Success Story Interview - K. Ward

An Interview with K. Ward (kenzieward on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Maria Brannan of Greyhound Literary.

04/30/2025

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

K. Ward:
Owls Don’t Have Teeth started out as a queer love story and evolved into a story about motherhood, feminine autonomy and generational trauma. I started with the title and the concept of a human sized owl that only the protagonist could see, which was inspired by a story in the podcast Radio Rental called Dog Man and that just kind of mingled with my deep (justifiable, they’re terrifying) fear of birds.

QT: How long have you been writing?

K. Ward:
Since forever and ever. I was writing poetry - decent poetry - at 7, and then started telling a whole bunch of little stories to my little sister and cousins, and then I started writing stuff down at probably 8 or 9. So like 20 years.

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

K. Ward:
The vague idea for this book came to me during lockdown in 2020. I wrote two drafts of the wrong story then started writing this version of it in 2023. So it’s been bubbling for five years, but started writing this version of it almost exactly two years ago.

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

K. Ward:
Not really, purely because I felt like it was obvious. I still write poetry to process my feelings and experiences, so there was never really a time where I questioned why I was doing it. I know why I write and would be doing it even if publication never crossed my mind.

QT: Is this your first book?

K. Ward:
I guess technically it’s my fourth? One I wrote a single draft of during NaNoWriMo in 2014 and never touched again, the second I wrote in a frenzy during lockdown - I hope I’ll go back to it one day, but not soon - which needed deep structural work, the original version of this book, and then this one.

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

K. Ward:
I did a BA in Theatre & Creative Writing which helped me learn my process and kept me accountable, and I completed the Faber Online Writing a Novel course last winter. They were both incredibly helpful, and I learned a lot, but I think the main benefit to both of these was the feedback I got from people who’s opinion I value.

QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?

K. Ward:
Absolutely no routine whatsoever. I schedule in time to write, like I put an evening aside or a Saturday afternoon and try to do that once a week, but it’s really just something I do when I want to do it because I enjoy it.

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

K. Ward:
This is the fourth full draft, and that full draft has been through four partial and one full edit so far.

QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

K. Ward:
Yes, the lovely ladies I met during my Faber course and my very very dear friends. Some of them write and others don’t; feedback from both of these parties are equally helpful during revisions.

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

K. Ward:
I outline the scenes I want and start writing, then have a meltdown and put hundreds of index cards on the wall to try and keep track of the plot.

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

K. Ward:
I’m very lucky that I only started querying this book on April 1st 2025.

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

K. Ward:
I sent out 20 in total.

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

K. Ward:
I picked about 15 agents who were specifically looking for literary horror with feminist themes that play with structure and voice, and then the other 5 were the agents for my comp titles and favourite books.

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

K. Ward:
Only a little bit, my last paragraph included an explanation of why I was querying that specific agent, but I only really had to change a sentence or two each time.

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

K. Ward:
Pick out your agents carefully. Don’t just throw stuff out and see what sticks; agents get SO MANY queries and they’re scanning their slush piles for key words that they’re interested in adding to their list. Don’t sent a fantasy novel to an agent who only reps middle grade, make sure they’re actually open to queries, and that you’re correctly following all of the instructions on their submissions page. Small spelling or formatting mistakes are fine here and there, but if you’re not following basic instructions like what to send, what format to send it in, and where to send it, that’s an automatic red flag for someone who’s looking to collaborate.

Query Letter:

Dear X,

I’m looking for representation for my 38,000 word literary horror novel, Owls Don’t Have Teeth. Haunted by otherworldly creatures and the crushing weight of motherhood, Rowan’s body and mind unravel as she struggles to understand what is happening to herself and her children. Owls Don’t Have Teeth sits in the lovely liminal space between feminine dread and surreal body horror with prose that leans poetic and visceral. I like to think you’d find it on a bookshelf alongside Rachel Yoder’s Nightbitch, Megan Hunter’s The Harpy, and Samanta Schweblin’s Fever Dream.

Rowan is a mother. She is certain of that much, even when everything else - her memories, her children, her body - feels unreliable. When a six-foot-tall owl appears in her home and her eldest son’s baby teeth grow back in jagged and sharp, Rowan suspects something is deeply wrong. But she has learned, like all mothers, to endure, to stretch herself thin, to convince herself that things are normal when they are anything but. As her house becomes a labyrinth, her flesh hardens into something other than skin, and her youngest son looks up at her with knowing eyes, Rowan is forced to confront the truth before she disappears completely.

I am a 27-year-old British woman living in Vancouver, Canada, who recently completed the Faber online writing a novel course. I’ve had poetry published in Moss Puppy and Lavender Bones literary magazines, and was drawn to query you because of your interest in explorations of female rage, and voice-led perspectives. I’m very interested in unique voices, and love playing with structure in order to blur poetry and prose. Owls Don’t Have Teeth explores the insidious ways women are expected to surrender their autonomy, their ambition, and, eventually, themselves.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my submission, I very much hope to hear from you soon