About this episode
In today's Books with Hooks , Bianca, CeCe, and Carly critique an upmarket/southern-gothic query and a book club romance. They discuss a "perfect" first query paragraph; the importance of accurate framing in a query; when a content warning is necessary; tips for elevating your line level writing along with examples of sophisticated writing; writing protagonists' thoughts in a realistic way; mistakes writers make that make their writing appear less polished; and examples of how to build curiosity into your pages. After which, Bianca interviews Elba Iris Pérez , debut author of The Things We Didn't Know . They discuss Elba's winning of the Simon and Schuster "Books Like Us" award and Elba's subsequent journey to publication; the benefit of taking writing courses; writing magazines as good resources for finding contests; immersing readers in scenes that are unfamiliar to them; and writing children in first person in a convincing manner. Find us on our socials: Twitter: @TSNOTYAW @BiancaM_author @carlywatters @ceciliaclyra Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_shit_about_writing/ https://www.instagram.com/biancamarais_author/ https://www.instagram.com/carlywatters/ https://www.instagram.com/cece_lyra_agent/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TSNOTYAW Websites: www.theshitaboutwriting.com , www.biancamarais.com , www.carlywatters.com and www.cecilialyra.com To ask a question, go to: https://sayhi.chat/TSNOTYAW Bookshop.org affiliate page: https://bookshop.org/shop/theshitnoonetellsyouaboutwriting More information about Elba can be found at: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Elba-Iris-Perez/195715113 She's also on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/elbaip?lang=en Our Sponsors: * Check out Quince: https://quince.com/tsnotyaw * Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: https://www.rosettastone.com * Check out Wayfair: https://www.wayfair.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands