Shannon Kizzia
@shannonkizzia.bsky.social
Ex-professional ballet dancer turned writer (they/she). I’ve had three great loves in my life: dancing, writing, and being queer. I’ve written (and #amquerying) a novel, The Fire Years, that includes all three. ❤️🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Pinned
Shannon Kizzia
@shannonkizzia.bsky.social
· Sep 23
I cut 25,000 words from the novel!
In Chicago, ‘92, a ballet teacher and his male protégé, fall in love but scarcely act on it before circumstances separate them. It will take a tragic accident to bring them back together in this story of life after trauma, and the bittersweet resilience of love.
In Chicago, ‘92, a ballet teacher and his male protégé, fall in love but scarcely act on it before circumstances separate them. It will take a tragic accident to bring them back together in this story of life after trauma, and the bittersweet resilience of love.
Reposted by Shannon Kizzia
Daily feedback call my dudes
FEEDBACK FORM:
Shouting publicly is an incredibly powerful tool, and in addition, we can give them a piece of our mind in the feedback form
Desktop and mobile locations:
Shouting publicly is an incredibly powerful tool, and in addition, we can give them a piece of our mind in the feedback form
Desktop and mobile locations:
September 24, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Daily feedback call my dudes
I cut 25,000 words from the novel!
In Chicago, ‘92, a ballet teacher and his male protégé, fall in love but scarcely act on it before circumstances separate them. It will take a tragic accident to bring them back together in this story of life after trauma, and the bittersweet resilience of love.
In Chicago, ‘92, a ballet teacher and his male protégé, fall in love but scarcely act on it before circumstances separate them. It will take a tragic accident to bring them back together in this story of life after trauma, and the bittersweet resilience of love.
September 23, 2025 at 9:08 PM
I cut 25,000 words from the novel!
In Chicago, ‘92, a ballet teacher and his male protégé, fall in love but scarcely act on it before circumstances separate them. It will take a tragic accident to bring them back together in this story of life after trauma, and the bittersweet resilience of love.
In Chicago, ‘92, a ballet teacher and his male protégé, fall in love but scarcely act on it before circumstances separate them. It will take a tragic accident to bring them back together in this story of life after trauma, and the bittersweet resilience of love.
In my quest to edit 50k out of my 150k novel, I’ve managed 7k over 13 chapters so far. Not nearly enough, but I’ve decided this is just the first of at least two big revision passes. Bonus: have fallen in love with Thomas and Ramón all over again. 🥹❤️
a woman with a watch on her wrist is holding her head
Alt: a woman is crying and fanning her face
media.tenor.com
May 4, 2025 at 4:45 PM
In my quest to edit 50k out of my 150k novel, I’ve managed 7k over 13 chapters so far. Not nearly enough, but I’ve decided this is just the first of at least two big revision passes. Bonus: have fallen in love with Thomas and Ramón all over again. 🥹❤️
Time to cut 50k from this bad boy!
April 20, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Time to cut 50k from this bad boy!
Thank you, Joel! Knowing I was on your shortlist has given me the boost I’ve needed, for sure! I’m ready to dive back into The Fire Years and get Thomas and Ramón an agent! 🫶🏻
P8 – The author is talented, and the pages are clean, though the portion I read felt a little devoid of emotional color and tone. Its sensory descriptions could use some punching up with more carefully-chosen descriptive words aimed at creating the mood/tone the author intends.
April 18, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Thank you, Joel! Knowing I was on your shortlist has given me the boost I’ve needed, for sure! I’m ready to dive back into The Fire Years and get Thomas and Ramón an agent! 🫶🏻
I’m truly so thrilled to get such valuable feedback on my chonky chonker! 😂💖
Q8 – Adult Contemporary – Billed as contemporary, the setting of this manuscript is more than old enough to classify as Historical, instead. Also, your word count is way, way too high. Big books are expensive to edit, print, and ship, and publishers tend not to take big financial risks on debuts.
April 18, 2025 at 6:01 PM
I’m truly so thrilled to get such valuable feedback on my chonky chonker! 😂💖
Thank you so much @joelbrigham.bsky.social for the encouraging and helpful feedback and for letting me know I was one of your #10queries for #revpit! You’ve given me plenty to consider, including the possibility of hiring you for editing help! I’m so grateful!
April 18, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Thank you so much @joelbrigham.bsky.social for the encouraging and helpful feedback and for letting me know I was one of your #10queries for #revpit! You’ve given me plenty to consider, including the possibility of hiring you for editing help! I’m so grateful!
Reposted by Shannon Kizzia
I've seen a few subposts today that tell me this needs saying: #RevPit isn’t a contest that rewards the “best” book. It’s one opportunity, shaped by timing, taste, and editorial capacity. Not a judgment on your future in publishing.
April 15, 2025 at 3:51 PM
I've seen a few subposts today that tell me this needs saying: #RevPit isn’t a contest that rewards the “best” book. It’s one opportunity, shaped by timing, taste, and editorial capacity. Not a judgment on your future in publishing.
Me. Keeping myself busy until #revpit winner reveals.
a man in a plaid shirt is sitting in a chair with his head on his hands .
Alt: a man in a plaid shirt is sitting in a chair bouncing his knees and fidgeting impatiently (it’s John Ritter in Three’s Company)
media.tenor.com
April 13, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Me. Keeping myself busy until #revpit winner reveals.
Reposted by Shannon Kizzia
Y’ALL WE WROTE BOOKS!!! 📚
I think it’s something we can take for granted but like????? You created a whole new story or world from nothing?? Absolutely magic ✨ No matter what happens tomorrow, take some time to celebrate how amazing you are!!!
#RevPit #RevPitWaiting
I think it’s something we can take for granted but like????? You created a whole new story or world from nothing?? Absolutely magic ✨ No matter what happens tomorrow, take some time to celebrate how amazing you are!!!
#RevPit #RevPitWaiting
April 13, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Y’ALL WE WROTE BOOKS!!! 📚
I think it’s something we can take for granted but like????? You created a whole new story or world from nothing?? Absolutely magic ✨ No matter what happens tomorrow, take some time to celebrate how amazing you are!!!
#RevPit #RevPitWaiting
I think it’s something we can take for granted but like????? You created a whole new story or world from nothing?? Absolutely magic ✨ No matter what happens tomorrow, take some time to celebrate how amazing you are!!!
#RevPit #RevPitWaiting
I wouldn’t have even known about #revpit without @ehkell.bsky.social who incidentally was one of the very first people to read and help me with my novel. Also thank you to everyone I’ve met through this and all the hardworking editors! What an amazing experience this has been because of you all.
#RevPitWaiting T-2!
Before a 'journey' that I've started is coming to an end, I like reminding myself of what I'm thankful for.
What good things have come from the journey. Things that I wouldn't have had if I didn't put myself out there to possibly experience disappointment.
[pls not me lol]
Before a 'journey' that I've started is coming to an end, I like reminding myself of what I'm thankful for.
What good things have come from the journey. Things that I wouldn't have had if I didn't put myself out there to possibly experience disappointment.
[pls not me lol]
April 12, 2025 at 3:33 PM
I wouldn’t have even known about #revpit without @ehkell.bsky.social who incidentally was one of the very first people to read and help me with my novel. Also thank you to everyone I’ve met through this and all the hardworking editors! What an amazing experience this has been because of you all.
Still figuring out bsky, so I only belatedly paired my log line with the collage I made for my novel. Let’s see yours! ❤️
Set in Chicago in 1992, two dancers, a teacher and his brilliant male protégé, fall in love but scarcely act on their feelings before circumstances separate them. It will take a tragic accident to bring them back together in this story about life after loss and the bittersweet resiliency of love.
April 12, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Still figuring out bsky, so I only belatedly paired my log line with the collage I made for my novel. Let’s see yours! ❤️
Reposted by Shannon Kizzia
Many, many thanks to all the editors for sharing such valuable feedback. 🙏 This is my first #RevPit, and I’ve been amazed by the level of support and encouragement from editors and authors alike! It’s been a great experience! #10Queries #RevPitTeasers
April 12, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Many, many thanks to all the editors for sharing such valuable feedback. 🙏 This is my first #RevPit, and I’ve been amazed by the level of support and encouragement from editors and authors alike! It’s been a great experience! #10Queries #RevPitTeasers
This could very well be me and in my defense:
I’M OOOOLLLLDDDD.
😂🤦🏻
I’M OOOOLLLLDDDD.
😂🤦🏻
Q7: A C. Labeled as contemporary, but books set in the 90s are historical fiction (I'm sorry!) The premise is compelling and the voice is strong. A bit more clarity on the stakes and what propels the story forward would really land this. #RevPit #10Queries
April 11, 2025 at 2:17 AM
This could very well be me and in my defense:
I’M OOOOLLLLDDDD.
😂🤦🏻
I’M OOOOLLLLDDDD.
😂🤦🏻
A #revpit #10queries will have 2-3 elements that sound EXACTLY like my novel—and then 1 that absolutely does not. This is the intended torture of the whole business, I think.
April 10, 2025 at 3:46 PM
A #revpit #10queries will have 2-3 elements that sound EXACTLY like my novel—and then 1 that absolutely does not. This is the intended torture of the whole business, I think.
Reposted by Shannon Kizzia
Gigantic crowd in NYC for the #HandsOff march against Trump, Musk, and MAGA. So many people that the participants can barely move along. Signs decrying Trump and Co. on many fronts: immigration, science, Social Security, reproductive rights, tariffs, autocracy, kleptocracy & the price of eggs.
April 5, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Gigantic crowd in NYC for the #HandsOff march against Trump, Musk, and MAGA. So many people that the participants can barely move along. Signs decrying Trump and Co. on many fronts: immigration, science, Social Security, reproductive rights, tariffs, autocracy, kleptocracy & the price of eggs.
Reposted by Shannon Kizzia
Huge crowds of protesters in Washington D.C. heading to the Hands Off! protest!
Let's go!!!!!
Let's go!!!!!
April 5, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Reposted by Shannon Kizzia
Huge crowd of protesters in Portland, Maine at the Hands Off! protest!
Thank you, Maine!!!!
Thank you, Maine!!!!
April 5, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Huge crowd of protesters in Portland, Maine at the Hands Off! protest!
Thank you, Maine!!!!
Thank you, Maine!!!!
Reposted by Shannon Kizzia
Protesters are showing up in Cincinnati, Ohio for the Hands Off! protest!
April 5, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Protesters are showing up in Cincinnati, Ohio for the Hands Off! protest!
Reposted by Shannon Kizzia
Hands Off Protest in the Boston Common
April 5, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Hands Off Protest in the Boston Common
Set in Chicago in 1992, two dancers, a teacher and his brilliant male protégé, fall in love but scarcely act on their feelings before circumstances separate them. It will take a tragic accident to bring them back together in this story about life after loss and the bittersweet resiliency of love.
April 3, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Set in Chicago in 1992, two dancers, a teacher and his brilliant male protégé, fall in love but scarcely act on their feelings before circumstances separate them. It will take a tragic accident to bring them back together in this story about life after loss and the bittersweet resiliency of love.
Reposted by Shannon Kizzia
Author math is deducing all #10queries correlate to your one manuscript. 👌 #RevPitWaiting
April 3, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Author math is deducing all #10queries correlate to your one manuscript. 👌 #RevPitWaiting
Reposted by Shannon Kizzia
Something to remind you
It's a world worth saving
Still a bit smushed but standing strong on fields of flowers and the great plains
It's a world worth saving
Still a bit smushed but standing strong on fields of flowers and the great plains
March 30, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Something to remind you
It's a world worth saving
Still a bit smushed but standing strong on fields of flowers and the great plains
It's a world worth saving
Still a bit smushed but standing strong on fields of flowers and the great plains
The first book that made me want to become a writer was Jeanette Winterson’s Written on the Body. Talk about both a queer and writerly wake up call!
It was both Aciman’s Call Me by Your Name and Yanagihara’s A Little Life that prompted me to write The Fire Years. I had to heal my heart somehow!
It was both Aciman’s Call Me by Your Name and Yanagihara’s A Little Life that prompted me to write The Fire Years. I had to heal my heart somehow!
#RevPitWaiting Day 11! (I said day 9 twice 🫣 oops)
#revpit Share your favorite authors! Were there any which made you say, "I will write my own book?"
#revpit Share your favorite authors! Were there any which made you say, "I will write my own book?"
March 27, 2025 at 7:10 PM
The first book that made me want to become a writer was Jeanette Winterson’s Written on the Body. Talk about both a queer and writerly wake up call!
It was both Aciman’s Call Me by Your Name and Yanagihara’s A Little Life that prompted me to write The Fire Years. I had to heal my heart somehow!
It was both Aciman’s Call Me by Your Name and Yanagihara’s A Little Life that prompted me to write The Fire Years. I had to heal my heart somehow!
Reposted by Shannon Kizzia
Trump is conducting an authoritarian witch hunt against foreign students here legally, simply because they’ve engaged in free speech that his regime doesn’t like.
This is modern-day McCarthyism and an attack on the First Amendment. We must all stand up against it.
This is modern-day McCarthyism and an attack on the First Amendment. We must all stand up against it.
March 26, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Trump is conducting an authoritarian witch hunt against foreign students here legally, simply because they’ve engaged in free speech that his regime doesn’t like.
This is modern-day McCarthyism and an attack on the First Amendment. We must all stand up against it.
This is modern-day McCarthyism and an attack on the First Amendment. We must all stand up against it.