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Cara Castro

@caracastro.bsky.social

fantasy romance author sharing writing tips & fave reads 💕 tired bi Latina Rep: Weaver Literary

11 Posts93 Follower 109 Folgt

Senna Beau Lark @sennabeaulark.bsky.social · 2w ago

THIS KINGDOM WILL NOT KILL ME X BLOOD & STEEL X CW's 'REIGN' ✨ Arranged marriage 💫 Reincarnation (á la Inuyasha 🤭) 🤺 Princess x Knight (Forbidden) 👑 Non-Eurocentric Empire 🌈 LGBTQ+ & BIPOC Rep 🗣️ Emphasis on Self Agency/Identity #Questpit #Q #A #F #RF

Suzanne || Fantasy Author @author-suzanne.bsky.social · 2w ago

Hey #QuestPit! Here are some snippets as well as some of the reader comments from my adult romantic epic fantasy A GIRL OF TWO SHADOWS to whet your appetite! ❤️‍🔥Slow-burn ✨Magic 📖Prophecy 🧝‍♀️Elves 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨Unwilling allies to lovers 🙍‍♀️Adult cast 🎥Multi-POV Hungry for more? I'll be querying soon! #RF #A #Q

Darian Rudderham @darianrudderham.bsky.social · 2w ago

A group of university students find themselves entangled with an experiment that demands their blood and a creature that will give them power in exchange for pieces of their humanity. #q #a #sff

A stack of books, a postage stamp, and wax seal. "An Agent's Guide to A Consideration of Death"

Book One: The Pitch
Hozier's First Light meets Leigh Bardugo's NINTH HOUSE
A group of university students find themselves entangled with an experiment that demands their blood and a creture that will give them power in exchange for pieces of their humanity.
Comp titles include VICIOUS by V.E. SChwab, NINTH HOUSE by Leigh Bardugo, and THE ATLAS SIX by Olivie Blake

An image of the university students: Dodie, a short brunette in a black dress and red cardigan; Alek, a tall man with dark hair in a brown sweater and ripped jeans; Beatrice, a tall blonde woman in a white dress and black jacket; Kyu, a short, mid-sized woman with a pink pixie cut in a yellow sweater and jeans; Damion, an Indigenous Hawaiian man in a rumpled white shirt and black pants; and Shahid, a Pakistani man with curly hair and a beard in a brightly patterned suit jacket, white shirt, red tie, and red pants.
THe tropes read: childhood friends to almost lovers, complicated family dynamics, ensemble cast, ancient monsters, neuroscience based magic system, aspec rep, dark academia, near death experiences.

Darian Rudderham @darianrudderham.bsky.social · 2w ago

WILD REVERENCE x THE KNIGHT AND THE MOTH 💀 An incorruptible corpse 🩸 A city rotting from its own magic ⛪️ A pristine church in the city centre 🙏 A caretaker seeking the chance to escape 🗡️ A traitor god hoping to die #questpit #f #a #w

Art by nanna.arts on Instagram. A woman in a simple dress with dark curly hair, turning away from the viewer. A woman in blue and red robes with brown curly hair. A man with dark curly hair in a simple white shirt holding a dagger.

"She worries that she can feel it some nights, moving like bugs that push and writhe against her flesh, a punishment for magic she never wanted to wield in the first place." -- What Lingers Between, Darian Rudderham

Darian Rudderham @darianrudderham.bsky.social · 2w ago

Desperate to save a rotting city, the caretaker of an incorruptible corpse and the traitor god of an ancient pantheon must find what is causing the destruction. #questpit #W #A #F

A stained glass window. RIpped paper that reads "an agents guide to what lingers between"

The pitch. Rachel Gillig's The Knight and The Moth, Caitlin Starling's The Starving Saints, Rebecca Ross' WIld Reverance. Desperate to save a rotting city, the only god remaining of an ancient pantheon and the caretaker of a sacred, incorruptible corpse must find what is causing the destruction.

A woman with dark curly hair in a simple dress turned away. A woman with brown curly hair in blue and red robes holding a book. A man with dark curly hair in a simple white shirt holding a dagger. The tropes list reads, "yearning, annoyance to lovers, magic as corruption, three POVs, death incarnate, gothic fantasy, rotting city, pristine church, incorruptible corpse, necromantic religion."

@amberjollyauthor.bsky.social · 2w ago

Jack Frost (1998) x Sweet Home Alabama YULE ALWAYS FIND ME is a holiday paranormal romance with: 🤍second chance romance 💀murd.er 🤍fake dating ❄️frosty magic 👯‍♀️sister bonds 🐶a cute pet sidekick 🎄Christmas festivities 🔼love triangle Would you read it? Art by @mknzgmbn #questpit #wip #P #R #A

Sarai Hernandez @saraihernandez.bsky.social · 2w ago

MEASURED BY TIME AND FRECKLES The hook: The ring’s wrong, the spark’s gone, and her fiance’s more interested in Slack than her, but when Yulissa discovers a deeply passionate poem by her best friend, she questions everything. #questpit #Q #A #R #OV

MEASURED BY TIME AND FRECKLES
Querying
Images of palm tree leaves and shells

Latine/Multicultural
Friends to lovers
Coastal setting
Yearning
Mental health

The hook:
The ring’s wrong, the spark’s gone, and her fiance’s more interested in Slack than her, but when Yulissa discovers a deeply passionate poem by her best friend, she questions everything.

Sarai Hernandez @saraihernandez.bsky.social · 2w ago

Project: LA ISLA After a gargoyle attack, a modern weapons engineer is summoned to the Southern Front military base to deliver designs for a device that can win the war against a colonizing power, but she has to work with her ex who she hasn’t seen in over a century. #questpit #W #FR 🌶️🌶️

Drafting

Contemporary Romantasy

Project: LA ISLA

Latine inspired
Second chance
Marriage of convenience
Animal companion
Shifters

After a gargoyle attack, a modern weapons engineer is summoned to the Southern Front military base to deliver designs for a device that can win the war against a colonizing power, but she has to work with her ex—a bird shifter—who she hasn’t seen in over a century.

Images:
Waterfall
Hellhound

J.Q. Crawford @jqcrawford.bsky.social · 2w ago

#QuestPit Waltz of the Jaded is a dark urban fantasy set in a futuristic Tokyo focused on psychological tension and an all-consuming relationship, where power has a physical cost, and intimacy is both dangerous and inevitable. Would you read this? #DF #F #A #W

Suzanne || Fantasy Author @author-suzanne.bsky.social · 2w ago

Hey #QuestPit I thought it would be fun to introduce my characters in a more "non-conventional" manner so I present: The Meme Guide to characters from A GIRL OF TWO SHADOWS. This adult epic romantic fantasy will be querying soon so I hope this piqued your interest! #Q #RF #A

Dark purple background with text:
Top left: "117k words | Adult Romantic Epic Fantasy | Multi-POV"
Top middle: "The Characters of A Girl of Two Shadows As Memes"
Top right: "Series potential | Cross-over Potential | 1st Person POV"

The graphic is split in three. "2nd FMC" on left", "FMC" in the middle and "MMC" on the right.

Each column has three images of memes that describe the respective character.
On the left the text on the memes say: "Me thinking I need something sweet after I just finished eating", "Teaching my friend magic. Making my other friend (who doesn't like her) do it. Me", and "Stealth mode Level: Master"
In the middle the text on the memes say: "That moment when you disarm your opponent", "Me: I love backing for others. Also me:", and "When they are trying to teach you magic but you have no idea what you're doing"
On the right the text on the memes say: "When she acts like she is 'human'", "When she can't even cast basic magic", and "Your trust can't be broken if you trust no one"

Suzanne || Fantasy Author @author-suzanne.bsky.social · 2w ago

For my first post for #QuestPit I present you with my adult epic romantic fantasy A GIRL OF TWO SHADOWS, complete at 117k words. Think the romance and quest of Melissa Blair’s A Broken Blade combined with the character-driven epic fantasy of Andrea Stewart’s The Bone Shard Daughter. #Q #RF #A

Tereza Maze @terezamazura.bsky.social · 2w ago

📁 CASE FILE: GAMA // QUERYING 📌 Location: Post-apocalyptic Switzerland 👉🏼 When her brain chip starts failing, Anna must return to the scientific collective she fled, where trusting the mysterious stranger she saved may cost her the only thing she has left. Her sanity ☠️ #QuestPit #Q #A #RS #SFF

Cara Castro @caracastro.bsky.social · 2w ago

LEGALLY BLONDE X B.K. BORISON'S GOOD SPIRITS A first-year public defender for sorcerers must help her newest client prove his innocence without accidentally falling in love with him. rep: WEAVER LITERARY #QuestPit #OS #A #F #R

Cara Castro @caracastro.bsky.social · 2w ago

THE HURRICANE WARS X QUICKSILVER A long-dead demon slayer must work with the Goddess of Death's bodyguard to save a merit-based afterlife. spice level:🌶️🌶️🌶️.5/5 rep: WEAVER LITERARY #QuestPit #OS #A #F #R

Cara Castro @caracastro.bsky.social · 2w ago

LEGALLY BLONDE X WITCH'S GUIDE TO MAGICAL INNKEEPING A first-year public defender for sorcerers must help her newest client prove his innocence without accidentally falling in love with him. rep: WEAVER LITERARY #QuestPit #OS #A #F #R

Tamara ⛱️🎇🕶️🌊☀️@tamaratoday.bsky.social · 2w ago

♣️♦️ PHANTASMA X SINNERS ♥️♠️ This New Adult Fantasy Features: 🃏 Multiple POVs 🎲 A Bisexual Love Triangle 🃏 Deadly Bargains 🎲 Sinful Behavior 🃏 Poisons & Playing Cards 🎲 Black Social Commentary #QuestPit #NA #F #BVM #POC

Left to right.

Top Row: Playing cards that spell out LOVE. A martini glass with a clear drink, dice, and a floating candle inside. A Queen of Hearts card with its eyes scribbled out.

Middle Row: Stairs and an elevator with moody red lighting. “Life is a gamble.” An eerie red hallway with many doors and chandeliers.

Bottom Row: A joker card with a demon on it. A beverage being poured into a glass. Playing cards that are three 6s.

jules is QUERYING @jccrews.bsky.social · 2w ago

THE KNIGHT AND THE MOTH X THE SONG OF ACHILLES an #agentsguide to THE FALL OF THE SUNKEEPER, a mythical high fantasy/romance inspired by ancient rome. ✨ forbidden love ☀️ celestial death magic ⭐️ adventure ✨ chronically ill fmc!! ☀️ sexual tension ⭐️ there’s def only one bed #questpit #Q #A #F #RF

Chezza @chezza.bsky.social · 2w ago

Bluebeard x Obsession x Chinese mythology A courtesan goes to an immortal's palace to reclaim her emotions, but discovers the palace has seven disfigured women hidden in the shadows...and they all look exactly like her. 🔥 #questpit #AG #DF #A

Moodboard for TO POSSESS THE FLAME, an adult dark fantasy novel. Featuring ancient Chinese buildings, a woman holding a mask, a plate of food, a fan, a locked door, medicinal jars, and a woman in red.

sierramoeykens.bsky.social @sierramoeykens.bsky.social · 2w ago

In an alternate, magical Regency era, Lucy Korvas must hide her "improper" wings from high society while finding a cure for her curse, or she will be transformed into a crow forever. 📖 Pride & Prejudice x 🐦‍⬛ Howl's Moving Castle x 🪷 Graceling #Questpit #Q #YA #HFR #F #RF #HF #R #HR

A woman with large black wings attached to her shoulder blades.
Text: Pluck by Sierra Moeykens. Pride & Prejudice x Howl's Moving Castle x Graceling

An illustrated lady in a Regency era dress with large black wings over a ballroom background.

Text: The Pitch
Nineteen-year-old Lucy Korvas has worse problems than complying with high society’s tedious etiquette — she must steal a diamond necklace from the Duchess of Thistal, or her cursed father will perish.
In an alternate, magical Regency era where ladies and gentlemen with improper magic are shunned from high society, Lucy Korvas has hidden a pair of giant, unladylike crow wings beneath her dresses for years, but tonight she risks exposing them to save her cursed father. She needs that diamond necklace to afford his cure. How dastardly it is, then, when she discovers soft-spoken Lord Simon pilfering his own mother’s jewelry first.
But when Lucy and Simon are cursed while trying to steal the necklace, Lucy slowly transforms into a crow and Simon starts dissolving into flower petals. Lucy must find a cure while posturing as the presentable, composed lady that she isn't before she loses her cursed father, the shy gentleman she's becoming smitten with, and her humanity.

Three transparent symbols, a heart, a scroll, and a banner, with lists in each symbol. The background is a photo of white feathers.

Text: Romance. Slow-burn & Yearning. Cinnamon Roll x Chaotic Flirt. Touch-Starved. He Falls First. Historical. Witty Regency banter. Literal Ladybird (she's transforming into a crow). Dukes, Duchesses, and Pirates. Fantasy. Repressed Magic. Curses. Magical flowers with restorative properties.

Three book covers with an arrow under each of them describing their properties. The background is a photo of a lotus.

Text: Comps. A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting by Sophie Irwin. Dry humor and witty voice. Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater. Accessible, creative world-building & magic. A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft. Regency romance with an abundance of yearning.

Ruchi @ruchi-writes.bsky.social · 2w ago

💖 SHE’S THE MAN x ICEBREAKER, BUT MAKE IT E-SPORTS 🎮 To join her dream esports team, Cam let everyone assume she's a guy. Now all she has to do is survive the captain, who's sure she's the weak link — without falling for him first. #Q #R #A #questpit #agentsguide #amquerying

Last Pick by Ruchi Dave is an e-sports romance novel, complete at 75k words.

Cameron Day has always felt like a loser—except in the video game League of Champions, where she dominates. So when an esports team mistakes her for a guy and recruits her, she doesn’t correct them.

But to Jacob—their ruthless (and distractingly hot) captain who’s already seen one ex-teammate implode under pressure—she’s a risk they can’t afford. If she cracks, they all go down with her.

The only way forward is to prove she’s not a liability, but the key to pulling them out of freefall.

Contact the author at **@ruchi-writes on x or @ruchi-writes.bsky.social**

Moodboard for Last Pick. Professional esports gamer vibes.

Snippet for Last Pick

“The others got over it much sooner than you did.”

“I didn’t want to complicate things.”

“Why would I complicate things?”

“You know why.” He tucked a stray hair behind my ear, and my skin felt electric where his fingers brushed against me. I leaned into him as his hand slid to the nape of my neck, tilting my head toward his.

“What happened to keeping things professional?”

“This is professional,” he murmured. “Kevin and I do this all the time.”

Comps and Tropes

- **enemies-to-lovers**
- **woman in a male dominated field**
- **Chaos GOBLIN HEROINE**
- **forced proximity**
- **underdog story**
- **impostor syndrome**
- **good intentions, bad decisions**

She’s the Man - **WOMAN PRETENDING TO BE A MAN IN A MALE DOMINATED SPORT (E-Sports)**

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace - **team captain/mentor who is convinced she’s a liability**

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood - **fake-it-till-you-make-it energy**

hali hyland 💋@haliwriteswords.bsky.social · 2w ago

an #agentsguide to THE LOVE INTERCEPTION, an adult sports romcom for fans of ali hazelwood and cat sebastian 🩷 🏈 quarterback x sports reporter 🏳️‍🌈 BI4BI ✨ plus size FMC 🔥 forced proximity 💋 witty banter 🫨 …blackmail? #questpit #Q #A #R

Cara Castro @caracastro.bsky.social · 2w ago

Ange | Author A. M. Shilling @gunsmile.bsky.social · 2w ago

THE DEVOURING An adult cosmic horror thriller novel about the monsters we choose. For fans of Lovecraftian mythos, John Wick-style action, and married villain protagonists. Read a free sample at amshilling.com/books/the-de... and get your copy today! #QuestPit #P #A #H #T

[The background is a city at night. Red blood splatters decorate the upper right and lower left corners. In the center is the book's cover: a black inkblot in the shape of a skull against a red background.]

A Reader's Guide to THE DEVOURING

PITCH
Jason and Ayana are happily married in an arrangement that keeps their lives parallel but separate. In the wake of his brother's murder and her discovery of an impossible illness, however, they must work together to learn the truth behind these mysterious events. Along the way, they uncover an occult conspiracy at the heart of their city—and the malevolent god lurking beyond its veil.

Told from the perspectives of the story's villains, The Devouring is an adult cosmic horror and thriller novel about the monsters we choose.

TROPES
- married main characters
- villain protagonists
- dangerous criminal underworld
- mysterious cults
- terrifying body horror
- an incomprehensible eldritch god

COMPS
- THE COLOR OUT OF SPACE by H. P. Lovecraft
- JOHN WICK

Ange | Author A. M. Shilling @gunsmile.bsky.social · 2w ago

THE HEART IS A WEAPON Ten years after her death and disappearance, a vampire must choose between the tender past she left behind and the seductive promises of the future. Both have her heart. Which one will she betray? #QuestPit #W #A #H #DR

[The background is an image of three pomegranates, one of which is cut in half, showing seeds. The image is tinted a dark pink fading into black.]

A Reader's Guide to THE HEART IS A WEAPON

TROPES
- toxic vampire lovers
- age gap romance
- found family (sort of)
- siblings on opposing sides
- unreliable narrator
- predator/prey imagery
- humanity vs. monstrosity
- conflicting identity
- love as a choice

PITCH
Ten years after her death and disappearance, a vampire must choose between the tender past she left behind and the seductive promises of the future. Both have her heart. Which one will she betray?

COMPS
- MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER by Oyinkan Braithwaite
- HANNIBAL
- INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE
- THE LESSER DEAD by Christopher Buehlman

Ange | Author A. M. Shilling @gunsmile.bsky.social · 2w ago

WHAT THE IRON GAVE US After a fateful accident puts her father into a coma, a young noblewoman and her lowborn bodyguard must navigate a dangerous game of corporate espionage and city politics, or else lose everything they hold dear ... including each other. #QuestPit #W #A #SFF #R