One of the Best Hooks We’ve Had on a BWH Segment

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra

How To, Books, Education, Fiction, Arts

4.8 • 733 Ratings

🗓️ 12 June 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Pop the champagne—it’s the 200th episode of Books with Hooks! Join hosts Bianca, Carly, and CeCe as they celebrate this major milestone with signature style and sharp writing advice. In this special segment, they dive into two fresh submissions: a gripping crime thriller and a thought-provoking book club novel. Carly and CeCe deliver expert feedback on character depth, narrative hooks, and story structure, while highlighting the power of perspective in storytelling. Packed with practical tips and inspiring insights, this celebratory episode is a must-listen for any writer looking to level up their query game and storytelling craft.

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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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, listeners, this is Cece. I am so excited to announce my next course, Writing Emotion and Relationships,
0:08.4	an all-new mashup of two of my most popular classes revamped with fresh content starting on June 19th.
0:16.6	This is going to be a four-day event, so come prepared to take lots of notes.
0:22.1	We'll cover active versus passive emotions, how to effectively show versus tell,
0:27.7	most common mistakes in writing emotions and relationships, and obviously how to get it right,
0:33.8	types of relationships and how to leverage each one in a story,
0:39.1	emotional and relational makeups and arcs for protagonists and other characters, how to create chemistry between characters,
0:46.5	different genre expectations, and so much more.
0:50.2	Oh, and did I mention there is an interactive component.
0:54.0	That's right, everyone who is registered will have the option of sending an excerpt of their work for a chance to have it critiqued live during the webinar.
1:04.0	Writers of all categories and genres are invited to attend.
1:09.0	There are limited spots though, so if you're interested,
1:11.6	sign up now. And don't worry, if you can't attend one or more sessions live, the recording
1:17.0	will be sent to everyone who's registered 24 hours after each class. Once again, this is a four-day
1:24.7	class writing emotion and relationships beginning on June 19th.
1:29.6	For more details, check out the link on my Instagram bio or head over to the podcast's website.
1:36.2	I hope to see you there.
1:46.9	Hi there and welcome to our show.
1:49.7	The ship no one tells you about writing.
1:57.2	I'm Bianca Murray and I'm joined by Carly Waters and Cici Lira from PS Literary Agency.
2:04.4	Hello everyone and welcome to not just another box with hook segment, but our 200 books with hoax segments. So cheers to the team who's been showing up for 200 segments and
2:11.9	sharing invaluable, invaluable information. As per usual, we're going to dive right in.
	...

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