I apologize for the interruption in the regularly scheduled programming in the Insects are Fairies series. July and August are kicking my ass. I’ll be back with an installment about beetles and metamorphosis later.
This past weekend, I wrote a whole substack detailing all the headlines in publishing and tech that make me want to quit at the very least, if not evaporate into steam like a witch in water. I wrote about all the time I have put into writing this novel, time that I could have spent with my growing child and loved ones, or making money to pay off the farm, or skipping rocks on a lake. The resources, research, courses, and writer’s groups I took part in. Three years. Thousands of hours. The cost of spilling your guts trying to make art that might reach someone’s soul is high. I didn’t publish it. Instead, I went through every one of my 35 published articles and de-activated Pangram from scanning my IP to train their LLMs.
No one asked me to write this. No one is waiting for it. In fact, I’ve often wondered if people just want more of the narrative-nonfiction, farm-and-philosophy Rox. It’s gentler, kinder, less challenging to read, and easier for me to write. And while I wrestle with the question of whether or not I even want to enter the Thunderdome of trad publishing anymore, I’ve decided that even giving up is a process. I see the way writers are being treated in this new age of AI disruption, and I don’t know if I could handle it. That is, if I even got the chance. My bio as an organic farmer isn’t going to impress anyone in the literary world. I don’t have any connections in the industry to refer me. My story and craft have to stand on their own.
In lieu of giving up (yet), I see a lot of authors and prospective authors sharing versions of their query letter on substack. I’ve been talking about this book now for so long, and finally, I feel like something has clicked into place. I have my pitch, my title, my synopsis, my comps, and my meta data all put together with a neat little bow.
While the query in its entirety contains semi-spoilers for readers, it has the specificity of plot that I know agents want, so that’s why I’m not sharing the whole thing. But for my readers, friends, and community who may be wondering, I’ll give you my elevator pitch and metadata as it stands now:
“Within a high-tech mountain fortress, billionaires are founding a new post-biological human species. Ascendants are fully digital humans who are able to live in a virtual utopia indefinitely, avoiding both climate disaster and death itself. While about 300 of the richest people on Earth are preparing to Ascend, 19-year-old Xyla Quade, a working-class surrogate in training, is about to join them.
LAND LEFT BEHIND is a speculative cyberpunk thriller with inverted Lolita and “good for her” tropes, compiled at 81,000 words. This dual-POV novel combines the haunting intimacy of MY DARK VANESSA (2020) by Kate Elizabeth Russel, and the twisty sci-fi plot and commercial pace of COLDWIRE (2025) by Chloe Gong. CW: sexual assault, abortion, attempted suicide. “
If this sounds like it deserves a spot on your TBR, please, let me fucking hear it! I’m tired as hell, broke as shit, and loosing faith in society as a whole. I haven’t given up yet, at least not until I gather the courage to send a few queries to my most-trusted, reputable agents. But it’s tough out here, and getting tougher.
Thanks to all who read this newsletter, who already support my work. You mean so much to me, and when we see each other at farmer’s market or wherever and you let me know your thoughts on Insects are Fairies, Gardens are Portals, or whatever else I’m cooking up, it nourishes my soul more deeply than you know.
That’s all for now.
In love and solidarity,
Roxoxoxo
I cannot wait to read your book! It is needed in this world!
I love dystopian fiction; this plot sounds really interesting. You've got something here, I would read this. 🙂