In today's Books with Hooks, Carly, CeCe, and Bianca discuss a historical mystery and a women's fiction query. They chat about whether starting from a male or female POV may (or may not) affect how agents request pages; why an author whose work is quite polished may not have received many requests from agents; transforming hooks in ways that will garner the most agent and editor attention; the issues with wanting a romance to be the B plot, but then also having a weaker A plot; and the ever-present importance of planting curiosity seeds. After which, Bianca interviews David Joy, author of Those We Thought We Knew. They discuss the conventions of the 'Appalachian noir' genre; how David's book and the writing of it compare to a traditional procedural; the inspiration for the themes within the novel; working with an authenticity reader and writing a novel in a way that is respectful to the voice you want to embody; getting readers to be actively engaged in your writing; and the importance of specificity and characterization in bringing your novel to life. Find us on our socials: Twitter: @TSNOTYAW @BiancaM_author @carlywatters @ceciliaclyra Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_shit_about_writing/ https://www.instagram.com/biancamarais_author/ https://www.instagram.com/carlywatters/ https://www.instagram.com/cece_lyra_agent/ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/TSNOTYAW Websites: www.theshitaboutwriting.com, www.biancamarais.com, www.carlywatters.com and www.cecilialyra.com Bookshop.org affiliate page: https://bookshop.org/shop/theshitnoonetellsyouaboutwriting More information about David can be found at: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/226887/david-joy/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/davidjoy_author/?hl=en and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/davidjoy_author?lang=en Our Sponsors: * Check out Factor 75 and use my code tsnotyaw50 for a great deal: https://www.factor75.com/ * Check out Rosetta Stone and use my code TODAY for a great deal: https://www.rosettastone.com/ Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands