Success Story Interview - Sarah James Middleton

An Interview with Sarah James Middleton (Sarahjamesmiddleton on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Eva Scalzo of Speilburg Literary Agency.

10/05/2026

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

Sarah James Middleton:
I am a lucid dreamer and had a full dream detailing the book's plot.
BLOODSTONE is a 95,000-word dark romantasy featuring cursed and
draining magic, lost gods, a slow-burn fated-lovers romance, and witch
trials that leave survivors.

QT: How long have you been writing?

Sarah James Middleton:
I've been a story-teller on social media and through visual art for
the past decade, but this is my first novel.

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

Sarah James Middleton:
Since February of this year.

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

Sarah James Middleton:
I was so profoundly affected by the dream that I felt like I didn't
have a choice whether to write it or not. The story needed to be told
and I just let it come through me. I told myself that even if no one
read it or liked it, I needed to finish it.

QT: Is this your first book?

Sarah James Middleton:
Yes.

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

Sarah James Middleton:
I studied creative writing as a minor in college.

QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?

Sarah James Middleton:
No, I am a wedding photographer so I wrote this book during my off
season. I wrote every day for six to eight hours with very few days
off.

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

Sarah James Middleton:
I wrote the entire manuscript from beginning to end without jumping
around. I never re-wrote the plot. I self-edited the book 3 times and
then hired a professional copy editor to polish the grammar before
querying.

QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

Sarah James Middleton:
Yes, I had 2 rounds of beta readers, about thirty in total. I also had
two critique partners and one reader who focused only on continuity.

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

Sarah James Middleton:
First, I had the dream. Then I wrote a 9-10 page synopsis of the dream
in as much detail as possible. Then I used Living Writer to frame the
story. I broke it into about 40 chapters. I then wrote a 2-3 paragraph
summary of each chapter. Every day I tried to write a complete
chapter, never deviating from the established order. Every 2-3
chapters I would read through it again for continuity.

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

Sarah James Middleton:
I have been querying this book since April and it is my first query.

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

Sarah James Middleton:
26

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

Sarah James Middleton:
I was most drawn to my agent because of her references to astrology in
her bio. Since my book is based on a dream and I take astrology very
seriously, I wanted to find an agent who understood my work's origin
and wouldn't consider my process too "woo woo".

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

Sarah James Middleton:
Don't give up. Eva was my number one choice, but I also received
rejections from other agents. It was hard receiving rejections while
believing in my book so strongly.
One piece of advice I was given is to not make your query letter too
vague. I actually hired someone to help me write my original query,
but it wasn't catchy enough to stand out, so I rewrote it. Spend time
thinking about how you'd market your book in three sentences. Agents
see so many projects that they really need to know why yours is
different and worth reading.