The daughter of an addict with magic creeping through her veins like kudzu meets the harm reduction worker who wants to help but harbors a bitter secret ✶⋆.˚ First look at Blight and Sierra from White Trash Witchcraft, brought to life by the incredible @mitrakats ! ⋆.˚

It was so nice to meet so many folks and see so many new stories during #QuestPit yesterday! I'm more active other places these days and would love to connect there! www.instagram.com/rowanbrighto...

DEADNAME: A trans teen is stalked by their pre-transition doppelganger—and she won’t stop until she’s taken the life they never wanted. #QuestPit #AG #H #YA #OwnVoices

DEADNAME: A trans teen is stalked by their pre-transition doppelganger—and she won’t stop until she’s taken the life they never wanted. #QuestPit #AG #YA #H

DEADNAME With their attempts at coming out repeatedly thwarted and the attempts on their life getting more and more serious, Andy realizes they’re being stalked by their pre-transition doppelganger—and she won’t stop until she’s taken the life they thought they’d left behind #QuestPit #AG #YA #H

DEADNAME: a trans teen is stalked by their pre-transition doppelganger—and she won’t stop until she’s taken the life they never wanted. #QuestPit #AG #YA #H

Looking for some queer Appalachian horror in your life? White Trash Witchcraft is officially on Goodreads! www.goodreads.com/book/show/21...

Looking for some queer Appalachian horror in your life? White Trash Witchcraft is officially on Goodreads! www.goodreads.com/book/show/21...

So excited to share that my first published book will be coming to shelves Fall of 2027!

With the bodies piling up and their attempts at coming out repeatedly thwarted, Andy realizes they’re being hunted by their pre-transition doppelganger—and she won’t stop until she’s stolen the life they’re desperately trying to leave behind. #QuestPit #AG #YA

With their attempts at coming out repeatedly thwarted and the attempts on their life getting more and more deadly, Andy realizes they’re being stalked by their pre-transition doppelganger—and she won’t stop until she’s taken the life they thought they’d left behind. #QuestPit #AG #YA

With their attempts at coming out repeatedly thwarted and the attempts on their life getting more and more serious, Andy realizes they’re being stalked by their pre-transition doppelganger—and she won’t stop until she’s taken the life they thought they’d left behind. #QuestPit #AG #YA

“Love Is Blind” x THE STEPFORD WIVES Alyssa attends a singles retreat where, unbeknownst to her, a wealthy man pays a hefty sum to make her fall in love. When she returns home after two years abroad with him, her friends are shocked at just how much she's changed. #QuestPit #Q #A #S #T

With their attempts at coming out repeatedly thwarted and the attempts on their life getting more and more serious, Andy realizes they’re being stalked by their pre-transition doppelganger—and she won’t stop until she’s taken the life they thought they’d left behind. #QuestPit #AG #YA

Absolutely blown away by the response to this, thank you all so much for beta reading and boosting!! I am going to close to readers for now, but if you didn't get the chance this time, I'll likely send out another batch in a few months and would love to work together then!

Looking for beta readers for some trans horror if anyone is interested! With the bodies piling up and their attempts at coming out repeatedly thwarted, Andy realizes they’re being haunted by their pre-transition doppelganger—and she won’t stop until she’s stolen the life they tried to leave behind

So excited to have signed with the lovely @keiralekseii.bsky.social and Azantian Literary Agency! We've got all sorts of weird queer books on the way ✨

So sad to say that my previous agent has left the business, but I'm very excited to share more about this morning's meeting! 👀✨

My free query critiques officially open tomorrow at 9:00AM EST! As always, they're truly free, in-depth, and encouraging! In an effort to keep responses as timely as possible, I'll close it after my first 15 responses. sites.google.com/view/rowanbr...

Oh wow, I really love sensitivity reading. There's something so cool about being able to use your experience to make other stories more accurate and empathetic. If anyone needs help with their trans characters, please take a look at my website! I'd love to work together!

I finally finished my backlog of over 1000 free query critiques 🥹 It was a lot, so going forward, I'll be opening a limited number of slots on certain dates starting Nov. 1st! (I'll also give away a couple guaranteed slots in a lil pitch contest post to celebrate soon!)

A pacing tip I always wish I could yell at my past self while shaking them vigorously—Skip the getting there. Skip the getting ready. Skip the walking to and waking up for. Write the thing and only the thing!

📣Announcing #PreDV and #DVParty!📣 Excited to bring back #PreDV & #DVParty leading up to #DVPit! Practice your pitches during #PreDV on Mon, Sept 29, 2025! Get to know your fellow participants during #DVParty from Oct 2-Oct 7! Follow this account or dvpit.carrd.co for all official announcements!

I'll be on IG doing #1stlinepit this weekend with the same username. Let me know if you're there too!

COOLEST GRAPHICS: 1st: @rowanbrightonbrown.bsky.social 2nd: @KKrohnAuthor 3rd: @ztfairfax.bsky.social Runner-Up: @juliannewrites.bsky.social

Truly shocked and honored to see this pitch nominated for the #PosterPitAwards Most Intriguing Concept, Best Graphics, Most Original Concept, and Best Character Art! This story is so close to my heart and I'm just thrilled to see it connecting with others too ♥️

Very excited to announce that I'll be a mentor with #SmoochPit again this year! If you've written a book with romance alongside some other intriguing elements, I'd love to see your application starting Sept. 8th!

With their attempts at coming out repeatedly thwarted and the attempts on their life getting more and more serious, Andy realizes they’re being stalked by their pre-transition doppelganger—and she won’t stop until she’s taken the life they thought they’d left behind #PosterPit #YA #H #AG

With their attempts at coming out repeatedly thwarted and the attempts on their life getting more and more serious, Andy realizes they’re being stalked by their pre-transition doppelganger—and she won’t stop until she’s taken the life they thought they’d left behind #PosterPit #YA #H #AG

DEADNAME With their attempts at coming out repeatedly thwarted and the attempts on their life getting more and more serious, Andy realizes they’re being stalked by their pre-transition doppelganger—and she won’t stop until she’s taken the life they thought they’d left behind #QuestPit #AG #YA

The pregnant sex ed teacher is the first to fall. Then anyone who’s touched or been touched is up in flames and speaking with one voice. In the shadow of the spread, two girls must learn all they were never taught and see if you really can fight fire with fire #QuestPit #AG #YA

With their attempts at coming out repeatedly thwarted and the attempts on their life getting more and more serious, Andy realizes they’re being stalked by their pre-transition doppelganger—and she won’t stop until she’s taken the life they thought they’d left behind #QuestPit #AG #YA

Re-pitching my queer + trans Appalachian horror for pride ✨ "Southern inheritances are always dark—whether it's a penchant for pills, a blood-soaked family farm, or an ancient magic. Sierra spurns them all, but when her dad disappears, she must choose which monsters to slay, and which to become."

The Writer // The First Page

I'm getting DMs about my spreadsheet, so here it is again! It is fully programmed to calculate your word count, graph and color code it, and even map it onto your favorite beat sheet if you want! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Day Three with this draft and I just hit 10K words! This story is just pouring out onto the page unlike any other...

I woke up in the middle of the night to frantically jot down a story idea, as I often do, and this time it was...good? Watch me quote this post in a couple years when this horrifying book has fully come to fruition.

Huge congratulations!! This was the first query I edited when I started my new system for free critiques, and it looks like A. is one of about twenty people that have gotten agents after working together this year! I'm so excited to see these books on shelves one day 🥹

Excerpt from my queer Appalachian horror, White Trash Witchcraft! #WIPsnips #writingcommunity

So excited for my #SmoochPit mentee and her new agent!! Summer of Nightmares is an incredible book and I can't wait to put it on my shelf someday soon!

I learned to love querying using two simple rules that made the process sustainable enough for me to push through the rejections and finally get that offer of rep! Danielle did an amazing job explaining why this works and how you can rewire your brain to find joy and maintain motivation throughout

To say that I am excited to publish the next @ymwjpodcast.bsky.social ep. w/ @rowanbrightonbrown.bsky.social is an UNDERSTATEMTENT! All, this episode was inspiring for my journey beyond words. The ep. "It's Not a Myth--We Can Find Ways to Enjoy Querying & Being on Submission" is coming ✨SUNDAY!🤗✨

Changing my mindset was actually the most important factor in finally getting an agent, and I just recorded the nerdiest podcast episode with @drenderturmaud.bsky.social about reconditioning your brain to find that joy in querying, and she was finally able to explain why it works!

A Southern inheritance is always dark—whether it's a penchant for pills, a blood-soaked family farm, or an ancient magic. Sierra spurns them all, but when her dad disappears, she must choose which monsters to slay, and which to become. #PopUpPitE #LuckyPit

A Southern inheritance is always dark—whether it's a penchant for pills, a blood-soaked family farm, or an ancient magic. Sierra spurns them all, but when her dad disappears, she must choose which monsters to slay, and which to become. #PopUpPitE #LuckyPit

I see these are making the rounds again! Here's my evergreen pitch for White Trash Witchcraft... "Southern inheritances are always dark—But when Sierra’s dad succumbs to something even stronger than his usual opioids, she must decide which monsters to slay and which to become"

I just re-read a million of these lists and by the end of my ten calls, I finally got it down to a science. Here's my strategy—

Temporarily closing query critiques to get caught up on my backlog!