In today's Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe critique a rom-com and a YA submission. They discuss the importance of clarity in your query and avoiding language that might cause confusion; the necessity of a clear major dramatic question in your query; ensuring your protagonists aren't anticipating everything that happens in your pages; the necessity of including a character's tone in dialogue; properly mapping out how your plot points connect; thinking in specifics and futurization; and an example of strong opening pages.

After which, Bianca chats with Claire Lombardo, best-selling author of The Most Fun We Ever Had and Same As It Ever Was. They discuss opening pages; advice for creating tension; Claire's drafting process and how she approaches interiority; getting to know your characters in moments that aren't necessarily life-changing; successfully writing a novel where a character is alone most of the time; balancing interiority and emotionality with avoiding too much telling; why Claire chose third-person POV instead of first; how she approaches characterization and fleshing out her characters to make them more realistic; why she chose to have a single POV rather than multiple like in her first novel; and how the book evolved into a dual timeline.

Note: Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra are literary agents at P.S. Literary Agency, but their work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly and CeCe on this podcast are solely that of them as podcast co-hosts and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.

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