Dani Terkhanian
Mom of 2, Elementary Educator, & #Kidlit Writer
Member of the MG Narwhals
#amquerying MG Contemporary
https://danielleterk.wordpress.com
(she/her)
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- STUNNING!!!!
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- I'll feel better once the "should be" becomes a "is."
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- Love it!
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- 👀💙
- another lie smothered by a smile— the masks we wear #DailyHaikuPrompt (mask) #haiku
- Feel this one a lot lately.
- SO FREAKING EXCITED FOR YOU, JENNY!
- 19 please!
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- Thinking of pacing on a more microlevel within scenes, I love using line breaks and shorter sentences to increase the pace/tension at key moments. A CP also had a countdown interspersed with small actions that blew my mind. I emulate that sometimes too! #kidlitchat #MG
- When I'm feeling isolated/hopeless/beaten down by our NF dystopia, I reach out to someone I haven't heard from in a while & express how deeply they matter to me/how grateful I am for the impact they've made on my life. Words matter. By using mine, I hope they feel less isolated & hopeless too🤞
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- I can't tell you how much your updates/transparency mean to querying writers. Thank you!
- Screw your favorite book, which was the first that upset you? A Wrinkle in Time was mine. The possessed baby scared the everloving shit out of me. My babysitter had to call my mom to come home early because I was hysterical.
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- Read BTT for the first time as a teacher knowing what happened. Absolutely destroyed me nonetheless. Not sure I've sobbed like that in a book before or since.
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- As a mom of two young kids struggling to rediscover my person-ness, I hate this book so much. Makes me so happy I'm not alone.
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- I'm so sorry. You deserve better.
- There are currently more kids in Texas with measles than there are transgender collegiate athletes in all of America. Guess which one they want you to focus on.
[This user deactivated their account]- I mean, that is consistent with a lot of what I've seen personally and in studies. We had a chance to learn and advance but we doubled down on hate, prejudice, and anti-science. It's so disheartening.
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- That's awful. 😞
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- I hate it here. We learned *nothing* from covid. 😔
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- 👏👏👏 A little hope goes a long way these days. Thank you!
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- Thank you! I'll take that optimism! 😊 Follow up question: Are you seeing publishers shying away from diverse/inclusive children's books due to *gestures around*? I'd hope not, but I've been surprised with some of the knee bending I've seen from other institutions.
- I saw a publishing forecast article saying MG is expected to have a tough year but looks promising beyond 2025. Any thoughts/insight relating the MG market?
- I've eaten from my #garden every day for the last week. The best part? Most things were garden failures. Bolted cabbage (delicious sautéed w/ onions). Baby turnips & leaf lettuce harvested early to make room for warm weather crops. If failure tastes this good, I can't wait for the successes!
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- Gorgeous!
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- 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻 Love the happy bee. Hopefully the rain stops soon and the flowers soak it up.
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- Good luck!!
- I've been adding a bunch of herbs and flowers hoping to draw in more ladybugs to my garden this year. 🤞🏻 Bon apetit to the fierce little predators!
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- What a great way to fundraise! 👏👏
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- That's the best feeling!
- 👏👏👏
- Anyone else have a favorite staffer at their rep's office? I hate having new hellish EOs, legislation, cuts, & firings to call about daily, but 1 staffer in particular always makes my day. Shout out to the staffers fielding record amts of calls on a daily basis and ensuring our voices are heard. 💙
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- 📌
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- HI LAUREN!!!
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- 😲👀👀👀
- #QuestPit #Q #YA #F John Tucker Must Die x The Craft HEX GIRLFRIENDS CLUB: A lesbian witch teams up with her nemesis to curse the girlfriend who has been two-timing both of them, but as their revenge plot heats up, sparks fly, making the coconspirators wonder if they should be more than frenemies.
- Sounds Awesome!
- Advil, tylenol. You name it, Madeline has got it. The death of her famous husband left her reeling with a hypochondriasis diagnosis—cue a panic attack in Aisle 5. Until local pharmacist Dean gives her the hardest pill to swallow yet: moving on. #QuestPit #OS #AG #CR #R #A
- Great pitch!!
- After the king banishes Crown Princess Rowena because she's in love with a woman, a witch curses all misogynists, who spontaneously combust and leave the country of Matreolea without a king or government. #Questpit #F #A #LGBTQ #AmQuerying
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- Raised by corporate vampires with little freedom or choice, Alex is used to Yakuza business rivals and back-alley deals. But nothing prepares him for Jason, a witty bartender who challenges everything he knows, and who harbors secrets as deadly as the vampires after him. 💙📚 #questpit #PR #Q #writing
- 🔥🔥🔥
- CABIN IN THE WOODS×JOHN DIES AT THE END×KNIVES OUT When their detective friend is murdered during their annual gaming retreat, 5 dads must use their years of #TTRPG experience—and puns—to solve the crime before they're all killed off like NPCs in a badly-written campaign. 🎲🥓 #QuestPit #A #H #MY #W
- This sounds AMAZING.
- TOPIC: Let's talk... queries! What are your best tips for writing it great query? What do you avoid or, if you receive queries, reallllly dislike seeing? And... who and what are you querying these days? #kidlitchat
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View full thread🙏
- (This gif... 🤣💙🤣)
- ✨ATLA X TUC✨ Three teenagers learn that a star from a centuries-old prophecy has blessed their souls. They now hold the fate of both the human and the magical realm hidden within it in their hands as the threat of war looms ✨Unique magic systems ✨Assassinations ✨Portals #questpit #MG #F #Q
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View full threadthis made my day!!
- Yay! Another fan! 😊 Good luck!
- Happy (paperback) birthday to @beckererine.bsky.social Crushing It - is a MG first crushes book and adorable!
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View full threadIt's fantastic, isn't it! ❤️
- It is! :)
- #Kidlitchat My original query letter was a packed, full page. (Shockingly still got requests.) Current letter = tight 350 words. I scrapped the rhetorical question opener & swapped an intro statement of themes ("...36K words about grief & healing") w/ a hooky plot point. Waiting to see how it hits.
- Good luck!!
- #questpit #pb #mg #ya #na #f Trying a different approach today- Seeking **editorial agent** recommendations to sub grounded fantasy in all age ranges to. Did you work & love an EA? Drop their name for my list! Looking for a long-term partner that will help shape career & hone skills. Thanks! 🙏🏼
- No personal recs but both authors on WRITE WHERE IT HURTS are repped by Chelsea Eberly and they speak so highly of her. Very editorial. Open to queries pretty infrequently though.
- 4 Chosen ones from different lands discover they are on the same quest to restore the broken crystal. Each one wants to do things their way, but if they don’t join forces, there will be no home for any of them to return to. #QuestPit #Q #mg #F
- Ooh love this twist on the chosen one trope!
- Go Paige!!! Kick butt and then find an agent! (Don’t kick agent butts 😆) 🍀
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- Pirates of the Caribbean—if Jack Sparrow were a vengeful sapphic ghost possessing a sapphic princess Elizabeth Swann, Will Turner went on a gender journey, and the curse could only be broken when two hearts meet the light—through love or bloodshed 🫀🗡️ #QuestPit #YA #F #Q #LGBT
- This is such a fascinating twist on pitch structure. 👀👀👀
- Hoping someone in the #KidLit sphere can help me out here - if, for example, an agent doesn't specifically state that they're open to YA or MG but are open to fantasy, does that mean I can send them YA fantasy? Or should I just stick to those specifically open to YA or MG? Thank you! 🙏🏼
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View full threadThat sounds sensible, thank you.
- There's definitely more crossover with YA and adult these days, so I think you'll find a bunch of agents that take both adult/YA. Good luck!
- Don't be precious or confessional--the agent doesn't know you yet! Write your best prose--the agent will notice if the query is badly written. Think in terms of marketing language or a film summary. Last tip--NEVER be bitchy or demanding in followup. Ever, ever, ever. #kidlitchat
- TOPIC: Let's talk... queries! What are your best tips for writing it great query? What do you avoid or, if you receive queries, reallllly dislike seeing? And... who and what are you querying these days? #kidlitchat
- Yes to all this! I have to remind myself that marketing language isn't necessarily 100% accurate. The query is for selling the story. A lot of it is perception. The minutia/technicalities can be left for the reader to discover. (Yes, I was the kid who hated T/F questions. Why do you ask?) 🤣
- #Q ACE OF SPADES x GLEE x DO REVENGE 16yo Adelina worries when her bestie Jo vanishes after an unknown stalker texted her threats. She teams up with 17yo Adam & discovers Jo never existed. Just who are they looking for & why does Jo’s phone say Adelina’s also in danger? #QuestPit #MY #T #YA #OWN
- Wow! Fascinating! *
- I'd stick with those that represent YA/MG. Kidlit is very different from adult so you want agents that have experience and editor connections in that Kidlit sphere. Agents that only rep adult fantasy may be less familiar w/ kidlit editors and have less knowledge of YA/MG comps/trends
