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HK Smith | Writer

@thehksmith.bsky.social

⚡️ #amquerying WHERE MEMORIES BURN 📸 @thehksmith on tiktok & instagram https://linktr.ee/thehksmith

199 Posts153 Follower 161 Folgt

HK Smith | Writer @thehksmith.bsky.social · last wk.

IRON WIDOW x LEGENDBORN The elite fuel the city w/ stolen memories. But one girl can burn them into magic for herself—and the system will do anything to keep that secret buried. 🩸hidden bloodline magic ⛓️‍💥morally complicated heroine ❤️‍🔥estranged first love 👁️mystery subplot #DVpit #YA #F #BVM #SFF

HK Smith | Writer @thehksmith.bsky.social · last wk.

LEGENDBORN x DUNE x BLACK MIRROR In a world where a hungry god consumes memories to protect humanity, Vega must wield her own forbidden magic to search for her brother—drawing her back to the boy who broke her heart and into a deadly race against her bloodline's buried truths. #DVPit #BVM #F #SFF

HK Smith | Writer @thehksmith.bsky.social · last wk.

THINGS RUINING VEGA'S DAY: 🔥she can burn memories into magic (a death sentence) 👁️her brother nearly exposed her power 🚨he's branded a traitor 💔her only ally is her ex 🤖a machine god wants her bloodline A dystopian fantasy for fans of LEGENDBORN x BLACK MIRROR #DVpit #YA #F #BVM #SFF

HK Smith | Writer @thehksmith.bsky.social · last wk.

Vega can burn memories into magic—a crime punishable by death on a planet ruled by a machine god. Her brother helped her hide it…then he vanished. To find him, she must ally with the first love who betrayed her and uncover the truth her bloodline was forced to forget. #DVPit #YA #F #SFF #BVM

HK Smith | Writer @thehksmith.bsky.social · last wk.

LEGENDBORN x IRON WIDOW Humanity survives by feeding memories to a machine god. At the academy, the elite turn those stolen memories into power. But one girl can burn them for herself—and the system will do anything to keep that secret buried. #DVpit #YA #F #SFF #BVM #WOC

HK Smith | Writer @thehksmith.bsky.social · last wk.

LEGENDBORN x IRON WIDOW Vega cheats her world's memory sacrifice by erasing her own. Now everyone with her power is vanishing, including her brother. To save him, she must unravel the conspiracy inside the elite academy where stolen memories fuel humanity's survival. #DVpit #YA #F #BVM #SFF

HK Smith | Writer @thehksmith.bsky.social · 2w ago

#askDV any insight you can share into the state of YA fantasy right now? Has what you're looking for changed in the last couple of years, especially with the uptick in upper YA and even some blurring with New Adult?

Liza Hanna @writtenbylizahanna.bsky.social · 5mo ago

the vibes of Saddle Up, my contemporary romance with: 🤠cowgirls and cowboys galore 🛏️ only one bed (a lot) 🚗 roadtrip across the American West 🐴 rodeo 💔 grief and losing a grandparent #questpit #A #W #R

Angie is ✨querying✨@angie3tomatoes.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Mexican Gothic x TheKnight &The Moth When a woman relocates to a secluded, mist-cloaked town where creation magic is forbidden & women vanish from history, she, her sentient house & a cursed carpenter must uncover Ravensford’s dark secrets before she becomes its next forgotten name #QuestPit #RF #Q

HK Smith | Writer @thehksmith.bsky.social · 5mo ago

the vibes of THE CELESTIAL RING, my #YA dystopian #SFF To defy the memory-devouring machine god who wants to claim her as sacrifice, Vega must: ⚔️Find her lost brother 💔Ally w/ her first heartbreak 🌑Uncover the truth her world was forced to forget #questpit #Q #F #D #amquerying

A dark space fantasy aesthetic mood board with a collage of photos. Vertically down, from the first column:
1. A violet, light-tinged hole framing a violet sky
2. A faint silhouette of a woman beneath colors like the northern lights
3. Two hands reaching towards one another
4. A sci-fi inspired, dark uniform with a high collar
5. A grand stairwell, perhaps a futuristic religious site, with a single silhouette looking up
6. Two romantic silhouettes against a starry night sky
7. A lone figure with a backpack, standing amongst a shroud of sand-colored fog
8. A hand covered in glitter
9. A silhouette standing in front of a blue-lit circular tunnel entrance
10. A black woman with glitter coating her shoulder, just the bottom half of her face is visible, lips tilted slightly up in a smile
11. A black woman screaming
12. A stream of light breaking through dark clouds
13. An eye turned to show only the whites
14. Figures in robes seemingly suspended in mid-air
15. A figure on a black, sleek futuristic looking motorcycle

None of the images are my own. They are all sourced from Pinterest

trang ☆ writer @trangnguyenwrites.bsky.social · 5mo ago

SIX OF CROWS x JADE CITY When her mentor goes missing Gemna joins forces w/ fellow mage Ren to unravel the connection b/w the string of disappearances and a terrible discovery that could mean a future where mages aren’t just outlawed…but wiped from existence. #QuestPit #AG #F art by nathcreare

a blue and yellow toned sketch of a woman and a man standing back to back. she is looking towards the front and he’s gazing off to the side. the characters have Asian features and look serious / unsmiling. over the images is the text CONDUCT OF MAGES, Adult Fantasy, Complete at 99K, represented by Elizabeth Pratt, Trellis Literary Management

on a pale yellow / blue swirl backdrop, a navy blue rectangle contains the text “When her mentor goes missing, Gemna joins forces with fellow mage, Ren, to unravel the connection between the string of disappearances and a terrible discovery that could mean a future where mages are not just outlawed…but wiped from existence.”

the words THE PITCH, represented by Elizabeth Pratt, Trellis Literary Management are at the bottom of the slide

at the top of the slide, a search bar graphic says “CONDUCT OF MAGES”

on a pale yellow / blue swirl backdrop, a navy blue rectangle contains the text “energy magic, heists & scheming, found family, research subplot, slow burn, female role models, SE Asian setting”

the words THE VIBES, represented by Elizabeth Pratt, Trellis Literary Management are at the bottom of the slide

at the top of the slide, a search bar graphic says “CONDUCT OF MAGES”

on a pale yellow / blue swirl backdrop, six book covers are shown: Blood Over Bright Haven, Jade City, Six of Crows, Jasad Heir, Foundryside, an Heartless Hunter

the words THE COMPA, represented by Elizabeth Pratt, Trellis Literary Management are at the bottom of the slide

at the top of the slide, a search bar graphic says “CONDUCT OF MAGES”

Linda Maleh @lindamaleh.bsky.social · 5mo ago

What my NYC teen witches are googling as they prepare to travel to a monster-infested realm to stop a nefarious long-dead witch from coming back to life. Percy Jackson-but-with-witches! #QuestPit #Q #F #YA

In the Shadow of a Witch - Haley’s google searches

In the Shadow of a Witch - Alanna’s google searches

In the Shadow of a Witch - August’s Google searches

Hanna Patrick is Querying @hannapatrick.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Covenant of the Damned (119k rom. fantasy) in microtropes! When the Lord she’s sworn to protect is poisoned, a headstrong guard reluctantly allies with a loathsome king to find the Holy Grail before the Lord dies or the relic falls into the hands of evil sorcerers. #Q #RF #F #A #QuestPit

Cover slide to introduce the microtropes that you can expect to see in "Covenant of the Damned," a 119k romantic fantasy that is now querying. The background is an ethereal oil painting

the microtropes listed are: reluctant allies, only one horse, he's been thirty for the last 230 years, elemental-based magic systems, lady knights, she's the chosen one, and he tends to her wounds. There's an icon of a computer cursor hovering over a box that says "select all," to indicate that all microtropes are present in "Covenant of the Damned"

On this slide there is a painted hand holding a sword and a repetition of the pitch. The image also states that this book is perfect for fans of [Lady] Knights of the Round Table retellings and every Gilmore Girls stan who was rooting for Rory to end up with Jess Mariano.

Sofia Trepp @sofiatrepp.bsky.social · 5mo ago

IF FEED ME YOUR HEART HAD A MOVIE POSTER! 🫀 Cultish magic 💀 Deadly personality tests 🧌 Scandinavian folklore 🖤 Romance á la OUABH Agent’s guide pinned to profile. WHERE THE DARK STANDS STILL x YOUR BLOOD, MY BONES #YA #F #DF #H #Q #W #QuestPit

A film poster for Feed Me Your Heart, a YA fantasy/romance/horror novel about a girl addicted to magical hearts who has to hunt a water spirit

Tamara 🌽👻🍁🎃🧛‍♀️@tamaratoday.bsky.social · 5mo ago

♣️♦️ PHANTASMA X SINNERS ♥️♠️ This New Adult Fantasy Features: 🃏 Dual POVs 🎲 Second Chance Romance 🃏 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.

Sara Duran ✨is AGENTED✨@saraduran.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Wouldn’t be #QuestPit without a new guide 🤍 • • • ANNIHILATION x BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN 💫two exiled men (and their secrets) 💫one lunar prison (and its horrors) 💫a cosmic entity that wants them dead 💫the love they’ll lose if they don’t survive #SF #H #R #LGBT #AG

HK Smith | Writer @thehksmith.bsky.social · 5mo ago

An #agentsguide for my LEGENDBORN x DUNE #YA #SFF On a planet where humanity survives by sacrificing memories to a machine god, a girl who can burn her own memories into magic must expose the truth behind the rite—before it claims her the way it took her brother. #questpit #Q #F #D #amquerying

Text reads: an agent's guide to THE CELESTIAL RING YA DYSTOPIAN FANTASY BY H.K.SMITH

Image: a Black girl with a strand of curly hair blowing across her face and a dotted texture like a veil covering her face except for her eye, which glows bright purple

Text: THE PITCH: On a planet where humanity survives by sacrificing memories to a machine god, a girl who can burn her own memories into magic must expose the truth behind the rite—before it claims her the way it took her brother.

THE CELESTIAL RING BY H.K.SMITH

In the background there's a faint image of a Black girl with purple eyes

All text is on top of a dark, perforated background:
FOR FANS OF:
A cover of Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Text: Ancestral Black girl magic & elite academia setting
A cover of Coldwire by Chloe Gong
Text: A divided dystopian world built on access
A cover of Dune by Frank Herbert
Text: Lineage tied to planetary stakes
A cover of Netflix's TV Show Arcane
Text: Conflict over a rare, magic-tech resource

THE CELESTIAL RING BY H.K.SMITH

THE OPENING of THE CELESTIAL RING BY H.K. SMITH

The promise of imminent death feels briefly distant as I cut through the canyon of glass and steel toward Her. I match Orion's pace, stride for stride. For tradition's sake, we've been walking since dawn but we're still five long blocks away from the nearest checkpoint. By the time the sun's white disc clears those towers, She'll have already cast Her judgment.

K.L.Crino @katcrino.bsky.social · 8mo ago

If the king of Adarlan had raised Aelin Galathynius Katerina's shadow magic has thrust her into the heart of a war, where she must decide between absolute power at a nation's expense or destroying the king who made her. #QuestPit #Q #F #YA

Sofia Trepp @sofiatrepp.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Haunted by her ruined reputation, Ró joins a heart-eating cult to hunt down the one creature whose heart can buy her life back. 🫀 Cultish magic 💀 Deadly personality tests 🧌 Scandinavian folklore 🖤 Romance á la OUABH WHERE THE DARK STANDS STILL x YOUR BLOOD, MY BONES #YA #F #DF #Q #QuestPit

Gianna Girone | Writer @giannagirone.bsky.social · 11mo ago

THE KNIGHT AND THE MOTH x THE SECOND DEATH OF LOCKE x FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST 🏛️Romantasy but make it a Miltonian tragedy 🌿Excommunicated FMC w/ "accursed creator!" energy 🌌Chaos magic, alchemical mythology and fallen angels 🤍 He yearns first 💫If Sleep Token songs were a book #questpit #A #RF

Ann K. is ✨AGENTED✨@annkreeves.bsky.social · 11mo ago

TOUCH OF DARKNESS X ARCANA ACADEMY After a demi-goddess escapes captivity from her ex, she turns to an academic institute run by a prince of Hell, determined to start a new life as a schoolmaster. But her students are wicked & the headmaster wants her gone. #questpit #F #R #RF #W

The image shows a text that reads “Gods & Devils Don’t Mix” in bold black letters on a red-orange background. The top left text reads, “He was a skin-searing, heartbeat-inducing, stomach-fluttering kind of beast. A beast with sharp horns.” Beside it, a silhouette of a dragon appears against a sunset. Below that, a Black woman in a flowing white gown stands near a window surrounded by plants. In the bottom left, sunlight filters through a garden full of pink flowers. On the right, a man with his back turned looks out at an ocean. Text near him reads, “Sweetheart, you’re more than welcome to stay at Darkfell for as long as you can make it.”

HK Smith | Writer @thehksmith.bsky.social · 11mo ago

In Vega’s world, survival means surrendering memories to an arcane intelligence. Doomed to die as sacrifice, she cheats fate with forbidden magic—but her family's curse hunts her brother instead. To save him, Vega must uncover the truth her world was made to forget. #QuestPit #YA #F #SFF #Q #RF

First Revelation: "To survive, you must forget."

First paragraphs from the first chapter of The Celestial Ring:
As I move through the canyon of glass and steel toward Her, the likelihood of imminent death feels briefly distant.
For the millionth time, my fingers brush where the disruptor hides in my robe pocket. If this little device saves me, it will be more than worth the risk.
My brother strides ahead, shaking his head at the Interpreter towers. Each spirals upward, disappearing out of reach, like the people inside them. Families with desirable names and the privileges that come with it. Kids who probably are not worried if they’ll hear Her voice today.

The Celestial Ring
YA Science Fantasy by H.K. Smith

Emily @eriverowrites.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Things ruining Rhen’s Day: 🩸 Her prophesied power never manifests 👑 Being stripped of her titles as heir ⚔️ A (hot) man prevents her from unlocking her power 👁️ An arcane force tries to kill her when she's near the sea (she lives seaside) 🌊 The truth about her brother’s death #QuestPit #W #A #F

A collage of eight images, showing scenes of seaside cliffs, a sword, fortresses, bodies of water, and colorful strips of light throughout.

trang ☆ writer @trangnguyenwrites.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Sharing my #agentsguide for CONDUCT OF MAGES, an #A #F for fans of JADE CITY x SIX OF CROWS When her mentor goes missing Gemma teams up with fellow mage, Ren, to uncover a plot to eradicate mages…one that involves the emergence of a mysterious stone that mimics their powers. #questpit #Q #querying

cover page that says CONDUCT OF MAGES, an adult fantasy complete at 102K words on a moody dark background showing a brown building and orange and yellow paper lanterns

text reads THE VIBES and lists: energy magic, heists & scheming, found family, research subplot, slooow burn, female role models, SE Asian setting. placed on a moody dark background showing a brown building and orange and yellow paper lanterns

text reads FOR FANS OF and then six book covers are displayed, from top left to bottom right: JADE CITY, JASAD HEIR, MISTBORN, HEARTLESS HUNTER, BLOOD OVER BRIGHT HAVEN, and SIX OF CROWS

text reads EXCERPTS. the first is labeled FIRST LINE, and reads “Gemna was sorting through a basket of sparrowberries when she found out that her existence had been outlawed.” the second text bid is labeled CHAPTER 4 and reads: “In all fairness, Yala had never specified just how flammable elderfire was.

The heat was instantaneous and overwhelming. Gemna felt it scorch the edges of her sleeves before she pulled in the energy from the flames and, when she was nearly bursting with it, diverted it towards the two Hands at the front of the shop. The fire died harmlessly at her feet before it could eat its way into the hidden cellar below.”

HK Smith | Writer @thehksmith.bsky.social · 11mo ago

LEGENDBORN x DUNE in a #YA fantasy where humanity survives by surrendering memories to a divine intelligence. To break her family's curse of being sacrificed, Vega must: ⚔️Find her lost brother 💔Ally w/ her first heartbreak 🌑Uncover the truth her world was forced to forget #QuestPit #SFF #F #Q #RF

HK Smith | Writer @thehksmith.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Super excited to take in all the amazing wisdom that will be shared and try to search for my own submission (👀) during #RevPit #10queries tomorrow 😊

#DVpit - Diverse Voices Pitch @dvpit.bsky.social · last yr.

That's a wrap on #DVpit 2025! Thank you to everyone who participated, volunteered, or supported! Thank you to the agents & editors who showed up! And thank you to our board @peterlopez.bsky.social & @katchowrites.bsky.social & @claribelortega.com who brought #DVpit to Bluesky!

Thank you
to everyone who pitched, supported, or volunteered for #DVpit 2025
follow @dvpit.bsky.social to stay in touch

HK Smith | Writer @thehksmith.bsky.social · last yr.

“To survive, you must forget.” In Vega’s world, half of society surrender memories to an AI god to fuel power for the elite. When her brother vanishes, Vega must wield forbidden magic to break her family’s deadly curse & expose a truth that could tear their world apart. #DVpit #YA #SFF #F #BVM