Success Story Interview - Margaret Muir-Torres

An Interview with Margaret Muir-Torres (mrtorres90 on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency, Inc..

08/13/2026

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

Margaret Muir-Torres:
LOVE ON SITE is a contemporary romance set in an old-school manufacturing site, where temporary coworkers Natalie and Callen spend their weekdays reducing carbon emissions and weekends "working out the kinks" of her sexual dysfunction diagnosis, thus risking her dream promotion and his struggling business.
The story was inspired by the time I mistakenly opened a neighbor's package to find a very *ahem* adult toy. It was embarrassing and hilarious, and I thought...what a great meet cute! The idea immediately tied into women's sexual health themes that were top of mind for me, including discussions I wanted to encourage more women to have—with their friends, doctors, and especially their partners.

QT: How long have you been writing?

Margaret Muir-Torres:
I've been writing seriously for around 12-13 years. That number might seem shocking, but in all honesty, I've never been in a hurry to reach this point. I wrote two full novels before attempting to query the third, simply because I knew I wasn't ready. I'm here for the long haul!

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

Margaret Muir-Torres:
It took me around 3 years, while working full time and/or running a family business, to write and revise LOVE ON SITE. Halfway through querying, I tacked on a 6-month revision to increase the stakes.

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

Margaret Muir-Torres:
Very early on, I started connecting with industry professionals who had experienced some struggles throughout their writing careers. They set my expectations around how long of a journey this is, how much is out of our control, how fickle the industry is, and so on. With this perspective, I think I'm able to center the writing itself and not become too invested in a specific outcome or timeline. And if the writing is the point, what reason is there to quit?

QT: Is this your first book?

Margaret Muir-Torres:
This is my third novel, but my first contemporary romance. I've written two YA fantasies: one that should never see the light of day and another that I hope to revisit.

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

Margaret Muir-Torres:
I don't have any formal writing education, but I do write for my day job. I work in content marketing in B2B tech, so I write tons of blogs, eBooks, and website copy. While this doesn't help with character development or story beats, it does help me distance myself from the "product" and consider my "target audience."

QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?

Margaret Muir-Torres:
Yes! I try to write every weekday morning. I'm not an early riser, so the extent of my writing time depends on my work schedule. For a few years now, I've been lucky enough to freelance part-time, which leaves me around 2-3 hours per day to write. Whether or not I can focus for that long is another story...

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

Margaret Muir-Torres:
I think I revised around 4 times: 2 developmental passes to flesh out and tighten the story, 1 line-edit, and returning to do a deeper edit to increase the stakes.

QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

Margaret Muir-Torres:
I have 1 critique partner who reads many versions of my work. (Bless her!) I also had 2 beta readers.

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

Margaret Muir-Torres:
I'm a discovery writer, so I start with the initial scenes, conversations, backstory, or just plain vibes as they come to me. Then I try to layer in the connective tissue that ties the pieces together, but only for a sequence or a single act at a time. I don't look at a high-level outline until later revisions when I'm worrying about pacing, stakes, and tension.

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

Margaret Muir-Torres:
I queried LOVE ON SITE for around 2.5 years before receiving an offer of representation.

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

Margaret Muir-Torres:
I sent 119 queries, got 23 requests, and 1 offer of representation from an incredible agent!

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

Margaret Muir-Torres:
I prioritized sales history first and wishlist second.
I started with the top agents selling romance.
I looked up my dream editors and found which agents/agencies sold to them most frequently.
Agents who had sold similar books or who repped authors with a similar voice/brand.
For agents who listed romance on their MSWL, I made sure they had sold contemporary romance specifically or that an established agent in their agency had sold romance.
I pored over the MSWL site, Publisher's Marketplace, agency bios, and X's #MSWL for crossover with my project.
I also set reminders to notify me when agents opened, which is how I connected with Lucienne!

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

Margaret Muir-Torres:
I tried to personalize each query, but if there wasn't much information online, I didn't worry too much about it. The personalizations were pretty wide-ranging, including: info from their MSWL page, agency bio, favorite books/shows, random tweets, recent sales, similar authors on their list, etc.

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

Margaret Muir-Torres:
When I was in the thick of it, a friend told me that I should "get good at waiting," since it will always be a part of an author's career. Easier said than done, of course, and simply starting the next book wasn't enough for me. So, I recommend making a list of things that would feel like writing wins that have nothing to do with getting the agent to focus on alongside drafting. Think: writing a short story, entering your work in a contest, beta reading for friends, planning a writing retreat, etc. These feel productive and are actually within our control!

QT: Would you be willing to share your query with us?

Margaret Muir-Torres:
Sure!

Query Letter:

Dear [AGENT],

I'm querying you with LOVE ON SITE, an irreverent and STEMinist contemporary romance. Set in an old-school Midwestern manufacturing site, temporary coworkers Natalie and Callen spend their weekdays reducing carbon emissions and weekends "working out the kinks" of her sexual dysfunction, thus risking her dream promotion and his struggling business. The novel centers women's sexual health, featuring on-page pelvic floor therapy, performance anxiety, and orgasms with hope, humor, and heat akin to Talia Hibbert and B.K. Borrison. Complete at 88,700 words, the novel also placed in the 2023 Stiletto Contest and 2024 Maggie Awards.

Natalie wouldn't have ordered vibrating nipple clamps if she'd known her hot new neighbor, Callen, would open them first. But she has more important things to worry about...like her boss getting sacked just before launching a multi-million-dollar sustainability project. She's laser-focused on proving she deserves his seat at Meadowlark Manufacturing's leadership table—until Callen shows up Monday morning as her project's new co-lead.

Cal's luck with women has always been abysmal, starting with losing his mom to cancer and ending with his college girlfriend cheating the moment she saw a ring. Now, his small consulting company consumes his life. When the bad economy forces Cal and his partner to consider layoffs, their only hope is convincing Meadowlark to expand their contract. Too bad his feelings for Natalie—with her sex toys, scuffed work boots, and pink fingernails—are the definition of conflict of interest.

Natalie realizes Cal is the only man she trusts with her body after receiving a painful sexual dysfunction diagnosis. However, she saw what happened when a woman broke Meadowlark's anti-fraternization policy—not to mention Cal's company needs this project to be a homerun. But when Cal's partner has a near-fatal accident, Cal realizes nothing matters more than your chosen family. He's determined to make Natalie his, but she struggles to choose between her identity as a career woman and the man who's made her happier than any job ever has.

I'm a romance and fantasy author trapped in a content marketer’s body. I spend my days writing about cybersecurity and green energy, but have way more fun writing characters into spicy scenes and impossible adventures. My romances are sex-positive and feminist—think sex toys and men who make going to therapy look hot. I live in St. Louis, MO and can usually be found napping, reading, or spooning my dogs.

Thank you for your time and consideration,
Margaret Muir-Torres