The Infinite Options of Where to Begin
The Shit No One Tells You About Writing
Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra
4.8 • 842 Ratings
🗓️ 22 January 2026
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week on Books with Hooks, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe break down two standout queries—and what they get right (and wrong).
First up: a UK-set enemies-to-lovers romance featuring a disgraced chef, a fallen influencer, and a double-booked garden plot. The hosts talk about query length, POV clarity, influencer culture on the page, and whether surface-level charm is enough to sustain romantic tension.
Then: a YA fantasy revenge story about an angel hunting her human ex-lover after a brutal betrayal. This segment is packed with praise—and sharp craft notes on stakes, dual timelines, withholding backstory, and morally grey characters.
Note: CeCe Lyra is a literary agent at Wendy Sherman Associates. If you’d like to query CeCe, please refer to the submission guidelines at www.wsherman.com. Carly Watters is a literary agent at P.S. Literary Agency, but her work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly on this podcast are solely that of her as a podcast co-host 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 | Hi there. We've got a lot. We're really excited to tell you about, but I'm going to make this real |
| 0:04.9 | quick so you can get to the episode. The deep dive is coming up at the end of January. The lineup of |
| 0:10.9 | speakers is incredible and the range of topics is mind-blowing. You do not want to miss out on the last |
| 0:17.3 | deep dive ever. Then the beta reader matchup is open once again |
| 0:21.3 | with the matchups going out early in February. |
| 0:23.9 | Sign up to kick your creative year off with a bang. |
| 0:27.2 | Lastly, there's an amazing writer's workbook available |
| 0:30.0 | which will make the perfect gift for you |
| 0:32.3 | or the writer in your life. |
| 0:34.4 | Head to our website, The Shit About Writing, to find out more. |
| 0:44.6 | Hi there and welcome to our show. The Shit No One Tells You About Writing. I'm best-selling |
| 0:51.1 | author Bianca Murray and I'm joined by Cece Leera of Wendy Sherman Associates and Carly Waters of PS Literary. |
| 1:00.4 | Hi everyone. Welcome back to another Books with Hux. As per usual, we are going to dive straight in. |
| 1:07.0 | Carly, can you please read us your query letter? |
| 1:10.2 | Dear Mrs. Waters, the allotment is an 82,000-word double-POV contemporary romance that |
| 1:15.8 | combines the grumpy sunshine energy of Lucy Parker's Battle Royale with the chaotically funny |
| 1:21.1 | British enemies-to-lovers romance of Beth O'Leary's The Wake Up Call. I'm querying you because |
| 1:25.8 | if you're interested in uplifting humorous |
| 1:27.7 | stories such as Kitty Johnson's prickly company. Mave Morton face-planted off the internet. |
| 1:33.8 | She was once a top food influencer until a brutally honest Instagram live exposing industry |
| 1:38.9 | fakery and calling out popular influencers saw her sponsors drop her and her followers turn. |
| 1:45.0 | Now, Meltdown Mave is broke, stuck in a moldy East London flat and one overdraft extension |
... |
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