Success Story Interview - Rachel Reichard

An Interview with Rachel Reichard (fireheart on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Sera Rivers of Speilburg Literary Agency.

12/08/2025

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

Rachel Reichard:
LUCKY, LUCKY ME is an adult speculative romcom where a rising filmmaker on her way home to finalize her divorce wakes up ten years younger—stuck in the stereotypical plot of the cheesy movies she’s spent her career criticizing—now forced to use her industry knowledge and almost-ex-husband’s assistance to find her way back to the future.

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

Rachel Reichard:
This is the third book I queried this year and there were several times I almost threw in the towel for good. My writing community helped me stay on course!

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

Rachel Reichard:
A BS in the Humanities.

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

Rachel Reichard:
I did two editing passes after an alpha and a beta read.

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

Rachel Reichard:
Very loose outline, mostly wrote by inspiration.

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

Rachel Reichard:
Invest in a writing community. Querying should not be done alone!

Query Letter:

Dear {{Agent Name}},

I am seeking your representation for LUCKY, LUCKY ME, my 70,000 word adult romantic comedy with a speculative edge. Packing the magical nostalgia and second-chance themes of The Seven Year Slip and The Other Side of Now, this bittersweet love story offers La La Land dreamers their alternate ending while utilizing a timeslip to explore womanhood and gender roles—similar to Curtis Sittenfeld's Romantic Comedy—begging women to be a little ‘selfish.’

Like all young artists, Sammie Flores always knew the pursuit of her dreams would come at great cost. So, when the harsh realities of the film industry and a long-distance marriage force her to choose between her thriving career or her failing relationship, the answer is obvious. But right as she’s finally getting around to settling her divorce, the plane from California to Hawai‘i takes her even further than home—it takes her back ten years into the past, just after she married her childhood sweetheart, Milo de Vera.

Trapped in her younger body, a distraught Sammie has no choice but to tell Milo everything, which means breaking his heart again, far earlier than before. However, this relentlessly charming musician is still in his ‘honeymoon phase,’ and he refuses to break easily. He insists on helping her find the answers she needs to return to the present, even if it means losing her forever. When the clues cause Sammie to experience her repressed memories with him, she wonders if this mystifying timeslip might actually be a sadistic form of punishment from the universe. As the first woman in their traditional Filipino-American families to defy a conventional domestic life, it’s as if she’s been dragged back to the starting line to reconsider her choices. Reliving their happiest moments before the real world turned their love bitter does tempt her, but only to question if this might be her second chance to prove the universe—and herself—wrong. Maybe she’s allowed a happy ending with the man who was always willing to sacrifice enough for the two of them. But marriage requires sacrifice from both parties, which has Sammie wondering what she'll have to give this time to make this work.

Born and raised on the island of O‘ahu as a second-gen Filipino-American, my stories exist as love letters to the people, places, and culture I’ll always call home. Before writing fiction, I earned a B.S. in the Humanities with an emphasis in Film Studies, deepening my appreciation for cinema and the women who have fought to break through Hollywood’s “Celluloid Ceiling.” I later held a career in Higher Ed, specializing in marketing and website copy, and now reside in the midwest—exploring with my husband and our preschooler or fangirling over on Instagram as @byrachreichard with my 1.5k community of writers and readers.

The full manuscript is currently under consideration by other agents. Thank you for your time and consideration!

Sincerely,
Rachel Reichard