Sarah J. Carlson
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sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social
Sarah J. Carlson
@sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social
280 followers 450 following 72 posts
Young Adult author of EVERYTHING’S NOT FINE (Kirkus YA Best Books of 2020 About Finding Inner Strength) and ALL THE WALLS OF BELFAST. 🇨🇦🇺🇸 living in Atlantic Canada. Seeking new representation.

https://sjcarlsonauthor.com
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sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social
Sarah J. Carlson @sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social · Apr 5
My book trailer for PLAY TO MY HEART, a dual POV Contemporary YA about two teens from different worlds connected by the power of music, trying to do good in the world. Set in #NovaScotia

#AgentGuide in reply to this post. #amquerying #AuthorsAndWriters #booksky #writing #authors #Querying
sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social
#writinglifemonthly Day 06 Share a writing resource

Figuring out how to use "Outline" mode in Word to make chapter headings "Level 1" text. When I open "Find" or "Navigation," it brings up chapter headings that I can instantly navigate to. I can also, in this menu, "select all" for the whole ch.
traceyleewrites.bsky.social Tracey Lee @traceyleewrites.bsky.social · Apr 6
#writinglifemonthly Day 06

💖 #WritingCommunity Is there a writing resource you love and think people should know about? It could be a blog post, a piece of tech, or the most amazing pen or notebook. Something instrumental to your writing journey. 🙏

#AskAnAuthor #AmWriting #WriteSky
#writinglifemonthly April Get to know me... Day 06 Share a game-changing resource
April 7, 2025 at 1:10 AM
sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social
Had so much fun during #1stLinePit. It inspired me to make a bunch of promo material (which I’ve been putting off), and now I remember how much I enjoy creating visuals. Also so great to see all the writerly support. I’ve missed that! Thanks @1stlinepit.bsky.social! #amwriting #writingcommunity
sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social Sarah J. Carlson @sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social · Apr 5
I’m terrified I’ve already become a fallen child star—burnt out before my eighteenth birthday.

Until the call.

#AgentsGuide for PLAY TO MY HEART in reply to this post.

#1stLinePit #Q #YA #R #LF #CON #amquerying
April 6, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Reposted by Sarah J. Carlson
sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social
I’m terrified I’ve already become a fallen child star—burnt out before my eighteenth birthday.

Until the call.

#AgentsGuide for PLAY TO MY HEART in reply to this post.

#1stLinePit #Q #YA #R #LF #CON #amquerying
April 5, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Reposted by Sarah J. Carlson
crystalbauthor.bsky.social
Here is my list for #1stLinePit #CMe

1. We Were Students
2. The Girl Within
3. Rutello: Maya, Warrior Queen
4. Find Me
5. The Compass
6. The Adventures of Marigold and Daisy: Beautiful Butterflies
7. Luna and the Golden Owl
8. Ghosts of Our Past
9. Kingdom of Treasures
Yellow Background. Top left picture is an orange flower and orange Butterflies. Top right pic is two little girls in cowgirl hats and dresses facing a sunset in a field. Title is orange cursive The Adventures of Marigold and Daisy Middle left pic is a rock house in a forest. Middle right is a weeping willow tree. The rest of the title with the same font Beautiful Butterflies and a monarch butterfly. Bottom left pic is an old woman in overalls by a wall of orange flowers. Bottom right pic is a field of flowers. Black background. Title in blue cursive font Luna and the Golden Owl First line of piture left to right: A great horned owl sitting on a stump in a forest with sunshine, a meadow with clover flowers and a sunset. A shadowed guy in front of a sunset. Middle pictures left to right: A hawk, an eagle and a crow. Bottom pictures left to right: Moon and stars, a shadowed woman with backing sunlight, a white owl on the ground. Bottom quote in blue cursive font: "Spread the light of love to everyone around you so that the world will be filled with this, the greatest of blessings." Black background Top left picture is of the fence and two buildings in Aushwitz. The top right is of an Auschwitz building with fall dead trees in front of it. Then in white font with teal edging it says the title The Girl Within. The middle left picture us a tank in a field. The middle right is the front of a large boat and a smaller boat on water. Then there's a quote that says "I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take side." - Elle Wiesel The bottom left picture is a blonde girl in a brown jacket and a black press vest that says press in white. She's standing in front of a tall brown building with lots of windows. The bottom right pic is a crowd of protesters in front of a building. Black background Top left photo is a group of students high school age in front of a school from behind. The words in black and orange We were Students. Below that a tank coming down a mountain hill onto a road with a forest behind it. Then below people running into a building. Then 3 pans cooking food over a fire on a grate. Top right photo: people on a trip type bus with a quote in war everyone loses. This truth can be seen in the eyes of every soldier of every world. Below that 9 jets flying in the sky. Below that people camping in a forest. Below that people camping in an open area by hills and a waterfall. Quotes down the middle: it takes minute effort to start a war but I er a million effort to restore peace. To know your enemy you must become your enemy. In the end we. Will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends. War doesn't determine who's right, war determines who remains. Attack him where he in unprepared, appear where you are not expected.
April 5, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Sarah J. Carlson
authorjulianne.bsky.social
#1stLinePit
After my mother died, the smell of smoke clung to me for days.
It was tradition in Doverum to burn the dead. It had been for longer than anyone could remember, stretching back through generations in a never-ending cycle of life and death, flame and ash.🖤
#WIP #YA #RF
A moodboard for THE BOG PRINCE. It features 9 images with an eerie, gothic vibe. Top row, L to R: A pair of dirty hands reaching out of the dirt, an ominous iron gate, a couple's legs lying next to each other on the forest floor. Middle row: A steam train emerging from the fog, a dark haired woman in an Edwardian-style dress regarding herself in a mirror, the ruins of a stone castle shrouded in mist. Bottom row: A long-haired man lying on his back in the dirt (it just happens to be Hozier, but shhh), a misty bog with rolling hills in the background, a couple's lips leaning towards one another for a kiss. A graphic of a green, cloth-bound book over a library backdrop. The text on the book reads: The Bog Prince. Everin unleashes dark necromancy magic when she reanimates the bog body of her kingdom's long-lost prince. To conceal her forbidden power and solve his murder, they'll need to work together to unearth centuries of rewritten history. But some secrets are better left buried... A passage of text on a green, cloth-bound book background. An illustration of a rabbit with a jawbone around its neck sits at the bottom corner. The text reads: After my mother died, the smell of smoke clung to me for days. It was tradition in Doverum to burn the dead. It had been for longer than anyone could remember, stretching back through generations in a never-ending cycle of life and death, flame and ash. The smell was as familiar as the scent of violet perfume, or the sting of seawater in my nose. But something about it changed for me on the day we burned Ma. The smoke burrowed in my hair, my skin. It draped like a cloak of death around my shoulders, impossible to shrug off. Ever since, I’d seen it as a bad omen. A reminder that all things would one day go up in flame.
April 5, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Reposted by Sarah J. Carlson
leighsamuels.bsky.social
“You’ll be swell, you’ll be great, gonna have the whole world on a plate,” My brother Tommy screamed.

🎭 I always loved musicals so I joined my school's production of Legally Blonde.
👩🏻‍🏫 Except the director is a nightmare
👧🏻 Who loves to degrade me

Find out in Undesired Spotlight!
#1stLinePit #YA #Con
April 5, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by Sarah J. Carlson
carmendavinleam.bsky.social
#Q #YA #RF #1stLinePit
We run through the forest; the full moon is the only light we need. We know where we are going. A small group of warriors ready to take down the would-be usurper and all who protect him.

(my 8am post that I didn't click post on 😅)
April 5, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Reposted by Sarah J. Carlson
indesii.bsky.social
Dolphins have more in common with humans than most of us realize. Their social structure is complex; they travel in tight-knit groups—called pods—but they form other relationships outside of them.

#1stLinePit #WIP #A #R #CON

👇 Blurb, small Josie & Will profile, continued opening.
At the center of the image is a blurb that reads: As a marine biologist specializing in sea turtle conservation, Josie Lark has spent her entire life chasing the next coastline, the next job, determined to put as much distance as possible between this version of herself and the grief of her childhood. But when a call from her pregnant little sister drags her home to the sleepy island town of Pelican Cove, Josie returns with a set itinerary: pack up their late mother’s house, put together her restoration proposal for the Gulf Conservation Center, greet her baby niece, and board a flight to her dream job in Australia eight weeks later. Will Mercer is not part of that plan. Will is the boy she once loved. He’s her childhood best friend, her first kiss and her first heartbreak, and the one person Josie never quite stopped regretting. While she ran off to college, Will stayed, tied to his family marina and a life Josie didn’t want for herself. With Pelican Cove’s fragile ecosystem and coastal economy in crisis, Josie’s project at the Conservation Center puts her directly in Will’s orbit. The electric chemistry is still there, but so are the ghosts of who they used to be—and the reality that Josie is leaving. Again. As summer stretches into fall, between long days on the water and a storm that changes everything, Josie begins to question where she truly belongs—and what it would mean to stay. The background is a pale blue to darker blue gradient from left to right. The bottom of the image reads “@indesii”. Dolphins have more in common with humans than most of us realize. Their social structure is complex; they travel in tight-knit groups—called pods—but they form other relationships outside of them. A ‘fission-fusion’ society—the same society we see form between chimpanzees, elephants, and humans. It boils down to this: think about your own life. You wake up and spend time with your husband and drop your children at school in the morning, and then you go to work. On your break you eat lunch with friends you haven’t seen in months. In the evening, you go to your in-law’s house for dinner. You stop on the drive home to get takeout tacos because your mother-in-law’s cooking is dreadful, and wave to the familiar faces behind the counter. Your elderly neighbor is rocking on a creaky porch chair as the sun fades and you call out in greeting. This cycle repeats. You're moving in and out of pods throughout the day, but you still have the long-term relationships in your pod that can last a lifetime. Your parents, your sisters, your brothers, your partner, your best friend. Lucy has always been part of my pod, a constant through every change—just like the dolphins on the mural in the Pelican Cove ferry terminal. They are smaller than I remember. We traced their bumpy mosaic bodies with our fingertips as children, creating stories about where the dolphins came from, where they were going, and the exciting adventures they must have together. It wasn’t until we were teenagers that we learned they were just like us. Lucy resented this discovery. I only have a moment to drink her in before she ambles toward me in a blur of sun-streaked hair and a too-big Pelican Cove Fishing Co. sweatshirt. A cartoon image of a white young woman with long and wavy brown hair looking off to her left, wearing white-beige shorts, a peach tank top, a white sports cap, and a small white bag over her shoulders. Multiple arrows lead to various passages of text. These read: JOSIE LARK, 31 YEARS OLD, BISEXUAL, WOULD BURY A BODY FOR HER SISTER, LOVES: LUCY, SEA TURTLES, DOLPHINS, AND TACOS, and HATES: PEOPLE THAT LITTER, WILL MERCER, PEOPLE THAT BLOCK AISLES TO CHAT, WILL MERCER. The background is a yellow to pink gradient from left to right, with a line art border of teal-y blue and green seashells, starfish and conches. The bottom of the image reads “@indesii”. A cartoon image of a tanned young man looking straight ahead, with his hands in his trouser pockets. His hair is black and tousled. He wears a light brown oversized jumper and dark brown trousers with black shoes. To his right are multiple arrows with various passages of text. These read: WILL MERCER, 30 YEARS OLD, LOVES: MADDIE, FISHING, TATTOOS, AND LOCAL IPAS, and HATES: THURSDAYS, JOSIE LARK, PEOPLE WHO REFUSE TO ACCEPT HELP WHEN THEY NEED IT, JOSIE LARK. The background is a yellow to orange gradient from left to right, with a line art border of teal-y blue and green of seashells, starfish, and conches. The bottom of the image reads “@indesii”.
April 5, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Reposted by Sarah J. Carlson
lpetersonwrites.bsky.social
THE GIRLS WILL BE OKAY

Unplug the phone. That’s the first step in our family’s lefse recipe, written in Mom’s round handwriting on an index card we keep in a box with all our other family recipes. #1stLinePit #Q #YA #CON
A moodboard with seven images. The top three images are a picture of a Norwegian flag, a picture of a TV with the Netflix logo displayed on the screen, and a picture of two white girls with brown hair, the older of whom is giving the younger one a piggyback ride. The lower four images are a photo of a girl with brown skin and black hair wearing a red prom dress, a photo of two girls kissing, a photo of a hand holding a pride flag, and a photo taken from behind of a white girl with brown hair wearing a graduation gown and holding a graduation cap up in the air.
April 5, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by Sarah J. Carlson
appleseed-amy.bsky.social
You can tell a lot about a person by how they play a game—the choices they make, the rules they follow, or the ones they break. It all matters in the end.

#1stLinePit #YA #H #WIP
April 5, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Reposted by Sarah J. Carlson
ldrexauthor.bsky.social
The smoke rises like a phantom snake, stirring around the white ceiling tiles before disappearing into thin air.

A woman inherits two portraits, and is haunted by a specter guiding her closer to the truth--hidden behind the walls of a sanatorium in the woods.
#1stLinePit #Q #A #H #S
a little girl in a white dress is standing in a doorway holding a light .
Alt: a little girl in a white dress is standing in a doorway holding a light .
media.tenor.com
April 5, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Reposted by Sarah J. Carlson
oatesam.bsky.social
The Fork in the Road:
"I've lost Bette’s scent.
I close my eyes to focus and adapt. My nose itches as it flattens, tan fur growing over the skin and scratching my browbone. It’s dark and the street’s quiet; no one will see the change. "
#1stLinePit #WIP #A #F #UF #writingcommunity
Moodboard for The Fork in the Road novel in progress, featuring the Appalachian mountains with birds flying over them on one side, and an open book, cozy blanked, and cup of hot cocoa with a spoon in it on the other. In the middle are graphics of a black feather and white magnolia flowers. The title appears on the left side, followed by the pitch: "Someone's kidnapping supernatural beings. Diane Brooks, human and owner of 'The Fork in the Road,' a magical coffee shop and bar, may be the only one who can save them. Trope Map for The Fork in the Road, a novel in progress. Three images are stacked left to right - a coffee shop counter, a woman with a dark background in red light, and a burning forest. The title "Tropes" sits over the middle image, followed by a list of bullet point tropes: Multi-POV, Women's Rights & Women's Wrongs, Supernatural Kitchen Sink, Mostly queer cast, Mythology in present day, Sentient bar & coffee shop, Enemies to ??? A first page snippet from "The Fork in the Road," a novel in progress. Feathers are lined on the left side of the image, leading to a blue feather at the bottom. A blue text box sits in the middle, featuring text from the first page: I've lost Bette’s scent. I close my eyes to focus and adapt. My nose itches as it flattens, tan fur growing over the skin and scratching my browbone. It’s dark and the street’s quiet; no one will see the change. The smell of the city sharpens. Damp earth, muddy grass, and crowded bodies linger in the air. But I still can’t smell her. I twitch my nose and restore it to human form. The storm that flooded the Appalachian foothills, causing mud slides and chasing me to her mother’s house didn’t cover Bette’s scent. That only happened recently. Her kidnappers are sidhe, the type to steal a child for their own amusement. The rowan berries smashed on the lawn and the tang of lake reeds proved that. They led her through rivers and on trains to disguise their route, but Bette left clues, marking trees, posts, or whatever else she could find with a spot of blood. She must have bitten at a nail or the corner of her mouth to manage it. That made it easier to follow their trail, despite being weeks behind. Until I reached Chicago.
April 5, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Sarah J. Carlson
abookishchai.bsky.social
"For the first time in ten years, Beatrice’s dad had a date tonight."

🌻YA Contemporary Romance w/ Speculative Elements
🌻Working Class Daughter X Actor's Son
🌻Found Family, Girls Support Girls
🌻Real Teen Issues: Bullying, Fitting In, Grief

#1stlinepit #WIP #YA #Romance #amrevising
April 5, 2025 at 1:33 PM
sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social
From Hollywood to Nova Scotia: A Teen Romance

PLAY TO MY HEART is a slow burn romance about two teens from very different worlds--Hollywood via Wisconsin and Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Pollux Ross, a fading child star, has been trapped in his LA condo by crippling anxiety attacks for months after his…
From Hollywood to Nova Scotia: A Teen Romance
PLAY TO MY HEART is a slow burn romance about two teens from very different worlds--Hollywood via Wisconsin and Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Pollux Ross, a fading child star, has been trapped in his LA condo by crippling anxiety attacks for months after his heart was evicerated on social media by the girl he trusted his heart to. Paparazzi prowl outside the condo gates.
sjcarlsonauthor.com
April 5, 2025 at 12:27 PM
sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social
I’m terrified I’ve already become a fallen child star—burnt out before my eighteenth birthday.

Until the call.

#AgentsGuide for PLAY TO MY HEART in reply to this post.

#1stLinePit #Q #YA #R #LF #CON #amquerying
April 5, 2025 at 12:06 PM
sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social
My book trailer for PLAY TO MY HEART, a dual POV Contemporary YA about two teens from different worlds connected by the power of music, trying to do good in the world. Set in #NovaScotia

#AgentGuide in reply to this post. #amquerying #AuthorsAndWriters #booksky #writing #authors #Querying
April 5, 2025 at 11:35 AM
sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social
Taco Bell… one of few things I miss about living in the US. Nova Scotia only has like 6 of them for the whole province. Cannot pass up the opportunity when I drive by one 🤣. When I lived in Singapore, Taco Bell was always one of my first stops when I returned to the States. #camerican #comfortfood
April 4, 2025 at 11:35 PM
sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social
Working on creating my first agent’s guide to get ready for #1stlinepit 😬. Any tips on where to get Creative Common License images, writerly world? TIA! #writingcommunity #amwriting #amquerying #writesky #authors #writers
April 3, 2025 at 11:52 PM
sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social
Resilience. #spring #springflowers #firstsignsofspring #novascotia #canada
April 3, 2025 at 8:50 PM
sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social
Line edits for my YA literary focusing on the healing power of music with a dash romance set in Nova Scotia. So excited to be at this point! ❤️ #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity #SkyWriters #amwriting #amediting #writers #authors #novascotia #kidlit #authorsky
April 3, 2025 at 1:37 AM
sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social
Delving into competitive spring #hockeymom life…. So much to learn, as a person with absolutely no hockey life experience. Like does he wear his new uniform socks to practice? I now know the answer is no 🤣🤣🤣 it’s a whole new world. #momlife
April 3, 2025 at 1:10 AM
sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social
Forward. Voting for fairer electoral maps, reproductive rights, public schools, and sanity. On Wisconsin. For beating a broligarch trying to buy votes to push forward his own and Project 2025’s agenda. #onwisconsin #democrats
April 2, 2025 at 9:59 AM
sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social
Sunrise solar eclipse in Nova Scotia this morning. #solareclipse #sunrisesolareclipse #novascotia #canada #solareclipse2025
March 29, 2025 at 10:36 AM
sjcarlsonauthor.bsky.social
YA author of EVERYTHING’S NOT FINE and ALL THE WALLS OF BELFAST. Camerican who moved from Wisconsin to Nova Scotia. Looking to connect with writers on a platform not owned by Elon. #amwriting #writerslife #writingcommunity #writersky #writing #author #writermom #authormom #writingcommunity #kidlit
March 28, 2025 at 11:18 PM