Welcome, this is a weekly interview series with other querying writers for querying writers. For first time querying authors, querying is the process of trying to find an agent for your manuscript. The right agent will be able to help you prepare your manuscript for submission to publishing houses, broker book deals, and hopefully establish and grow your author career. If you’re someone who is thinking of querying your novel, have been querying, or are generally curious about the process this is the interview series for you!
This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Viviana who also goes by @Vivianavasiu92 on X (formerly known as Twitter) and as @girlonfirevibes on Instagram.
Viviana, can you tell us a little about your writing journey? Did you start out writing for fun or always knew you wanted to be traditionally published?
I’ve always loved fiction writing. I remember doodling about imaginary worlds since I was a kid, and I absolutely loved being an English major in college.
I stopped writing fiction for years once I went to law school because it can be exhausting to read and write after doing that all day for my day job. The pandemic rekindled my love for it and the spark and very rough draft of this novel began with the first NaNoWriMo I did back in November of 2021.
I never stopped writing since.
Think fast, name 5 things that you do while querying that are not repeatedly checking QueryTracker or your inbox.
- Creating playlists/listening to music. For some reason, music can make the words flow out of me like seeing scenes in a movie.
- Watching shows or movies that feel inspiring for the style of writing I like (romance and psych thrillers)
- Engaging with the writing community on Twitter. They are simply the best support, distraction, and inspiration.
- Compiling ideas for a new WIP. I am juggling several ideas right now, but I am considering writing a psych thriller that involves the cutthroat dance world in NYC and has an obsessive perspective (think Love Quinn from YOU).
- Watching stand up comedy specials on Netflix. Laughter makes rejections easier haha.
I see that you’re a trial attorney as well as a writer, that sounds like a lot to juggle. What does a typical writing day look like for you? Do you write on days that you work or do it all on the weekends?
It honestly depends. I’ve tried to make a daily writing habit, but I realized that can actually work against me. When I am in the flow, I tend to write even 4K words at a time, so I try not to force it.
My best times for writing are Friday evenings and over the weekend. For better or worse, I am writing my best between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. haha. I always have my phone or journal with me to jot down ideas for scenes etc that come up, and they always do at the craziest times!
How long have you been querying your current work? Is this the first manuscript you’ve queried?
This is the first manuscript I’ve ever written and also the first work I am querying. Today marks exactly four weeks since I’ve been in the “trenches”!
I see that you attended the Writing Day writing workshop, and that it was your first! What made you decide to attend?
So, I’ve only been querying for a month now, but I realized that the most interesting and positive responses I got from agents were through pitching online on Twitter, whether through a formal pitch event or just talking about the thriller I am querying. Seven agents reached out to me about my pitch and said they were interested in seeing more in just the span of a month.
The form rejections and personalized rejections I received so far let me know my query is working but the first pages did not fully do it for those agents. I thought the combination of being able to pitch live and also receive specific feedback on my craft would be a great combination for tweaking and moving forward with a better submission package, along with the potential of receiving my first partial/full request after pitching agents live!
Attending the writers conference was one of the best decisions I made as a writer so far. I learned so much from agents about queries, opening pages, plotting, etc and even got several partial and full requests (my first ones ever) from pitching.
Several writers on Twitter reached out to me and told me they didn’t even know about these opportunities so I’d love if people see there’s so many ways to stand out and cold querying is only one main way!
Rejection is tough, and there’s plenty of it when one goes through the querying process. What comes to mind when you receive a rejection and do you have any advice for other writers that may want to stop querying after getting a rejection?
Rejections are tough. There is simply no way around that. I was lucky to receive so much advice and support before I even sent out my first query and thought I was fully ready for any rejection, but it stings when you get one even though you still know you only need one yes and getting dozens and even hundreds of rejections is the norm.
I love the mindset that each rejection is proof that you tried and that you are getting closer not only to a yes, but to the right person that will fall in love with your project just as much as you.
I recommend querying in batches because that gives you the chance to improve and dust off your anxiety and start fresh! I am sending my second batch in a few weeks after collecting all the feedback I got from the rejections, more beta readers, and the conference.
Finally, I absolutely love dark academia and am curious about your manuscript. Would you be able to give readers a short pitch on the work you’re querying?
I love gothic/campus settings, especially in a psychological thriller. My thriller takes place on a campus in historic Georgetown, Washington D.C. THE PERFECT REPLACEMENT is about the deadly consequences of obsession and ambition set against the high-stakes, cutthroat backdrop of a prestigious university in the capital. It has the stalker perspective from YOU, the dark academia from The It Girl by Ruth Ware, and the portrayal of a toxic relationship told from alternating perspectives from Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering. Here’s the very brief version of my pitch.
Victoria Miller would die to be Jessica Larson…in a place like this, she might have to.
When she starts dating the son of one of the wealthiest families in D.C., Victoria thinks her broken past is behind her. But when she finds out that he stalked the former star student that was found dead at the bottom of a swimming pool, she wonders if she’s next too…
Thank you again to Viviana for taking the time to answer all my questions and hopefully the questions of other querying authors, be sure to follow her on X here.
Love,
EJP