Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Linda Maleh

@trangnguyenwrites.bsky.social

JADE CITY x HEARTLESS HUNTER

When her mentor goes missing, Gemna joins forces with fellow mage Ren, to unravel the connection b/w the string of disappearances and a terrible discovery that could mean a future where mages are not just outlawed…but wiped from existence.

#A #F #Questpit #Q #querying

red movie poster style image that has the tagline “mages are disappearing…Gemna will risk everything to find out why” and the title CONDUCT OF MAGES. text below included the details “NOW QUERYING” and “An Adult Fantasy, complete at 102K words”

title reads THE PITCH and detailed language says: When her mentor goes missing, Gemna joins forces with fellow mage, Ren, to unravel the connection between the string of disappearances and a terrible discovery that could mean a future where mages are not just outlawed…but wiped from existence.

it then says FOR FANS OF and displays 3 book covers: Six of Crows, Blood Over Bright Haven, and Jade City

page title says FROM EARLY READERS and lists the following quotes:

You have such a talent for using small details to reveal large truths.

their chemistry is still in its EARLY stages, but i love how clear their compatibility is. Even if i’d never seen them on the page together I would see how they could complement each OTHER.

I read the first few chapters and it’s my favorite read of the year…(agents) pick this up so i can find out if they kiss pleasE!!

The tension (of the plot) is insane. your scenes are very layered. it feels like poor gemna can’t catch a break.

I am obsessed with this magic system & the subtle themes of tech vs. humanity.

November 5, 2025 at 9:05 PM

Reposted by Linda Maleh

Sofia Trepp

@sofiatrepp.bsky.social

Ró always found eating hearts to be vile, even if it grants humans magical powers. But her town’s leader craves the heart of a seductive water spirit, and Ró yearns to impress.
Succeed and earn a much-needed boon from the town leader, fail, and it’ll be her heart on a plate🫀
#YA #F #DF #W #QuestPit

A girl (FMC in WIP) and a boy (MMC in WIP) embracing

November 5, 2025 at 9:06 PM

Linda Maleh

@lindamaleh.bsky.social

PERCY JACKSON but with witches!

16-y/o Haley Thorne lives in a secret community of witches in NYC, but when she receives dream messages from dead witches warning of a coming threat, she must go on a deadly quest through a monster-infested realm to save the world by Halloween.

#QuestPit #Q #F #YA

November 5, 2025 at 9:46 PM

Reposted by Linda Maleh

Sofia Trepp

@sofiatrepp.bsky.social

💀What if MBTI-tests were deadly?💀

In order to save her ruined reputation, Ró joins a heart-eating cult to play deadly games that’ll uncover the deepest parts of her personality. Win the tests to prove her worth. Loose and sacrifice her soul to the seductive forest spirits.

#YA #F #DF #W #QuestPit

Designed book title that reads "FEED ME YOUR HEART". The text drips with blood.

Comp titles for "Feed Me Your Heart" including "Where the Dark Stands Still", "Your Blood, My Bones", "Children of Ragnarök" and "A Harvest of Hearts"

Themes of Feed Me Your Heart, including slow burn romance, deadly personality tests and that humans must eat hearts to wield magic

November 5, 2025 at 5:12 PM

Reposted by Linda Maleh

HK Smith | Writer

@thehksmith.bsky.social

In Vega’s world, survival means surrendering memories to an arcane intelligence.

Doomed to die as sacrifice, she cheats fate with forbidden magic—but her family's curse hunts her brother instead.

To save him, Vega must uncover the truth her world was made to forget.

#QuestPit #YA #F #SFF #Q #RF

First Revelation: "To survive, you must forget."

First paragraphs from the first chapter of The Celestial Ring:
As I move through the canyon of glass and steel toward Her, the likelihood of imminent death feels briefly distant.
For the millionth time, my fingers brush where the disruptor hides in my robe pocket. If this little device saves me, it will be more than worth the risk.
My brother strides ahead, shaking his head at the Interpreter towers. Each spirals upward, disappearing out of reach, like the people inside them. Families with desirable names and the privileges that come with it. Kids who probably are not worried if they’ll hear Her voice today.

The Celestial Ring
YA Science Fantasy by H.K. Smith

November 5, 2025 at 7:17 PM

Linda Maleh

@lindamaleh.bsky.social

LEGENDBORN x LITTLE THIEVES

Witch Haley Thorne teams up with new friends—including broody August—on a quest through a monster-infested realm before:
💀A nefarious witch comes back to life
🐉The dead and monstrous flood into their realm
💥The portal between the realms wrecks reality
#QuestPit #Q #F #YA

November 5, 2025 at 7:16 PM

Reposted by Linda Maleh

Kanani O’Kelly

@kananiokelly.bsky.social

MOANA x SHADOW AND BONE

An #agentsguide to WHISPERS OF THE SEA, my #amquerying young adult fantasy.

Feat:
🌊 Hawaiian-inspired mythology
🌋 setting as a character
🌊 angry female mc

#QuestPit #YA #F #Q #OwnVoices #AgentGuide

The introduction to my young adult novel, Whispers of the Sea.

The pitch:

A teen girl embarks on a journey to a mysterious island where she’ll team up with a boy to uncover the whereabouts of her missing uncle. But to save him, Keahi must interfere with the King’s plans to restore power to his kingdom—except the throne was never his to claim, and the island only answers to one: the girl with a heart of fire.

For fans of: Disney’s Moana, Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, and Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle

November 5, 2025 at 5:08 AM

Reposted by Linda Maleh

Emilia Young | Author

@emiliayoung.bsky.social

MARK OF A MAGPIE is #OnSubmission! 🐦‍⬛📖

When a small-town thief crosses paths with the kingdom’s big-shot assassin, an unlikely partnership is born; but can their goals align before their egos and secrets land them both a spot on the gallows?

#QuestPit #YA #A #F #RF
#OS #AG #EditorsGuide #Editors

Editor's Guide To MARK OF A MAGPIE
Crossover Romantic Fantasy
118k Words

Text is on a piece of parchment. Behind the parchment are blue seas and gold flower outlines.

Blurb

One for Sorrow, Two for Joy, Three for a Girl, Four for a Boy…

Ryn is a small-town thief who has a knack for being overconfident in her abilities, but by day she’s a beloved tavern girl with the liver of steel that carries her reputation. On her most daring break-in yet, she runs face first into the kingdom’s last living assassin, Seven, and he’s just offered her the opportunity of a century: a ticket of attendance to the King’s upcoming courtship gathering. It’s a partnership she’d be a fool to take up, but with her family scattered across the sea after the draft, a fool is what she’ll need to be to find them.

Five for Silver, Six for Gold…

Seven is set on his own plans, however much they interfere with hers, and they won’t be the only ones in attendance with hidden agendas. Once whispers of the past begin to resurface and nobles begin dying around them, it’s survival of the cunning and silver-tongued. The castle is under lockdown, and all bets for the crown are placed on their capture.

Seven for a Secret, Never to Be Told.

Text is on a piece of parchment. Behind the parchment are blue seas and gold flower outlines.

The Atmosphere:
There is a collage of pictures on a parchment paper. Picture one is of a boy crouched down with his head covered as a fire burns in the background. Picture two is of two hands tied to a pole on the beach. Picture three shows a person wrapping up the wounded hand of another. Picture four shows an old piece of parchment with unreadable script. Picture five is of an island with a castle and small village surrounding it. Picture six is of a girl on the run with a dagger in hand. Picture seven shows a bottle of alcohol. Picture eight has a medieval alleyway. And picture eight shows a ship's crew enjoying a sunset.

There is text below the collage that says: ON SUBMISSION NOW!
Represented by Amanda Wooden at SBR Media, contact information available on my website!

Behind the parchment, with gold flower outlines surrounding it.

November 5, 2025 at 8:24 AM

Reposted by Linda Maleh

trang ☆ is querying!

@trangnguyenwrites.bsky.social

THINGS RUINING GEMNA’S DAY:

💥 mages are outlawed (she’s a mage)
👵🏻 her mentor is missing (also a mage)
❤️‍🔥 Ren (a broody, grey eyed mage)
‼️ the disappearance of MORE mages
👑 a king that wants them all dead

An Asian inspired #A #Fantasy for fans of JADE CITY x HEARTLESS HUNTER x MISTBORN #questpit #Q

November 5, 2025 at 5:27 PM

Reposted by Linda Maleh

trang ☆ is querying!

@trangnguyenwrites.bsky.social

Sharing my #agentsguide for CONDUCT OF MAGES, an #A #F for fans of JADE CITY x SIX OF CROWS

When her mentor goes missing Gemma teams up with fellow mage, Ren, to uncover a plot to eradicate mages…one that involves the emergence of a mysterious stone that mimics their powers.

#questpit #Q #querying

cover page that says CONDUCT OF MAGES, an adult fantasy complete at 102K words on a moody dark background showing a brown building and orange and yellow paper lanterns

text reads THE VIBES and lists: energy magic, heists & scheming, found family, research subplot, slooow burn, female role models, SE Asian setting. placed on a moody dark background showing a brown building and orange and yellow paper lanterns

text reads FOR FANS OF and then six book covers are displayed, from top left to bottom right: JADE CITY, JASAD HEIR, MISTBORN, HEARTLESS HUNTER, BLOOD OVER BRIGHT HAVEN, and SIX OF CROWS

text reads EXCERPTS. the first is labeled FIRST LINE, and reads “Gemna was sorting through a basket of sparrowberries when she found out that her existence had been outlawed.” the second text bid is labeled CHAPTER 4 and reads: “In all fairness, Yala had never specified just how flammable elderfire was.

The heat was instantaneous and overwhelming. Gemna felt it scorch the edges of her sleeves before she pulled in the energy from the flames and, when she was nearly bursting with it, diverted it towards the two Hands at the front of the shop. The fire died harmlessly at her feet before it could eat its way into the hidden cellar below.”

November 5, 2025 at 3:14 PM

Reposted by Linda Maleh

Rebecca I.O

@rebeccaio.bsky.social

In a world where their faltering fertility ensues extinction, obeying orders has never been more vital. Or so the gods say. A FATE INKED IN BLOOD x SERVANT OF EARTH. #Q #A #RF #QuestPit

Background with dark green vines. Text in white in the middle: “An agents guide to Wilted Fate, adult fantasy with romance, 108.000 words”

Background with dark green vines. Header: The Pitch, followed by two pictures. The first one of several women with white large bonnets and red capes, taken from the series The Handmaid’s Tale, and next to it is a picture of the myth The Wild Hunt from Norse mythology. On top of both pictures is text: The Handmaid’s Tale meets Norse mythology. Below is the pitch, which says:

Extinction is the inevitable next step. Their first, volitional breeding project, where Astrid was born, failed, and now she’s adamant to prove her worth to the gods. Even performing a damaging ritual to incite magic in the earth again.

But the earth retaliates by revealing the consequences of her blind obedience. But should she fail to perform the ritual, the gods are desperate enough to take action again to restore their population.

Only, they won’t ask this time.

Background with dark green vines. Header: Excerpt from the prologue called The Slave. “The Slave had never known peace. She had tried to find it, though. Through compliance. Silence. By fitting neatly into expectations and holding her tongue. But being a female was not only a menial experience. It was also violent. Vicious. It was a war started against her and the other females in the room, bound by invisible chains to their beds. As they waited in compliance, silence, for a name to be called. And hoping that name wasn’t their own. But war never knew peace. War only knew wrath. The fragile light that seeped in from the windows slowly unveiled the terror of dawn. And with it, muffled sobs filled the room. But even if the Slave wasn’t grieving, she didn’t blame the females for it. It was easier to lean into the soft embrace of sorrow than to turn to the violent claws of fury. To lose hope, because there was none. The Slave had never known peace. Until she found the blissful reprieve of rage in this proclaimed war, something she’d never allowed herself to feel. Until now.

Background with dark green vines. Header: Comparative titles in the middle of the picture. Above it the text reads: The Norse lore and the slow-burn romance in “A fate inked in blood”. Below it the text reads: The unyielding FMC and The dismantling of societal structures in “The servant of earth”.

November 5, 2025 at 1:55 PM

Linda Maleh

@lindamaleh.bsky.social

LITTLE THIEVES x NINTH HOUSE

When a nefarious witch schemes to come back to life, 16-y/o Haley Thorne must use her death magic to travel to a realm of dead witches and monsters to stop her.

🎃Halloween deadline
🏙️NYC-setting
❤️‍🔥Slow-burn romance subplot
💀Spooky graveyards

#QuestPit #Q #F #YA #witch

November 5, 2025 at 5:02 PM

Reposted by Linda Maleh

Cassie is drafting 📚🖊️

@cassjackson-22.bsky.social

MLFI
#QuestPit #YA #W #RF
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES x TURNING RED
What if a chance encounter led you to your soulmate, but you didn't click right away? Aimee and Hunter are going to find out in this dual POV romcom filled with tutoring, self discovery, and platonic soulmates.

November 5, 2025 at 3:18 PM

Reposted by Linda Maleh

Emily

@eriverowrites.bsky.social

Things ruining Rhen’s Day:
🩸 Her prophesied power never manifests
👑 Being stripped of her titles as heir
⚔️ A (hot) man prevents her from unlocking her power
👁️ An arcane force tries to kill her when she's near the sea (she lives seaside)
🌊 The truth about her brother’s death

#QuestPit #W #A #F

A collage of eight images, showing scenes of seaside cliffs, a sword, fortresses, bodies of water, and colorful strips of light throughout.

November 5, 2025 at 2:05 PM

Linda Maleh

@lindamaleh.bsky.social

PERCY JACKSON x LEGENDBORN

When 16-y/o witch, Haley Thorne, receives dream messages from dead witches about a coming threat, she must go on a quest through a monster-infested realm to stop a plot to open the door between the realms that will wreck the fabric of reality. #QuestPit #Q #F #YA #witches

November 5, 2025 at 2:02 PM

Reposted by Linda Maleh

HK Smith | Writer

@thehksmith.bsky.social

LEGENDBORN x DUNE in a #YA fantasy where humanity survives by surrendering memories to a divine intelligence.

To break her family's curse of being sacrificed, Vega must:
⚔️Find her lost brother
💔Ally w/ her first heartbreak
🌑Uncover the truth her world was forced to forget

#QuestPit #SFF #F #Q #RF

A dark space fantasy aesthetic mood board with a collage of photos. Vertically down, from the first column:
1. A violet, light-tinged hole framing a violet sky
2. A faint silhouette of a woman beneath colors like the northern lights
3. Two hands reaching towards one another
4. A sci-fi inspired, dark uniform with a high collar
5. A grand stairwell, perhaps a futuristic religious site, with a single silhouette looking up
6. Two romantic silhouettes against a starry night sky
7. A lone figure with a backpack, standing amongst a shroud of sand-colored fog
8. A hand covered in glitter
9. A silhouette standing in front of a blue-lit circular tunnel entrance
10. A black woman with glitter coating her shoulder, just the bottom half of her face is visible, lips tilted slightly up in a smile
11. A black woman screaming
12. A stream of light breaking through dark clouds
13. An eye turned to show only the whites
14. Figures in robes seemingly suspended in mid-air
15. A figure on a black, sleek futuristic looking motorcycle

None of the images are my own. They are all sourced from Pinterest

November 5, 2025 at 12:46 PM

Linda Maleh

@lindamaleh.bsky.social

Returning to this platform to say that has anyone else noticed that they took West Wing off of hbo max? I’m freaking out. This is my comfort show.

January 7, 2025 at 1:10 AM

Reposted by Linda Maleh

Amanda Marcotte

@amandamarcotte.bsky.social

I feel a lot of people keep waiting for the "first" woman to die because of Dobbs. But multiple women have already died because of it. It's just not reported.

jessica.substack.com/p/how-to-rep...

How to Report Post-Dobbs Deaths

The New Yorker reports that a woman has died—so why not call it what it is?

jessica.substack.com

January 8, 2024 at 9:07 PM

Linda Maleh

@lindamaleh.bsky.social

The Academy have truly gone round the bend with what they consider “adapted”

Nate Jones @kn8.bsky.social · Jan 5

This week in Futures: Barbie's screenplay shakeup, Nolan's Peloton fracas, and the Charles Melton train hits its first bumps.
www.vulture.com/2024/01/how-...

How Barbie’s Screenplay Shake-up Will Affect the Awards Race

The Academy ruled this week that Greta Gerwig’s film will run in Adapted Screenplay, not Original. How does that impact the rest of the Oscar field?

www.vulture.com

January 6, 2024 at 4:09 AM

Linda Maleh

@lindamaleh.bsky.social

That’s right. To try to curb fatness, they think children should just STARVE. Ghouls

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · Dec 24

Iowa will not participate in a food assistance program for low-income families to help with child food costs while school is out

“An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic,” the governor said

Iowa won't participate in US food assistance program for kids this summer

Iowa will not participate in a federal program that gives $40 per month to each child in a low-income family over the summer to help with food costs while school is out.

apnews.com

December 24, 2023 at 3:52 PM

Linda Maleh

@lindamaleh.bsky.social

As a person who hates driving and loves trains, I’m pretty salty about this not gonna lie

Paris Marx @parismarx.com · Dec 22

As Hyperloop One shuts down, we need to remember that the Hyperloop was never meant to be built.

Elon Musk’s goal was never to transform transportation for the masses, but to stop or delay high-speed rail from reaching North America. Sadly, he succeeded — and we all lost as a result.