheek and he wanted to cup her face in his hand and drag her around to look at him with those bright eyes. He wanted to play with the flyaway bit of hair that had missed her ponytail and brush his thumb over her lips until they parted.
What was wrong with him?
Always Get In a Spaceship With a Scoundrel by Ellie Rhymer

Romantic neon pink and a starry background. For fans of: Uncharted Hearts book series by Constance Fay (image of a three book series). Scum and Villainy (TTRPG) (An image of a book cover with a spaceship flying towards a jumpgate). Moss'd in Space by Rebecca Thorne. A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. #AnnoyanceToLovers #FoundFamily #QueerStories #DisasterBisexuals #ForcedProximity #Scoundrel4Scoundrel #NeverTellMeTheOdds #DualPOV. Always Get In a Spaceship With a Scoundrel by Ellie Rhymer.

Brayden Russell @braydenrwrites.bsky.social · 4mo ago

ultra-wealthy guests must “atone” for their greed at a remote resort designed by the very people who prop them up, in a story with a Midsommar-style cult at a White Lotus–style luxury resort, blending dark social satire and rich people behaving badly. #q #a #h #r #lf #questpit

ultra-wealthy guests must “atone” for their greed at a remote resort designed by the very people who prop them up, in a story with a Midsommar-style cult at a White Lotus–style luxury resort, blending dark social satire and rich people behaving badly.

Kat is querying!@katgoestoshows.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Pumped to pitch ETERNALLY DEAD - my 107k paranormal romantic fantasy that explores what happens when an injured musician gets a second shot at stardom by joining an all-vampire rock band in the dangerous Vampire Realm 🧛‍♂️ 🩸🎸 #questpit #a #f #pr #rf #q #amquerying

Background of concert audience with giant vampire fangs floating above alongside the words "An agent's guide to: Eternally Dead, Adult Paranormal Romantic Fantasy, 107k words, by @katgoestoshows." A one sentence pitch is featured on bottom that reads: An injured musician gets a second shot at stardom -- only its by joining an all-vampire rock band in the blood-thirsty vampire realm. A red splatter of blood is splashed is corner.

Red and black background with red text at the top that reads "the blurb." The text below reads: Celia Sharpe's life-long dream of being a rockstar guitarist ended the day an accident wrecked her hand. Now a New York City concert photographer, she strictly focuses on making deadlines. But when Celia spots a mysterious stranger at a concert she can’t capture on camera, she abandons her job to follow him down an alley—only to be accidentally transported to the Vampire Realm.

Stranded and vulnerable in a world of dangerous monsters, Celia has one goal: return home ASAP. But the stranger she followed reveals that he's the bassist of all-vampire rock band Mortuus Aeternum (Eternally Dead), and he offers her a seductive opportunity: if Celia stays, the band's flirty guitarist Caliban will temporarily heal her hand so she can join Mortuus Aeternum. However, she must perform for audiences of blood-thirsty vampires, of course.

Trapped in the Vampire Realm with no way out, Celia is conflicted: she might be willing to sacrifice her freedom for Caliban's healing magic and a second chance at living her rockstar dreams, but she risks death if she doesn't find a way home. Especially when blood shortages are announced across the Vampire Realm. How will she survive?

Red and black background with a bright red title that reads THE COMPS. Below are four book covers and one movie poster that include brief descriptions beside them. The first is Fang Fiction by Kate Stayman-London and it's described as an urban fantasy in a vampire setting. Next is Bride by Ali Hazelwood, described as having a steamy romance and political intrigue. Next is The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent, described as having a human fighting to survive in a vampire world. Next is a movie poster for Almost Famous, described as music journalist + rock band = forced proximity. Last is the cover of Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, described as having a rock band with secrets and love triangles. The tropes and vibes section includes the following text: grounded fantasy, found family, diverse characters, plot twists, chronic illness rep, slow burn yearning, and twist on fated mates.

Red and black background with white text snd large red title that reds THE OPENING. Below the title is the opening of the book, which reads: Celia Sharpe slammed her palm against the closed subway doors, trying to pry open the cool metal with sweaty fingertips. The train had finally – finally – made it to the station, and she needed to get off. Now. When the doors opened at long last, she burst through them like a bat out of hell, charging towards the exit.
She couldn't miss the opening of this show, or it might be her last.

Below the opening is the word EXCERPT in large red letters, and below is text in white font. The following excerpt reads:
Caliban knelt beside her and took her hand, her breath hitching at his touch. A warm sensation transferred between his fingertips and her scar, a tingling feeling moving up her whole arm. She pulled back on instinct.
“What did you do?” she trembled, awestruck. The scar had vanished.
“It’s only temporary. Please play,” he said, his green eyes wanting.
The pain was gone. Gone. As if it had never been there at all. Her left hand curved around the guitar neck, hugging the strings. Overcome by the magic of it, Celia grinned.

B. van Bodegom 📃is AGENTED @bvbodegom.bsky.social · 4mo ago

CABIN IN THE WOODS × JOHN DIES AT THE END × JUMANJI When one of them is murdered at their annual gaming retreat, 5 dads must rely on years of #TTRPG experience—& ball-busting puns—to solve the crime before they're all butchered like NPCs in a badly written supernatural campaign. #QuestPit #A #H #Q

Poster-style graphic with a black background and heavy red blood splatter. Large distressed white and red text reads “DAD BODIES.” A dagger runs horizontally through the letters, and a 20-sided die showing low numbers appears on the right. Along the bottom are black silhouettes of heads with X-shaped eyes. Beneath, smaller text reads “ROLL FOR FUCKERY,” and at the bottom: “A co(s)mic horror novel by B. van Bodegom.”

Cassie Wallin Author @cassiewallinwrites.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Apple TV’s SEVERANCE meets SILO 🚫 Emotion as system error 👾 The haunting is digital 📋Corporate ritual menace 🧪 Complicit Protagonist 🧨 Creeping dread to visceral action #QuestPit #Q #A #SF #S #SFF #U

The pitch nova feels too much much and in this future it could get her mind wiped clean

Comps: severance, silo, the dram hotel, chaingang all stars

The characters. Nova the stranger and Kade

Christian Oxford @christianoxford.bsky.social · 4mo ago

THE LESSER SOUL 💰A Heist Gone Awry 🗣️Witty Banter 🧠Two Souls Sharing One Body ⏰A Protagonist Running Out of Time #QuestPit #Q #A #F #DF

Dawn Berkoski @dawnberkoski.bsky.social · 2y ago

PITCH: In a world controlled by corporate vampires, two men struggle for autonomy. Will a chance meeting lead them to freedom~or a web of subterfuge, where every thread brings a monster offering death or permanent confinement? #YouDeservepIt 📖 💙📚 #Q #R Power Hungry CEO x Abandoned Puppy Bartender

Comp Board

I Am Chosen by Dawn Berkoski

PITCH: In a world controlled by corporate vampires, two men struggle for autonomy. Will a chance meeting lead them to freedom, or a web of subterfuge, where every thread brings a monster offering death or permanent confinement?

Power Hungry CEO x Abandoned Puppy, Bartender

COMP TITLES
Interview With The Vampire
A Blue Bloods Novel
Yakuza

I Am Chosen
By Dawn Berkoski
77,000 M/M Paranormal Romance
Dark and a little spicy meets silly-sweet

Think:
Blue Bloods (minus the angels and school) x Interview With The Vampire (add more humor) x Japanese Yakuza (cracking skulls in London)

Tropes
* Forbidden Love
* Fish Out of Water
* Forced Proximity
* Dark Secrets
* Unequal Power Structure
* High Action Chase Scenes
* Emotional Growth Arcs + Satisfying End

Quotes

"He was leaving. He was leaving New York for good. But instead of freedom, he wondered if he was headed toward greater danger."
~Jason Allard (Protagonist)

"Now that he has chosen you, Alexander has all but forsaken our protection!"
~Tristan De La Salle (Thwarted Lover)

"Alexander and I have unfinished business."
-Shigekazu (Japanese Business Rival)

MAIN CHARACTERS
Alexander Grant Jason Allard
CEO of M-Corp Bartender
Control Issues Anxiety/Clingy
Likes: Likes:
Power + Money. Video Games +Pizza

Several photos are shown in this Moodboard for I Am Chosen, a paranormal romance written by Dawn Berkoski. From the top left, a glass of aged scotch surrounded by butterscotch candies, a CEO standing in a high rise office, staring out a window, a giant hotel clock surrounded by Christmas decor, a photo of art depicting demons rising from hell, a sunset with black, billowy clouds hovering over an orange stripe, a dirty cement staircase near a darkened entrance, and the city of London as viewed from the river. Photography, except the man, by Dawn Berkoski

Photo by Dawn Berkoski of a car speeding past a cemetery.View is from the driver’s perspective, looking out the side window.

Mike Mizov @mikemizov.bsky.social · 4mo ago

He killed a prince to save the kingdom. Now a fallen inquisitor, he’s been hired to find a missing ambassador, and the deeper he digs, the more it looks like saving the kingdom was a mistake. INQUISITOR FOR HIRE - multi-POV, 89k words #QuestPit #A #F #DF #Q

Inquisitor for Hire Comps. For fans of The Tainted Cup’s genre-bending fantasy mystery, and the political darkness of Grave Empire, with the strange, decaying world of Mordew.

Tropes for Inquisitor for Hire: He saved the kingdom. He might have been wrong.

Fallen hero / disgraced legend
Chasing a vanishing truth
A secret the city was built to hide
Justice isn’t clean
Reluctant family forged under pressure
A power that takes more than it gives
Corruption at the highest level

Ali Stalone @alistalone.bsky.social · 4mo ago

"You have to understand the words I can't say out loud." He didn't say mafia. He didn't have to. She already knew. She unbuckled anyway and walked off that plane... straight into a world that should have sent her running. SHADES OF GREY & GOLD · Mafia Romance #questpit #Q #A #DR #R #WF

Ashley Leone @authorashleyleone.bsky.social · 4mo ago

MURDER & MISANDRY, a dark romantic comedy ft: 🖤diabetic serial k!ller 🖤female rage 🖤dual POV 🖤he falls first 🖤found family #AgentGuide #AgentsGuide #QuestPit #DR #R #W

Ashley Leone @authorashleyleone.bsky.social · 4mo ago

MURD€R & MISANDRY, a dark romantic comedy ft: 🖤diabetic serial k!ller 🖤female rage 🖤dual POV 🖤he falls first 🖤found family

Pink writing on a darker pink and black background reads: An agents guide to murder & misandry
A dark romantic comedy by Ashley Leone 80000 words - work in progress

Pink and black background with white words reading: THE PITCH
GIANNA DE LUCA IS A DIABETIC SERIAL KILLER WITH A SWEET TOOTH FOR PROBLEMATIC MEN—AND THERE'S NO SHORTAGE AT THE NIGHT CLUB WHERE SHE DANCES. BUT WHEN THE
PLACE GOES UP FOR SALE, HER ENDLESS FLOW OF VICTIMS IS THREATENED.
WHEN SHE SETS OUT TO SECURE ONE LAST VICTIM, GIANNA IS KIDNAPPED BY NICO MOROSO, THE LEADER OF THE MOROSO MAFIA AND HE'S GOT HIS OWN PROBLEM.
AFTER MURDERING HIS FATHER, NICO NEEDS TO COVER IT UP BEFORE HIS ORGANIZATION FINDS OUT. LUCKILY, HE HAS AN IDEA. IN EXCHANGE FOR HER FREEDOM AND ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY THE CLUB HERSELF, GIANNA MUST PLAY THE PART OF HIS FIANCÉE, PROVIDING HIM AN AIRTIGHT ALIBI.
BUT PLAYING LOVE-STRUCK FIANCÉE IS IMPOSSIBLE WHEN HE'S AN UNDERGROUND CRIMINAL, CHARMING AS SIN, AND WORST OF ALL, A PERFECT GENTLEMAN. THE LONGER THEY'RE TOGETHER, THE MORE GIANNA QUESTIONS HER BELIEFS ABOUT MEN.
THIS ONE ANYWAY.

Pink and black background with pink title reading: The Comps. Photos of books titled: Tourist Season by Brynne Weaver, Dolls & Daggers by D. L. Darby, Lights Out by Navessa Allen. White words read: He falls first, dark humor, feminine rage

Black and pink background with pink title reading: The opening. White lettering reads: TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING IS A VERY BAD THING.
THAT SAYING IS TRUE FOR THE MAN SPRAWLED ON THE ALLEYWAY PAVEMENT AT MY FEET. ANY OTHER GUEST OF THE BLACK VEIL NIGHT CLUB WOULD HAVE DRAGGED THEIR DUNK ASS BACK THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR, THE SAME WAY THEY CAME IN. NOT THIS GUY.
YOU JUST HAD TO BE DIFFICULT.

#BluePit - A Storytelling Hype & Pitch Event @bluepit.bsky.social · 4mo ago

#QuestPit is tomorrow! Review the rules at their website questpit.carrd.co! #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #Writers #AmQuerying #LitAgents #AmAgenting

QuestPit

writers hype event

questpit.carrd.co

questpit || next event: NOV 4th@questpit.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Seasons greetings! Our gift to you is #questpit dates for 2026! We can’t wait to reconvene next year. Happy Holidays!

periwinkle background with golden snowflakes and a glass ornament in the center reading “Our 2026 Event List: January 30th, April 29th, July 24th, November 4th”

Melissa Rousu Author @melissarauthor.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Anyone doing #QuestPit on 4/29? Let me know so I can follow you and let’s help support each other!! #WIP #romance #BookSky #Author #writingcommunity

Ali Stalone @alistalone.bsky.social · 4mo ago

POV: your best friend is filling out the RSVP to your cheating ex's wedding and you can't stop her. 💌 #WIPSnips SHADES OF GREY & GOLD Also: #questpit is tomorrow!!!! Who is participating?! Drop a comment and I'll show you some support!

Screenshot of a manuscript page. A humorous scene between Max and her best friend Becca, who is filling out the RSVP card to Max's cheating ex's wedding uninvited. Becca scribbles over the response card, selects steak to cost them more, and tries to convince Max to go. Max refuses.

Ashley Leone @authorashleyleone.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Who is doing #QuestPit tomorrow? Let me know so I can follow you and help support each other!! #WIP #romance #BookSky #Author #writingcommunity