Success Story Interview - Connie Vickers

An Interview with Connie Vickers (connievickersx on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Keir Alekseii of Jennifer Azantian Literary Agency.

11/03/2025

QT: Can you tell us a little bit about the book for which you've found representation? What inspired you to write it?

Connie Vickers:
THE FINAL HOUR is a New Adult dark academia sapphic Romantasy with enemies-lovers, deadly magical trials, and forbidden necromancy. It follows Maevis, a street raised necromancer who’s forced into a brutal magical academy where power is earned through deadly rites called Final Hours. When she’s bound to her enemy through blood, they begin hearing each others thoughts, then memories, then more. As secrets begin to unravel, Maevis must decide who she’s willing to trust, and how much of herself she’s willing to lose.
THE FINAL HOUR was inspired by my love for the Romantasy genre, and the need for more sapphic representation within the genre. I was heavily inspired by the magical feel of Harry Potter, the romance of Fourth Wing, and the politics of The Cruel Prince.

QT: How long have you been writing?

Connie Vickers:
Honestly, for as long as I can remember! I have a very vivid memory from the age of about eight, of writing a story about angels (I even researched into the enochian language!), and made my parents to read it! I’ve always LOVED writing, but only in the last two years have I really started to take it seriously!

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

Connie Vickers:
I’ve been working on TFH since early May this year! I’m quite a quick drafter and reviser when I really get into something!

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

Connie Vickers:
Many times. This journey certainly isn’t an easy one, but I’m a very persistent person. My grit carried me through, and with every “no”, I would tell myself that it was one rejection closer to that “yes”’.

QT: Is this your first book?

Connie Vickers:
It isn’t, it’s my third “serious” book. I queried two more books before this, which I now CRINGE at! This is the first book where I feel like my voice, prose, and plot finally came together.

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

Connie Vickers:
I don’t have any formal writing training. Everything was completely self taught, and I was always quite naturally good at writing. Of course, I had to put in a lot of graft to polish up, but no, I had no formal writing training.

QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?

Connie Vickers:
I don’t follow any routine or schedule, I just write when it feels right! (Which is often)

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

Connie Vickers:
Three times! I find overanalysing makes everything worse. I write my first draft, then I run through on big picture edits, then character arc edits, then finally line edits!

QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

Connie Vickers:
I actually had no beta readers for my book! I had a lot of support from the writing community though, which has been incredible.

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

Connie Vickers:
I’m definitely a pantser! I usually have some idea of where I want my story to go, usually a general plot outline, magic system, characters, and then I wing it! I often surprise myself, and when I do, I make note of it so when I edit I can ensure there are no plot holes!

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

Connie Vickers:
My advice would be to never give up! I promise that though sometimes it can feel quite draining, there is someone out there who will believe in your book as much as you do!

Query Letter:

I’m seeking representation for The Final Hour, a completed 90,000-word New Adult dark academia sapphic romantasy with dark themes, enemies to lovers, deadly trials, and forbidden magic. Gideon the Ninth meets Fourth Wing with shades of Ninth House—a fierce, emotionally complex heroine navigates a deadly magical academy where forbidden necromancy, brutal trials, and a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers bond unravel an ancient conspiracy threatening to reshape the world.

In the magically-governed nation of Remmell, power is everything—and power is earned. Mages can only access a single discipline of magic unless they endure a rite called a Final Hour, where success means advancement or it invites the reckoning: a violent transformation that ends in either ascension or total ruin. Most who reach three branches don’t survive. Five is nearly unheard of. Beyond that is believed to be impossible.

Nineteen-year-old Maevis Elarion, a street-raised necromancer, has spent her life using illegal bone magic to feed her family. When she’s caught reviving a soul, she’s declared a master and offered a place at Astraekar Academy—where ambition, control, and sacrifice define survival. Maevis doesn’t want power, she just wants to protect her own. But Astraekar’s brutal halls don’t offer safety. They offer control, sacrifice, and secrets that were meant to stay buried.

A forced partnership in Bloodcraft class binds her to Kess Virelin, her cold and calculating former bully. Their bond forms without warning, breaks every known rule of magic, and can’t be found in any archive. It lets them hear each other’s thoughts. Then memories. Then more. As the connection deepens, so does the danger. Their relationship begins with resentment and erupts into something intimate, obsessive, and impossible to sever.

Together, Maevis and Kess advance faster than any students before them. As they master discipline after discipline, they begin uncovering secrets buried beneath the academy—of forbidden sigils, erased history, and a conspiracy with roots far older than the school itself.

As the reckoning draws closer, Maevis must decide who she’s willing to trust, and how much of herself she’s willing to lose.

The Final Hour is about legacy, rebellion, and two girls tangled in a bond that was never supposed to exist. It’s a story of obsession and survival, the price of ambition, and the terrifying things love might make us become.