Success Story Interview - Anastasia Lawrie

An Interview with Anastasia Lawrie (AnastasiaLawrie on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Stephanie Winter of KO Media Management.

02/26/2026

QT: How long have you been writing?

Anastasia Lawrie:
I've been writing most of my life, but I began pursuing it seriously about three years ago.

QT: How long have you been working on this book?

Anastasia Lawrie:
This novel took me a couple of months to write, followed by another month of editing, revising, and rewriting. I've never had a book come together as fast as this one. It felt magical and terrifying at the same time.

QT: Was there ever a time you felt like giving up, and what helped you to stay on course?

Anastasia Lawrie:
Not with this novel. Everything came together so quickly that I barely had time to think about giving up. When the timing is right, things move fast. But with the other two novels I'd queried in a different genre, I hit plenty of moments where I wanted to quit. Writing is the only thing I truly want to do in this life, so it made no sense for me to stop. Whenever I let myself feel sorry for a bit, an idea for a scene would pop into my head, or a random nudge would get me writing again, and I'd remember exactly why I love it so much.

QT: Is this your first book?

Anastasia Lawrie:
No. I wrote three novels in the contemporary romance space before realizing my strengths lie in psychological thrillers.

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

Anastasia Lawrie:
I do not.

QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?

Anastasia Lawrie:
It depends on what stage I'm at in the novel. When I'm writing the first draft, I love diving in first thing in the morning and seeing how long my imagination can carry me throughout the day. Editing and revising are less predictable. I've spent ten-hour days reading the novel out loud, tweaking, polishing, and that's something I can't do with a first draft. I always make sure to give myself breaks. Sometimes stepping away for a week or more, even though it's hard and I literally force myself from the desk, actually makes the writing stronger.

QT: How many times did you re-write/edit your book?

Anastasia Lawrie:
I'm going to be fully honest, I don't even remember, but it was quite a bit. I pivoted to a new genre based on an intuitive nudge I had; there was a lot to learn, and it took a lot of trial and error to figure it out. Luckily, I've read many psychological thrillers, so I understand the pacing and what's required in this genre.

QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

Anastasia Lawrie:
I did not. This was a solo journey for me. I love to use different alter egos for different tasks throughout the writing process. I knew I'd get helpful feedback from agents, and that's what mattered most to me.

QT: Did you outline your book, or do you write from the hip?

Anastasia Lawrie:
It was a little bit of both. I knew some of the big events and twists I wanted to include, but a lot of the middle came to me as I wrote.

QT: How long have you been querying for this book? Other books?

Anastasia Lawrie:
I queried this novel for about a month before receiving an offer. The one before it, which I pursued seriously, took around eight months before I realized my heart wasn't really in the romance space. The first novel I queried was more of a learning experience. I wanted to gather feedback and understand how much I still had to grow and learn. The third novel I wrote never went out at all.

QT: About how many query letters did you send out for this book?

Anastasia Lawrie:
I sent 38, 7 full requests

QT: On what criteria did you select the agents you queried?

Anastasia Lawrie:
My main priority was finding an agent who genuinely loves psychological thrillers. I spent a lot of time reading through their wishlists to get a sense of what excited them and what caught their attention. It was also important to me that they had some openness to satire within the genre. That was a bit harder to gauge, so I did my best to read between the lines and piece together what I could from their online presence.

QT: Did you tailor each query to the specific agent, and if so, how?

Anastasia Lawrie:
I did it a few times at the beginning, but ultimately realized that it didn't matter. If an agent liked the concept, they requested the novel very fast.

QT: What advice would you give other writers seeking agents?

Anastasia Lawrie:
I'm very cautious about this question because two writers could follow the same path and end up in completely different places. For me, intuition has been everything. I've spent a lot of time alone, getting quiet enough to hear my own instincts. I did my best to be patient, and above all, I saw rejection as redirection rather than failure. It's simply data. Every "no" nudged me closer to the work that actually felt like me. I knew deep down that my time would come, and I was open-minded about the how of it. Take whatever feels helpful from that