The Job of a Disruption
The Shit No One Tells You About Writing
Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra
4.8 • 842 Ratings
🗓️ 25 December 2025
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this festive episode, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe unwrap two juicy query critiques! First up: — a whodunit-meets-reality-TV mashup where The Bachelor collides with Death on the Nile. The trio dishes on comps overload, missing love stories, and why “cozy romance” needs more than vibes. Then, a chilling turn with a literary horror set in Alaska. CeCe and Carly dive deep into what makes tension work (hint: clarity, specificity, and stakes), plus a few laughs over maps, marriage, and misfires.
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 |
| 0:56.4 | and Carly Waters of PS Literary. |
| 1:00.4 | Hello everybody and welcome to Books with Hooks. If you are celebrating Christmas, |
| 1:05.4 | Merry Christmas. Thanks for listening to us on your holiday. We're so glad that you are with us. |
| 1:10.2 | Here we go. Dear Carly and |
| 1:12.4 | the T. Snott Yaw team, thank you so much for taking the time to read this query. I have loved |
| 1:17.0 | devouring your books with hook segment while working on my novel, and I look forward to your |
| 1:20.9 | wisdom, humor and generosity of feedback. ABC's The Bachelor meets Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile |
| 1:26.9 | in my debut novel, Death of a Bachelor, 80,000 Words. |
| 1:30.4 | A classic who done it with a cozy romance wound through, this mystery is perfect for those who enjoyed the zany reality TV atmosphere in Jessa Maxwell's The Golden Spoon, |
| 1:39.8 | and the single POB character building of Nita Roses, The Maid. |
... |
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