Emily Lim

After a month of outlining and research, I started drafting my new WIP this morning. Really feeling the first day of school jitters with this one.

Mood board with the text 'work hard, fall harder' in the middle, alongside imagery of a computer chip, agricultural fields from above, a whiteboard with equations, a woman at a computer, a man dressing in business attire, and a couple playing pool

Pitch: Software engineer Taylor McCan must outperform her charismatic coworker Alex in a 90-day competition for one dream job –but when the pair are assigned the same project, they fight over everything from code to office conduct, and as the deadline looms, Taylor realizes Alex may be her match in more than just technical skill.

"I have a bad habit of showing up early."

#Q #A #R #COM #1stLinePit

PSA for #amquerying folks, the gmail spam filter has started flagging responses from querytracker as spam. You can fix it by setting querytracker as a known sender or creating a filter using the option 'Never send it to spam'. Check those spam folders!

This is STUNNING!!!

Mood Board with: TV cameraman, illustrated hand holding with rainbow bracelet over snow, champagne, silhouette behind a bi flag, view out an airplane window, sticker of a M/M couple, Bachelor mansion. Tropes: Bi 4 Bi, Forced Proximity, Kidney Donor MC, Slow(ish) Burn, Reality TV Shenanigans, Anxiety Rep.

Fresh from #SmoochPit!
When Carter starts to fall for another contestant on a popular reality dating show, he must decide between his original plans and the direction his heart is pulling him or he may ruin both in the process.
#PopUpPitA #LuckyPit #R #LGBT

Thank you!!!!

#PopUpPit #LuckyPit don't mind me, just shooting my shot!:) #SFF #Romance 🌶

ink drawing of Jak Sterzand, a teenage boy, crawling towards the viewer in a ventilation or maintenance shaft type tunnel. His name and title of the book JAK STERZAND above him, and underneath in smaller letters, the subtitle: ESCAPE FROM FREEPORT All in black and white

TREASURE PLANET×THE EXPANSE
A bookworm dreams of escape from a pirate-run space station. With his friend, a tech genius, he finds an ancient wrist computer tied to his family and a legendary lost starship. As they seek answers, so does a notorious captain.
#LuckyPit #PopUpPit #PopUpPitA #YA #SF #M

A picrew portrait of a young woman wearing glasses overlaid on a beach. The name Edie Grayson is on top, with a block of text to the right reading: She hated gym class, scary stories, green beans, and movies where the female love interest never got any of the good lines. She didn’t have a lot of friends, but sometimes, in group settings, she had the satisfaction of saying something really funny, usually on purpose.

A picrew image of a young man over a beach with text reading Milo Vance at the top. To the right is a block of text that reads: “If you’re scared, I’ll do it with you,” Milo said. He said it as though it were the most natural thing in the world. When Edie looked at him, he was holding out his hand, and watching her with a sincerity she didn’t think she’d ever seen on anyone’s face. If it had been anyone else, at any other time, she would have thought they were making fun of her; but not Milo.

A picrew image of a young woman over the ocean with text reading Catarina Novikov at the top. To the right is a block of text that reads: “I don’t know. We didn’t know any better. But maybe we do now. Maybe Edie’s wrong, I don’t know. But I sincerely hope that I never get to a point in my life where I can’t admit when I’m wrong. And if I am, I can’t change anything I've done, but maybe I can stop myself from repeating the same mistakes. Isn’t that worth at least considering?”

A picrew portrait of a young man wearing sunglasses overlaid on a beach. The name Manny Torres is on top, with a block of text to the right reading: “You’re right about that. Grief just…becomes this thing inside of you. Like every time you want to see them, or talk to them, it just goes into this hard, black lump, somewhere deep down in your guts. Because those thoughts can’t go anywhere else. They just collect there, stuck inside of you. I think they say grief makes a hole inside of you because we’re all too scared to see what’s inside of it.”

CAMP DAMASCUS x NETTLE & BONE

Girl meets boy. Girl meets monsters. Girl has to save the town. Sometimes what you don't know can kill you in BLUDEYE BEACH.

🤷‍♀️Character driven
❤️Slow-burn romance
👻Monster menagerie
🫂Found family

#LuckyPit #PopUpPitA #Q #F #H #A

Mood board with the text 'work hard, fall harder', images of a woman at a computer, a couple playing pool, a computer chip, a whiteboard, and farm fields from above.

Taylor's dream job at a Silicon Valley startup comes with a catch: she must out-code Alex, her infuriatingly charming opponent, to keep it. But when rivalry sparks romance, their careers—and hearts—are put on the line. Work-life balance? Never heard of her. #LuckyPit #PopUpPitA #PopUpPit #A #R #CR

An Agent's Guide to Finding Mr. Right 88,000 Words Queer Romance

When Carter starts to fall for another contestant on a popular reality dating show instead of its female lead, he must decide between his original plans and the direction his heart is pulling him—but being reality-TV famous in a franchise with an audience that can turn on a dime could cost him his cause and the man he's falling in love with.

Comps: covers for The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun, Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld, Here for the Wrong Reasons by Annabel Paulsen and Lydia Wang, and Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. (They're all pink. That's just how it works.)

Tropes: Kidney Donor MC, Bi 4 Bi, Slow(ish) Burn, Reality TV shenanigans, Forced Proximity, Anxiety Rep.

I'm excited to share my #agentsguide for my adult queer romance! After some intense revision work during #SmoochPit it's time to get back to the query trenches.

#amquerying #writingcommunity #agentguide #querying #booksky #LGBT #romance

A pink and red background and graphic with cowboy boots and paisley print with text describing a romantic comedy manuscript called Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince.

A pink and red background and graphic with paisley print with text describing a romantic comedy manuscript called Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince. Next to it, a character drawing of a Black woman with braids embracing a white blond man wearing a guitar.

A pink and red background and graphic with paisley print and images of comparable movies, TV shows and books including Insecure, Sweet Home Alabama, The Wedding Date and Yours Truly.

A pink and red background and graphic with paisley print with text describing a romantic comedy manuscript called Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince using pictures and themes such as tropes, soundtrack and setting.

I'm thrilled to share this guide to my 90K rom-com, a retelling of Taylor Swift's "Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince" packed with heart, heat and a swoony country-pop soundtrack.

🎨: @legendsofaukera.bsky.social


#agentsguide #amquerying #writingcommunity #swifties #booksky #romancebooks

TO LOVE AND TO LOATHE x THE STRANGER I WED
A notorious rake is manipulated into marriage & must convince his confoundingly alluring wife he is trustworthy rather than an obstacle to her unconventional architectural ambitions to win a series of wagers & secure his sister's safety. 💘
#cupit #hr #rr #a

moodboard for TO KEEP A THIEF: country house, dust-sheets, wisteria, hands touching, misty countryside, Edwardian kitchen, tangled sheets with candle glow

TO KEEP A THIEF

Queer DOWNTON ABBEY x Lex Croucher's TROUBLE

👒 disgraced lady's maid on the run
💎 con woman x gentleman
⚡️ grumpy/grumpy
🫠 oops! we fell in love
❤️‍🩹 found family
✨ Edwardian country house
🩷💜💙 queer m/f

#HR #LGBTQ #Cupit

creepy hazy moodboard with pinkish red overtones. Old town bar with neon sign, Ferris wheel at night, silhouette of woman in front of red stain glass window, shadow of two people embracingbed with white curtains around it, cowboy hat, old church with red sunset, girl with match between teeth, a spilt BFF necklace, a heart, and a sign that says Yes I do bite. Flames line the edges.

Jennifer's Body x Together We Rot
It's going to be a killer summer.
😍 Sapphic Pining
❤️ Friends to Lovers
👀 Cannibalism as metaphor for love
💖 Monstrous romance
🎀 Bubblegum horror vibes
🌽 Cult town in Canadian Prairies
🎡 Ferris wheel confessions
💋 Querying after SmoochPit
#Cupit #YA #HOR #INR #LGBT

Scrapbook with pink accents. Cat sticker, couple kissing with flowers, and cookies. Drawn hearts. Text overlay: Roses are red, violets are blue. I'm not sure how much but IT'LL COST YOU.

Pink scrapbook aesthetic with drawn hearts, Porsche sticker, brunette man in a suit. Comps: CANE BROTHERS SERIES UNFORTUNATELY YOURS TWO BROKE GIRLS Quote: "I don't have a Pinterest board for our dream home... because we'd obviously live in the one he already has."

Pink Scrapbook Aesthetic The Pitch: Beckett has a five-year plan. The only thing standing between him and his promotion to COO is the buyout of a small real estate company. While working undercover at the realty business, the mean and attractive receptionist, Natasha, makes his job hell. One wrong move has her pinned underneath him, stirring feelings in him he thought died a long time ago. When her sugar daddy ends their contact, Natasha is abandoned, broke, and screwed without his double oven she used for her and her best friend’s baking business. Struggling to pay rent and make profit, Nat spends late nights baking with her busted Kenmore. To relieve stress, Nat enters a sex-only relationship with Beckett, agreeing to the terms: no feelings, no dates, no one has to know. But after Beckett’s meddling cousin sees Nat entering and leaving his house, he makes Nat an offer she can’t refuse. She can live with him rent-free and have full use of his chef’s kitchen, if she pretends to be his girlfriend so his friends can’t set him up. When the lines of real and fake begin to blur, Nat can’t risk the possibility of Beckett ending their agreement and her business, or their relationship. All the while, Beckett fights his feelings to avoid breaking promises and plans he made with a tombstone four years ago.

Pink scrapbook aesthetic Snippet: A smile tugs at her lips, the very same one she would use to beg or say please in an angelic tone. She is sorely mistaken if she thinks I won’t rip that dress off of her. I will have us permanently banned from this store. “I don’t know. There are two other dresses in there that might be better than this one…” “Are—” My eyes get larger and I blink a few times. “Are you crazy? Stop fucking with me.” Remembering I dropped my phone, I wander back a few steps and snatch it off the floor. “Neither of those are going to look better.” Smirking in the mirror, those gorgeous, brown eyes glimmer and my palms itch. I don’t know why it’s so satisfying to know that I made her that happy. “Oh, do you think I look good in this one? I look pretty? Tell me more.” “Fishing for compliments, Nat?” I ask, sighing. “You look gorgeous—flawless—in it. Can you get dressed so I can buy it now?” Clasping her hands in front of her, she twists her body playfully and pouts. “I want to hear more.” And I could give that to her, but I won’t because that’s not what this is.

Mixing sugar with butter? Good.
Mixing business with pleasure? Bad. Terrible. Stupid.
But there's no crying in baking, and the cost to save S&N Sweets? Pretending to be his live-in girlfriend.

#A #CR #RC #FR #MlR #MHR #W #CuPit

happy smoochpit day 💕

An agent's guide to Merge Conflict, a 82,000 word contemporary romance by Emily Lim

Pitch: Software engineer Taylor McCan must outperform her charismatic coworker Alex in a 90-day competition for one dream job –but when the pair are assigned the same project, they fight over everything from code to office conduct, and as the deadline looms, Taylor realizes Alex may be her match in more than just technical skill.

Comps: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, Silicon Hearts by Robin Miyashita and R. K. Moravee, Love Interest by Clare Gilmore Tropes: Enemies to lovers, she's grumpy, he's sunshine, work rivals, forced proximity, job competition

Merge Conflict (n): An error encountered when two software engineers make simultaneous and irreconcilable changes to the same line of code. Chapter One I have a bad habit of showing up early. Contrary to popular belief, people are more likely to resent the way I highlight their tardiness than respect my commitment to punctuality. Which is why I’m standing in the parking lot of my new job, sweat pooling underneath my polyester blazer, waiting for the clock to strike nine.

An agent's guide to MERGE CONFLICT

THE HATING GAME meets SILICON VALLEY in this 82k contemporary romance where two newly graduated software engineers compete for one dream job. But as the deadline looms, they realize they may be a match in more than just technical skill.

#Cupit #CR #A #agentsguide

A moodboard with a purple background, it has wintery pictures, pictures of wolves, a bloody hand, glasses of wine, and a palette on the side

SUCH SHARP TEETH X ALONE WITH YOU IN THE ETHER
After murdering her fiance, Selene throws away her dreams of being a housewife to lead the pack of werewolves she has inherited. But her found family will settle for nothing less than the best of her, and the cost of failure is monstrous. #2025pit #A

THE HATING GAME x TOMORROW & TOMORROW & TOMORROW
When software engineer Taylor is thrown into a 90-day competition for 1 dream job at a Silicon Valley startup, she doesn’t panic. She gets to work. And her rival, the infuriatingly charismatic Alex, isn’t going down without a fight. #A #CR #R #2025pit