o.c. umeghalu ✧ is querying

guysss in a maybe pile that has me so excited and a bit anxious ngl but praying so hard that it turns into a full 🤞🏿

#querying #writing

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all my #questpit posts are up so here's a thread of AWAKENING, the dual-pov upper YA Fantasy (110k) I'm querying!

💥ancestral power
⛓️forged family
💭foresight and visions
⚔️secret society
💔tragic siblings
🥀doomed, forbidden slowburn
🗡️betrayal

agent's guide is pinned! 🫶🏿

AWAKENING by O.C. Umeghalu main characers as quotes

Cindren - "There are two kinds of guilt: the kind that drowns you until you're useless, and the kind that fires yourself to purpose." (from Sabaa tahir's An Ember in the Ashes)

Nazar - "The most confused you will ever get is when you try to convince your heart and spirit of something your mind knows is a lie." (from Shannon L. Alder)

too long to include here unfortunately, but it details my book's pitch (with Big 5 Editor interest) by describing the FMC Cindren finding that her golden eyes points to a heroic ancestry and journeying to rescue her convicted friend while the MMC Nazar grapples with the constraints of royalty and withering loyalty to the throne after truths of a century's old war comes to light and tosses all he's come to see as history to the wayside 110k dual-pov upper YA Fantasy with a braided narrative + series potential Realm Breakerx Avatar the Last Airbender x Heir

*BIG 5 EDITOR INTEREST*

the main characters of my dual-pov upper YA Fantasy as quotes!

💥 ancestral power
⛓️ forged family
💔 tragic sibling bond
💭 foresight and visions
⚔️ secret society
🥀 lovers to enemies
🗡️ betrayal

agent’s guide pinned to my profile!

#questpit #YA #F #Q

AWAKENING by O.C. Umeghalu art of a girl named Cindren holding a dagger toward a boy named Nazar who's sweating with his palms up in defense 110k dual-pov upper YA Fantasy

chosen one(s) complicated sibling relationship born of parental pressure and fear (ie: azula and zuko) forged family with powers the unpredictable journey with grief “touch my sister and you’ll die” budding love (friends to lovers)

exploring how guilt fuels resolve rebellious uprising + secret society female friendship that starts off rocky (ie: katara and toph) a “banquet-turned-battle in a ballroom” scene a doomed, slow-burn forbidden romance (yearning ✓, 🚫 spice) betrayal :)

too long to include here unfortunately, but it details my book's pitch (with Big 5 Editor interest) by describing the FMC Cindren finding that her golden eyes points to a heroic ancestry and journeying to rescue her convicted friend while the MMC Nazar grapples with the constraints of royalty and withering loyalty to the throne after truths of a century's old war comes to light and tosses all he's come to see as history to the wayside 110k dual-pov upper YA Fantasy with a braided narrative + series potential Realm Breakerx Avatar the Last Airbender x Heir

*BIG FIVE EDITOR INTEREST*

“tropes & things” ft. chibi art of my MCs by miraxs_r on 📸!

💥 ancestral power
💔 tragic sibling bond
⚔️ secret society
💞 friends to lovers
💭 foresight & visions
🥀 lovers to enemies

agent’s guide pinned to my profile!

#questpit #YA #F #Q

photo of a girl named Cindren Alacaster with the "names"/titles: The Golden Eyed, A true Crimson, Cin and my virtue

photo of a boy named Nazar Heiron with the "names"/titles: Brother, Child, Scorned martyr and Crown Prince

too long to include here unfortunately, but it details my book's pitch (with Big 5 Editor interest) by describing the FMC Cindren finding that her golden eyes points to a heroic ancestry and journeying to rescue her convicted friend while the MMC Nazar grapples with the constraints of royalty and withering loyalty to the throne after truths of a century's old war comes to light and tosses all he's come to see as history to the wayside 110k dual-pov upper YA Fantasy with a braided narrative + series potential Realm Breakerx Avatar the Last Airbender x Heir

*BIG 5 EDITOR INTEREST*

the main characters of my dual-pov upper YA Fantasy AWAKENING and their “names”/titles!

agents, if you were moved by trauma-scarred Korra and wanted more of Zuko battling with his maturing moral compass, view the guide pinned to my profile! ⚔️

#questpit #YA #F #Q

character comps for my FMC Cindren Katara - sense of guilt and responsibility over mother's demise, rage that requires an outlet and will become a "monster" to protect those she loves Korra - grief and fear lording over her, overwhelming sense of powerlessness despite what her role of pre-destined champion says of her

character comps for my MMC Nazar Zuko - unable to meet/exceed father's unattainable expectations and personal identity is lost in the midst of the "ideal prince" facade Aang - guilt founded on believing his hands are stained by the blood of those killed unjustly and feels powerless despite his position on the world stage and what others believe he's capable of ("i'm just one kid")

too long to include here unfortunately, but it details my book's pitch (with Big 5 Editor interest) by describing the FMC Cindren finding that her golden eyes points to a heroic ancestry and journeying to rescue her convicted friend while the MMC Nazar grapples with the constraints of royalty and withering loyalty to the throne after truths of a century's old war comes to light and tosses all he's come to see as history to the wayside 110k dual-pov upper YA Fantasy with a braided narrative + series potential Realm Breakerx Avatar the Last Airbender x Heir

*BIG FIVE EDITOR INTEREST*

character comps for my dual-pov upper YA Fantasy AWAKENING + how they relate to my MCs!

💥 ancestral power
💔 tragic sibling bond
⚔️ secret society
💭 foresight & visions
🥀 lovers to enemies

agent’s guide pinned to my profile!

#questpit #YA #F #Q

an agent's guide to awakening by o.c. umeghalu

too long to include here unfortunately, but it details my book's pitch by describing the FMC Cindren finding that her golden eyes points to a heroic ancestry and journeying to rescue her convicted friend while the MMC Nazar grapples with the constraints of royalty and withering loyalty to the throne after truths of a century's old war comes to light and tosses all he's come to see as history to the wayside 110k dual-pov upper YA Fantasy with a braided narrative that intersects at the climax + series potential

themes/comps - looming global threat, grave birthright/ancestral responsibilities + journey towards battle, chosen bloodlines/chosen one(s), visions of predecessors + metal-bending, tragic sibling relationship, forged family + romantic subplot (doomed slow-burn + friends to lovers) and betrayal

samples

*BIG FIVE EDITOR INTEREST*

my #agentguide / #agentsguide for AWAKENING, the dual-pov upper YA Fantasy (110k) I'm querying ft. art by sen_verse! ​​

💥ancestral power
⛓️forged family
💭foresight and visions
⚔️secret society
💔tragic siblings
🥀doomed, forbidden slowburn
🗡️betrayal

updated agent's guide loading in anticipation of #questpit!!

#querying

tossing this into the void because querying is driving me insane - if there are any literary agents out there interested in a YA fantasy following a girl driven by guilt who finds she's a descendant of a legendary warrior and must battle an ancient threat, view my pinned guide! 🫶🏿

#querying

THE VISCOUNT WHO LOVED ME X THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Exiled to Lucerne by a scandal, disgraced Olivia Rooney falls for the one man she cannot love, and risks repeating the tragedy that once broke him.

#BluePit📖 #W #A #NA #R

Girl with cracked mirror, wall of photos with red string, bff necklace, gothic woods, shadow of hand holding knife, two teens climbing a fence, headlights, and a girl whispering, also a cs Lewis quote saying you can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending

16-year-old Jess, who sees people’s future corpses in their reflections, must race to change fate when her visions reveal that her only friend is about to be murdered.
#bluepit📖 #bluepit #YA #M #SP #W

Black and gold mood board. Pictures of Chinese calligraphy, a pagoda-style building, jewelry, and dragon statues. Center reads “This Twisted Eternity” and the quote reads “I’m nobody’s pawn, least of all his.”

In the afterlife of Chinese myth, a dead war general will face an eternity of torture—unless she can fool an immortal court into believing that she and her murderer are lovers.

💕Fake dating your own killer
👑Deadly court politics
🌟Pretty boy x ruthless girl

#BluePit #BluePit 📖 #YA #F #R #W #OV #POC

here's to hoping she gets a chance at publication! 🫶🏿

for agents that loved:

⚡️mare barrow and the scarlet guard + maven’s betrayal

💨 aang grappling with immense guilt, grief and unavoidable duty

🌪️ korra’s tenacity + metal bending

🔥 azula and zuko’s estranged bond due to moral differences

🌦️ katara and toph's relationship

#bluepit📖 #YA #Q #F #POC

HEIR x ATLA

🗡️ fugitive teens descended from legendary warriors racing against time to subdue a radical threat (ie: the Gaang)

🗡️ siblings whose strained relationship threatens to sever when they find themselves on opposite sides of a brewing war (ie: azula + zuko)

#bluepit📖 #YA #F #Q #POC

tyy!!

OUTLANDER x KPOP DEMON HUNTERS

When asthmatic PT Briella’s brother vanishes, she’ll risk her last breath to find him—only to find he’s trapped in a world of sinister Chinese spirits.

Her only lead? A dangerously alluring yaoguai assassin whose help can cost her life.

#BluePit📖 #F #A #R #OV #POC

been pretty discouraged lately, especially after my most recent query rejections (one on a full + another on my birthday was fun 💀) but im trying to participate in bluepit and remind myself that my book does not, in fact, suck and publishing is just incredibly subjective 😭

#querying #writing

avatar korra, art of eyes replaced by flames, a crown dripping blood form the cover of victoria aveyard's glass sword, prince zuko

comps - realm breaker by victoria aveyard, heir by sabaa tahir, avatar the last airbender and the legend of korra

RED QUEEN X ATLA

🗡️ a girl with ancestral power and foresight whose grief will engulf her—or be weaponized to enact retribution's wrath

🗡️ a prince whose dying loyalty to the monarchy's puppeteer will alter his destiny—and fuel the fire of rebellion

🪞Korra + Zuko akin MCs

#bluepit📖 #YA #F #Q #POC

posting my #writerpit post from 📸 over here because i love how it turned out 🥰

#querying #YA #F

thank you!!

An aspiring screenwriter drowning in grief and despair is given the chance to make her dreams come true, but the unseen challenge of competing against her estranged best friend for the winning title forces more than her talents into the spotlight.

#WIPPIT #NA #Con

thanks!!

photos of a person with their face covered by golden beads, a nigerian masquerade, poison powder besides a cup of tea, catacombs lit by lights, the phrase "secrets and lies", hands being dipped in golden liquid, old scrolls, a traditional igbo mask, the silhouette of two people about to kiss

When sickness kills a third of the kingdom’s people, including the king himself, the scepter is passed to the next heir in line. But there’s something off about the king’s only son—and someone’s hellbent on finding out what.

MULAN x DAWN OF YANGCHEN x APOTHECARY DIARIES x 🇳🇬 culture

#YA #F #WIPPIT

did I commission art for my book while I query? yes!
is that delusional faith in it get picked up? of course!
do I regret it? ABSOLUTELY NOT I HAVE PERFECTION IN MY HANDS

#amquerying