Success Story Interview - Tara Schauerte

An Interview with Tara Schauerte (CoolHandsGirl on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Lindsay Guzzardo of Keystone Literary Agency.

10/21/2026

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

Tara Schauerte:
IN HOLLAND STANDS A HOUSE is a historical fiction with speculative elements. As her residents endure wartime occupation, famine, mental illness, and cultural upheaval, a Dutch mansion that can control the inner workings of her rooms must decide if intervening to protect them is worth the risk—knowing that revealing her secret could mean she is abandoned forever.
I was inspired to write this book after living as an expat in the Netherlands. I wanted to write about the history of The Hague, but also wanted it to be a lived experience. I had heard from a neighbour that my own house had an owner who had previously lived in my home for decades, and found myself wondering what her lived experience must have been like.

QT: How long have you been writing?

Tara Schauerte:
I’ve been writing as part of my day job in communications for my entire career. I started writing my first novel back in 2011.

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

Tara Schauerte:
I started writing this book in the summer of 2021 and finished the first draft in the spring of 2025. I then edited the book for about a year more before it was ready to query.

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

Tara Schauerte:
I love this story and was always passionate about telling it! But it’s a long process to get a book ready getting for publication and I definitely relied on setting myself small writing goals to get pieces ready to share with my writing group and writing sprints with fellow writers where we’ll just meet online and hold each other accountable while we draft.

QT: Is this your first book?

Tara Schauerte:
This is my second book. I learned so much from my first manuscript and definitely feel the experience of writing this second one was better for it.

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

Tara Schauerte:
I have an Honours English degree that included courses in creative writing and literary criticism. I also completed additional creative writing courses focused on novel structure and workshopping early material after my degree while I lived abroad.

QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?

Tara Schauerte:
I have to be flexible with my schedule to fit in time for writing around my job and family. However, I have a writing practice where I’m very careful during my first draft to only go back and look at what I wrote during my previous session before I dive in again. I save the bulk of editing for when that first draft is done.

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

Tara Schauerte:
I queried about the fourth draft of my book (some parts were re-drafted more than others). An additional light re-draft was then completed with my agent.

QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

Tara Schauerte:
Absolutely, and I believe having that feedback is critical. I had two writing partners who gave very fulsome critiques of the manuscript and craft. I had another two beta readers who actively read in the genre and could give their overall impressions as readers.
I also paid for a sensitivity read of part of the book by an editor who could review my depictions of an undiagnosed mental illness.

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

Tara Schauerte:
I am a plotter rather than a pantser. I had a one-page outline and then also a sketch of my story arc tacked up on my board when I was writing. I outlined the majority of my scenes when I started the project with notes on what each one would include. I like to include a lot of breadcrumbs, and having a good idea of where I’m going with the plot makes that easier for me to incorporate. I also had a particular word count goal and set markers for myself along the way for when different plot points and beats in my story needed to occur to keep the pace and tension rising. The other advantage of my detailed outline is that it made writing my synopsis when I was ready to query much easier!

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

Tara Schauerte:
I queried this book for just over two months until I signed with my agent.

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

Tara Schauerte:
I sent 17 queries in two batches.

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

Tara Schauerte:
I kept a running list in Query Tracker for a couple of years before I started querying of agents where I noticed something they represented I thought was a comp to what I was working on, or heard something about their manuscript wish list that matched my project. I also added agents to that early list who had previously requested the full manuscript of my first novel.
Once I was ready to query, I went back through this list as my starting point, and searched in Query Tracker for agents with quick response times in my genre for my starting round, and also for agents with similar tastes to ones I had already identified. I’d make notes to myself about each one in Query Tracker after I had also read through their websites, socials, MSWL, and Publishers Marketplace profile for anything that made them a unique fit for my project and ranked those I was most interested in querying first.

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

Tara Schauerte:
Not every query was customized, but I tried to include a sentence up front about something from their wish list that caught my eye as a match for my manuscript if I had found something unique. I also would customize for agents who had previously requested a different full manuscript from me, and would adjust language slightly if I was writing to a Canadian agent (I’m Canadian) or an agent in the UK (my book is set in the Netherlands).

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

Tara Schauerte:
Have all of your query pieces organized and ready to go: query, short synopsis, long synopsis, blurb, 1-sentence hook, target audiences, comparative titles, author bio, and writing samples of various common lengths (5 pages, 10 pages, 3 chapters, etc.)
Consider doing a first round of queries to literary agents in your genre who typically have a faster response time. If you do not get the response you are looking for to your query, then you know to make adjustments before you try again with your second round.

Query Letter:

Dear Ms. Guzzardo,

I am seeking representation for my novel IN HOLLAND STANDS A HOUSE, a literary historical fiction with speculative elements, complete at 91,000 words. The story combines a house's narrative point of view, as seen in Kate Quinn's THE BRIAR CLUB, with the multi-generational saga in Daniel Mason's NORTH WOODS that is afforded by a single setting spanning a century.

Electricity, water, chimney drafts, her very foundation—all can be manipulated by the Dutch mansion at Riouwstraat 192 to influence and protect the lives of her residents. When a new family, the Timmermans, arrives in 1919, the house develops a special bond with their baby Eva, even saving the child from a fatal fall. But she knows she must never intervene again, as neighbouring houses warn her of the risks if her occupants learned what she can do and assumed she is haunted: she could be abandoned and left in disrepair or, even worse, demolished. When threats to her family loom, first during German occupation, and then decades later from Eva's own troubled son, Riouwstraat 192 must decide if revealing her secret to protect those she loves is worth the risk. Set against the backdrop of The Hague, as one family grapples with the long-lasting impacts of war, famine, mental illness, and cultural upheaval, IN HOLLAND STANDS A HOUSE is the story of what happens if these walls could not only talk, but act.

While this novel is my debut, I have always been a writer by trade, working in communications, speech writing, and media relations after completing a degree in Honours English. I'm originally from Alberta, Canada, but lived as an expat in The Hague for five years, giving me the opportunity to savour the history and culture of the Netherlands, learn the language, and experience the charms and quirks of Dutch mansions for myself. Please note that the manuscript has undergone a sensitivity read for its content related to [redacted].

Thank you in advance for your consideration.