Best Querying Agents Podcasts (2025)

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ServiceNow AI maven on AI agent evolution 23:15

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8d ago23:15

23:15

Enterprise service management platform vendor ServiceNow has been one of the most assertive in the industry in developing its AI agent products over the past 14 months. Our guest, Dorit Zilbershot, has been with ServiceNow for six years, serving in various product management leadership roles focused on AI. In this interview, she shares recent Servi…

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'Back to the Future' with self-hosted bare metal 25:44

2h ago25:44

25:44

Rob Hirschfeld is the CEO and co-founder of RackN, founded in 2014, focused on "addressing the messy challenge of operating at scale in physical data centers," according to his LinkedIn profile. Hirschfeld has had a front-row seat to the last decade of conversations in enterprise IT ops about bare-metal server operations and cloud repatriation, top…

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Quiet Stories, Big Stakes 38:30

2h ago38:30

38:30

In this week’s Books with Hooks, Carly and CeCe dig into two thought-provoking queries — one about addiction and redemption, the other about love, power, and self-worth. They unpack why “quiet” stories can still grab attention, how to balance A and B plots in romance, and why tension and character depth are everything. Tune in for sharp agent insig…

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Drafting Notes - How to Nail The Perfect Ending To Your Novel 21:09

1h ago21:09

21:09

Watch this episode as a full video episode on YouTube A good ending can stay with you long after you've finished a book or a film, but a bad one can ruin everything that came before. On this week's episode of Drafting Notes, we talk about what makes a good ending, and talk about some of the ways to think about crafting that ending to try and give a…

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Shooting the Shit: About the hidden side of best-of-year lists, AI worries, and the "midlist bestseller" 35:53

3d ago35:53

35:53

In this week’s Shooting the Shit, Carly and CeCe dive into the chaos that is publishing in December—best-of-year lists, midlist “bestsellers,” AI anxiety, and the eternal question: Are books becoming luxury items?! They unpack fresh sales stats, why returns matter more than you think, real talk about authors’ AI fears, and the emotional rollercoast…

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Pyversity with Thomas van Dongen - Weaviate Podcast #132! 1:00:31

1h ago1:00:31

1:00:31

Thomas van Dongen is the head of AI engineering at Springer Nature and the creator of Pyversity! Pyversity is a fast, lightweight open-source Python library for diversifying retrieval results. Retrieval systems often return highly similar items. Pyversity efficiently re-ranks these results to encourage diversity, surfacing items that remain relevan…

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#171: Salena Godden — Spoken Word, Poetry, Memoir, and Novels: Turning Pain into Courage on the Page and Getting Published 58:51

2h ago58:51

58:51

Poet, novelist, and broadcaster Salena Godden on turning love, grief, and fury into books and poems, surviving years in the wilderness before publication, and sustaining a boundaryless creative life through performance, early-morning writing, and community. You'll learn: Why you don’t have to be a “starving artist” and how to make powerful work whi…

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Ep. 249 - Editor Kesia Lupo on YA, Queries & Big-Publisher Decisions 1:08:00

5d ago1:08:00

1:08:00

Watch this episode a full video episode Kesia Lupo is the commissioning editor at MacMillan Children's Books, as well as being a former agent and author of three YA books. We had a great chat with Kesia, learning about how she first got started in the publishing industry, and the differences between working for a smaller and larger publisher, and t…

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JFrog ML CTO on enterprise AI software supply chain security 22:52

5d ago22:52

22:52

Yuval Fernbach has more than a decade of hands-on experience in the realm of data and machine learning, and served as the co-founder and CTO of Qwak from 2020 until it was acquired by JFrog in 2024. Fernbach is now vice president and CTO of JFrog ML, a subset of the JFrog software supply chain management toolset focused on AI and machine learning o…

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Plotting With Fate 36:42

1d ago36:42

36:42

In this episode, Carly welcomes her co-writing clients Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman — authors of ‘10,000 Light Years from OK’ — to talk about their heartfelt, writer-centric sophomore novel. If you love stories about love, hope, courage, and the wild coincidences that make us believe in something bigger… this one’s for you. ‘10,000 Light Years …

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Drafting Notes - How to Write a Great Opening - And Why It Matters 23:30

2d ago23:30

23:30

Watch this episode as a full video episode on YouTube You only have one chance to make a first impression, so you better make sure you offer your prospective agent/editor/reader the best you can! On this week's episode, we chat about what makes a good opening compared to bad and why it matters. Plus, we discuss some of our favourite openings — as w…

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Storytime 5: A Fair Trade by Rachel Cyr, The Beholden by Jessie Wingate, and Kayla Ogden's #VanLife 42:50

7d ago42:50

42:50

Ever cried reading your own poem on mic? Rachel did. And Kayla cried too, because friendship. And then Jessie Wingate blew our minds with The Beholden. And THEN Kayla read the full #VanLife you’ve all been asking for... wink wink... okay, maybe only Reka. This description isn't A.I. Okay it was only partly written by ChatGPT. I came up with the win…

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Nancy Cole Silverman - A Spy in Saigon 22:05

3d ago22:05

22:05

We dive into the shadows of 1970s Vietnam with author Nancy Cole Silverman and her electrifying new Kat Lawson Mystery, A Spy in Saigon. Kat’s “simple” assignment to write a travel piece and make a covert drop goes off the rails fast, thrusting her into a deadly web of secrets, double agents, and trafficked children who desperately need her help.…

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Shooting the Shit: About agent burnout and the problems facing small publishers and booksellers 36:35

10d ago36:35

36:35

Carly and CeCe are back—one in snowy Canada, one in flower-crown Hawaii—and they’re diving into burnout, the business of books, and the spicy gossip that only happens at publishing conferences. The dynamic duo cover everything from agent burnout, the power of booksellers and more conference chaos. You don’t want to miss this week’s episode! Can you…

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#170: Mary Jean Chan — Emotional Truth in Contemporary Poetry: Imagery, Juxtaposition, and Finding the Right Form 1:03:01

4d ago1:03:01

1:03:01

Award-winning poet Mary Jean Chan on emotional truth in contemporary poetry, the imagery and juxtaposition that hold big feelings on the page, writing queerness, family and grief with care, and what submissions and prize judging reveal about poems that endure. You'll learn: Why emotional truth sits at the centre of Mary Jean’s work and how you can …

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Michelle Yang - Phoenix Girl 29:56

12d ago29:56

29:56

From the outside, Michelle Yang’s life might look like a familiar immigrant success story—but her new memoir, Phoenix Girl, reveals something far more powerful and complex. When her family left their tight-knit Chinese community in South Korea and arrived in America, the promise of freedom quickly tangled with a domineering father, a silenced mothe…

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Ep. 248 - Jenny Brown on Query Letters, Trends & the Future of Publishing 1:01:30

11d ago1:01:30

1:01:30

Jenny Brown established Jenny Brown Associates in 2002. She was previously Head of Literature at the Scottish Arts Council, presenter of book programmes for Scottish Television, and founder Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival. She was shortlisted in 2014 and2020 for Agent of the Year Award. She is former Chair of the Bloody Scotla…

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The Pinball Effect in Fiction 22:01

10d ago22:01

22:01

In this Books with Hooks episode, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe dig into two submissions—a YA fantasy query and a memoir/nonfiction hybrid. They unpack why centering a protagonist matters, how to sharpen specificity in quests, what makes prologues succeed (or fail), and why memoir queries need a clear narrative arc. Expect candid advice on worldbuilding,…

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Carolyn Larkin Taylor - Whispers of the Mind, a Neurologist’s Memoir 26:58

12d ago26:58

26:58

Dr. Carolyn Larkin Taylor is a neurologist with decades of experience, and now, she's turning her stethoscope inward in a powerful new memoir, Whispers of the Mind. Through a series of deeply personal essays, Dr. Taylor takes us behind hospital doors and into the moments that defined her—from the crushing task of declaring a teenage boy brain dead,…

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Dr. Marissa Toussaint - Flambeau Kitchen 17:40

13d ago17:40

17:40

Ever feel like eating healthy means giving up the foods you grew up with? Dr. Marissa Toussaint says you don’t have to choose. Her new book Flambeau Kitchen blends Caribbean heritage with real, sustainable wellness—70+ recipes, practical tools, and guidance for conditions like high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. Today we talk with her about ho…

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November Bonus Episode 51:37

11d ago51:37

51:37

In part one of November’s bonus episode, bestselling author Patricia Sands joins Bianca to share how she started writing at 65, indie-pubbed her way to being approached by Amazon’s Lake Union, and built a devoted readership along the way. They chat about writing for joy, setting publishing goals for yourself, the pros and cons of indie vs tradition…

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#169: Adele Parks — Writing 25 Bestsellers in 25 Years: Discipline, Voice, and Long-Term Success in Commercial Fiction 1:05:35

11d ago1:05:35

1:05:35

Bestselling novelist Adele Parks on her writing life, routines and techniques, character work, and creative strategies that have kept her stories fresh and her readership devoted for over two decades. You'll learn: How Adele moved from imitating other writers to trusting her own voice and background. How loss and adversity can shape resilience and …

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Page One Extra: Catching Up with Richard Swan: The Scour, The Infinite State & More 1:06:12

14d ago1:06:12

1:06:12

Watch as a full video episode on YouTube Richard Swan is a critically acclaimed British genre writer. He is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Empire of the Wolf and Great Silence trilogies, the Decurion Saga (2026), and various short fiction for Black Library and Grimdark Magazine. His work has been translated into nine languages. We enjoy…

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Is vibe coding a bubble or skill Issue? Tactics to actually ship usable products 46:31

21d ago46:31

46:31

There’s a whole narrative right now that “vibe coding is a bubble” and all the MRR from AI-built apps isn’t real. In this episode, we chat with Jacob Klug, founder of the agency Creme, which specializes in building lovable MVPs on top of tools like Lovable and AI coding assistants. Jacob makes the case that most of the “AI apps are trash” discourse…

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Cloud-native platform engineering in the enterprise 19:02

15d ago19:02

19:02

The director of engineering for a Fortune 20 automotive company shares his thoughts on the latest in cloud-native technologies for platform engineers during KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2025. He also discusses ways platform engineering can address common cybersecurity risks, including software supply chain security. Finally, Saxena gives …

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When Writing Gets Personal: Two Authors on Vulnerability and Voice 1:19:15

21d ago1:19:15

1:19:15

In part one of this week’s author interview, CeCe Lyra connects with clinical psychologist, couples therapist, and bestselling author Dr. Tracy Dalgleish to talk about her new book ‘You, Your Husband and His Mother’—a candid look at one of the biggest sources of relationship tension: in-laws. It’s a conversation about courage, creativity, and the m…

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AI Fanning Explained - what happens between user query and AI output and how to exploit it 4:57

22d ago4:57

4:57

Brought to you by Graphed.com - https://www.graphed.com/ Graphed is your AI agent for marketing analytics. Connect your data and get insights in minutes. Build dashboards, reports, and chat. Learn more at the link. https://www.graphed.com/ When you hit send on ChatGPT, your garbage six-word query gets enriched while the AI simultaneously launches 8…

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Drafting Notes - How to write a great synopsis (without hating it!) 22:05

16d ago22:05

22:05

Watch this as a full video episode on YouTube On this week's episode of Drafting Notes we are discussing that thing every writer hates: The Synopsis! Nobody enjoys them, but how do you write them? What should you include? What should you leave out? We discuss all this and even talk about why synopses can help you find the heart of your story. Draft…

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Begonia (2025) with Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons: Does It Follow Save the Cat? 57:02

16d ago57:02

57:02

On a rainy night Kayla and Rachel brought clipboard to the movie theater to watch Begonia (2025).Now they’re breaking down this absurdist black-comedy thriller beat by beat. Is there any chance that Yorgos Lanthimos’s newest film follows the Save the Cat structure, or are we just trying to shove a genre-bending film into a litterbox? We talk about …

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Mark Murphy - Rose Dhu 23:40

17d ago23:40

23:40

Savannah has always been a city of secrets—but none as haunting as the mystery at the center of Mark Murphy’s new novel, Rose Dhu. Tangled loyalties, buried grudges, and long-kept secrets ripple beneath the city’s live oaks as he hunts for the truth.By Terry Shepherd

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Semantic Query Engines with Matthew Russo - Weaviate Podcast #131! 1:02:25

17d ago1:02:25

1:02:25

Matthew Russo is a Ph.D. student at MIT where he is researching the intersection of AI and Database Systems. AI is transforming Database Systems. Perhaps the biggest impact so far has been natural language to query language translations, or Text-to-SQL. However, another massive innovation is brewing. AI presents new Semantic Operators for our query…

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Shooting the Shit...Live from Hawaii! About turning down offers and how best to work with your literary agent. 24:59

24d ago24:59

24:59

CeCe’s in island mode, Carly’s snowed in—and the publishing chat is heating up. From lost luggage and red-eye flights to turning down book deals and navigating TV/film rights, this week’s episode covers it all. Plus: AI pitch letters (hard no!), why Harper Collins’ “bad quarter” matters, and a little optimism for the analog future of reading. ☀️ Bo…

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#168: Anne Ditmeyer and Martin Lake – Self-Publish Successfully: Choosing Platforms, Managing Costs & Earning Six Figures 52:30

24d ago52:30

52:30

Self-published authors Anne Ditmeyer and Martin Lake share what it really takes to go indie, from choosing platforms and budgeting for editing, design, and ISBNs to redefining success, avoiding scams, and playing the long game of finding readers and building a sustainable writing life. You'll learn: Why Anne and Martin chose self-publishing over tr…

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Ep. 247 - Phoebe Morgan on The Honest Truth About Publishing 1:06:12

21d ago1:06:12

1:06:12

Watch this episode as a full video interview on YouTube Phoebe Morgan is the Executive Fiction Publisher at Simon & Schuster, with a career spanning major publishing houses including HarperCollins, Orion, Octopus Books, and Hodder & Stoughton. Specialising in crime fiction while also working across general and book club fiction as well as romantasy…

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CNCF Surveys highlight cloud-native AI connections 18:54

22d ago18:54

18:54

Bob Killen, senior technical program manager at the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), shares highlights from two survey reports released this week during KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2025: The 2025 State of Cloud Native Development report and AI Tech Radar Report. According to Killen, the results show that cloud-native technology …

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Murder, Metafiction, and Query Letter Mayhem 43:43

22d ago43:43

43:43

Carly and CeCe are back (with a little Blue Jays banter to start) to dive into two fresh query letters. In this episode, the hosts critique a historical novel featuring Shakespeare, conspiracies, and metafiction—but does the query overshare and under-pitch? Next up is a campus-set thriller with book clubs, murder, and female rage—great hook, but ar…

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Jack Brown - Prophets of War 13:12

26d ago13:12

13:12

What if the next world war isn’t fought for ideology or territory — but for quarterly profits? That’s the unsettling premise behind Prophets of War, the explosive debut novel from writer, investor, and political thinker Jack Brown. A lifelong student of history and finance, Brown turns his eye to the places where power hides in plain sight — where …

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Shooting the Shit Live From LA! About Page to Screen and NaNoWriMo 40:04

1M ago40:04

40:04

Carly’s reporting live from Los Angeles and CeCe’s just back from a rom-com-gone-wrong trip to Ottawa (complete with flight chaos and airport bathroom glam). From bribing airline staff with books to rolling up to Netflix, the travel stories are top-tier comedy. Then they dive into Hollywood talk — what’s actually getting adapted from page to screen…

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#167: Anna Davis, founder of Curtis Brown Creative — Learning How to Write: Messy Drafts, the Rewrite Doctor, and What Agents Want 58:03

1M ago58:03

58:03

Anna Davis, novelist, agent, and founder of Curtis Brown Creative, shares how to turn a messy first draft into a strong, market-ready novel through diagnostic editing, practical rewriting tools, and a clear understanding of what agents actually look for. You'll learn: Why every writer’s process is different (and why messy drafts are fine). How to d…

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Ep. 246 - Small Press, Big Impact: How Francesca Barbini Built and Award-Winning Indie Publisher 59:22

1M ago59:22

59:22

Watch as a full video interview on YouTube now! Francesca T. Barbini is an award-winning editor, translator, and founder of Luna Press Publishing, the acclaimed independent press specialising in speculative fiction and academia. Born in Rome and now based in Edinburgh, her work has earned multiple British Fantasy and British Science Fiction Awards.…

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Nancy Shear - I Knew a Man Who Knew Brahms 28:10

29d ago28:10

28:10

Ever meet someone who didn’t just witness history—but lived right in the middle of it? That’s Nancy Shear. For more than twenty years, Nancy was woven into the fabric of America’s classical music world—an orchestra librarian, broadcaster, and behind-the-scenes insider who worked shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the greatest musical minds of the tw…

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Oracle's Sudha Raghavan on AI's infrastructure renaissance 27:57

30d ago27:57

27:57

Oracle senior vice president Sudha Raghavan manages all expansions and new buildouts for some of the world's largest infrastructure platforms supporting GPU clusters, including network design. As the company prepares to build new gigawatt data centers worldwide, she explains how its database heritage helps in operating increasingly demanding data c…

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Success after 800 Rejections! 29:22

30d ago29:22

29:22

Author and agent Jenna Satterthwaite joins Bianca to talk about her new thriller ‘The New Year’s Party’, a murder mystery packed with secrets, friendship, and chaos. Jenna opens up about her 800+ rejections, writing through grief, finding joy in storytelling, and why she’s radically transparent about money and publishing. Tune in for real talk abou…

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Mark Peres - The Accord 22:20

1M ago22:20

22:20

What happens when intelligence that isn’t human demands recognition? 🤖 In The Accord, author Mark Peres explores grief, love, and the blurred lines between human and machine through the bond between a professor and her sentient AI. Join us as we talk with Mark about the ethics, emotion, and humanity at the heart of his powerful debut. #TheAccord #M…

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Developmental Editing 49:53

1M ago49:53

49:53

We’re back—and now bi-weekly! Kayla and Rachel dive into the messy middle of revisions: what developmental editing actually looks like, why you should delay line edits, and how to plant undercurrents so readers guess the twist two beats before you reveal it. Rachel talks through changing her killer (and giving everyone a motive) in her one-night “D…

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REFRAG with Xiaoqiang Lin - Weaviate Podcast #130! 1:00:00

1M ago1:00:00

1:00:00

Xiaoqiang Lin is a Ph.D. student at the National University of Singapore. During his time at Meta, Xiaoqiang lead the research behind REFRAG: Rethinking RAG-based Decoding. Traditional RAG systems use vectors to retrieve relevant context with semantic search, but then throw away the vectors when passing the context to the LLM. REFRAG instead feeds …

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Shooting the Shit About Winning Author Mindsets and Agent Submission Timelines 43:37

1M ago43:37

43:37

They are back! CeCe’s in Ottawa, Carly’s in LA — but the tea is still hot! They break down Q3 book sales (romance + thrillers took a hit), talk timing for submissions, decode what agent feedback really means, and dive into the “good news comes fast” myth. Plus: AI scam alerts and why rejection is just part of the game. Note: CeCe Lyra is a literary…

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#166: Kate McKean — Author and Literary Agent on Building a Writing Life: Pitches, Rejections, and Publishing Truths 1:02:45

1M ago1:02:45

1:02:45

Literary agent and author Kate McKean shares how to pitch like a human, read rejection letters usefully, and protect your joy so you can build a durable writing life. You'll learn: How to build a clear 1–2 line pitch others can repeat and sell. How to read rejection letters, spot strong notes, and decide when to revise. Query etiquette and timeline…

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Ep. 245 - Agent David Headley on Why It’s Harder Than Ever to Be an Author 57:27

1M ago57:27

57:27

David Headley is the Managing Director and co-founder of Goldsboro Books, one of the UK’s leading independent booksellers, and founder of the D H H Literary Agency. Originally from York, David studied theology before building a 25-year career at the heart of the publishing industry. Through Goldsboro, he created the UK’s largest collectors’ book cl…

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When Reality TV Meets Cli-Fi: Hooks, Depth, and the Dreaded Coincidence 48:31

1M ago48:31

48:31

In this episode of Books with Hooks, Carly and CeCe hold down the fort while Bianca is away—and things get delightfully silly. The duo dig into two very different query letters. First up, a reality-TV-inspired contemporary romance about a bisexual woman who falls for siblings on a dating show. Carly and CeCe discuss the strength of the hook, the pi…