iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

This book is for you if you: love bad-ass women, revenge plot, love stories, dual timeline, WWII fiction, stories that flip trad gender norms, fictional accounts of real people #booksky elicitingesperance.substack.com/p/code-name-... subscribe for recs to your inbox (can’t trust the algorithms!)

elicitingesperance.substack.com

Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon

This book might be for you if you love books about bad-ass women, a revenge plot, and/or love stories; enjoy Kate Quinn, Kristin Harmel, Kelly Rimmer, or Georgia Hunter; enjoy dual timeline; are inter...

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

💪🏼 vigilante justice ⚖️ moral complexity ❤️‍🩹 cathartic end 🤣 hard topics balanced with warmth and humor 🧠 ND MC ❤️ mental health rep 🌎 pro-immigrant 👧🏽 precocious preschooler 🤝 friendship & found family 💔 grief 🧭 set in the American South #questpit #Q #A #WF #U #T #AnQuerying

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

How do broken people become family? Neurodivergent, intimacy averse private investigator + compulsively kind paramedic + undocumented mother + precocious three-year-old 🫀 centering moral duty, friendship, and emotional reckoning #questpit #Q #A #WF #U #T

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

What do you do when you don’t love parts of yourself? On a tough time in my marriage, going to couples therapy, self-reflection, and having the courage to shape yourself into someone you truly like. elicitingesperance.substack.com/p/when-you-d... #PersonalEssay #CreativeNonfiction #WritingCommunity

elicitingesperance.substack.com

When you don’t love your insides

We’re all works in progress. On marriage, therapy, self-reflection, and the courage to shape yourself into someone you truly like.

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

I’m Sarah! Reader, writer, recommender of books. I’d love it if you’d follow me, but the algorithms can be fickle so I’m launching a book recs list. Real-time to your inbox. I’d love you to subscribe! elicitingesperance.substack.com/subscribe #BookSky #BookRecommendations #AmReading #Substack 💙📚

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

“While it’s hard to get good, you know what’s even harder? Not living on purpose…Living with yourself when you have deferred your own desires for everyone else’s goals.” open.spotify.com/episode/71Zc... #create #writingcommunity #liveonpurpose

open.spotify.com

144. Now is how

The Career Novelist™ Podcast With Camille Pagán · Episode

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

I picked this up expecting something fun and relatively uncomplicated—I was ready for swoony and sweet, maybe (hopefully!) a little spicy. What I didn’t expect was how every emotional beat is earned. elicitingesperance.substack.com/p/love-and-o... #BookReview #RomanceReads #ChristinaLauren #Booksky

elicitingesperance.substack.com

Love & Other Words by Christina Lauren

I picked this one up expecting something fun and relatively uncomplicated. A second-chance romance, high school sweethearts, a coffeeshop reunion. I was ready for swoony and sweet, maybe (hopefully!) ...

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

You can check out my full review here (and please do!!!) but I found this novel deeply affecting, a gorgeous commentary on motherhood—it’s meanings, how we fail mothers, and how mothers can save each other. open.substack.com/pub/elicitin... #BookSky #BookReview #LiteraryFiction #ReadingCommunity

open.substack.com

The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley

This story follows three teenagers who are mothers, or soon will be. The three POV characters—Simone, Adela, and Emory—are part of a tight knit found family started and led by Simone and known as the ...

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

The choices we make—the empathy we show kids, the ways we encourage them to use their voice and think critically, the messages we give them—are forming the foundation for how they interact with the world now. elicitingesperance.substack.com/p/wonder #Booksky #WonderBook #ChooseKind

elicitingesperance.substack.com

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Auggie Pullman is just a regular kid the summer before fifth grade…except he’s always been homeschooled because of a combination of rare genetic disorders that’s left his face severely deformed. But h...

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

This book is a reminder of what’s most important, a testament to the power of vulnerability, and a work of art spun beautifully. It’s heartbreaking—achingly so—but also letter by letter paints a portrait of what it really means to live. elicitingesperance.substack.com/p/the-corres...

elicitingesperance.substack.com

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Sybil Van Antwerp writes letters—to her brother, to her daughter, to her best friend, to neighbors, to two men vying for her romantic attention, to literary idols, to enemies, to strangers. For her, a...

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Tell the Wolves I’m Home is about June Elbus, a fourteen-year-old-girl in the late 80s whose uncle—and best friend, confidante, and first love—dies of AIDS. It rocks June to her core, but his slow death also triggers other fractures in her family. elicitingesperance.substack.com/p/tell-the-w...

elicitingesperance.substack.com

Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

The God of the Woods x How to Read a Book Meet the characters…Harriett and Sawyer. bsky.app/profile/sara... #QuestPit #Q #A #T #WF #U #AgentGuide

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Scarlett is querying 🌸 @southsidestory.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

HEART PRINCIPLE + KENNEDY RYAN Daisy and James both sell fantasies for a living. Sex worker, actor; their jobs aren't that different. They’re supposed to have a business arrangement—the illusion of love in exchange for money—but it turns out a heart costs nothing at all. #QuestPit #Q #A #R #U

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Nkechi (Kay-She) @nkechiokpara.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

A 29-year-old woman begins a prestigious nutrition internship at the hospital where her birth mother died, determined to prove she belongs—until she discovers there’s no record her mother was ever there, unraveling the story she’s built her life around. #Q #Querying #U #upmarket #A #Questpit

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Matthew Kerns @matthewkerns.com · 29/04/2026

He says he made her. She says she loves him. GOOD GIRL is a literary novel told as a chat log between a middle-aged author and a college freshman building a relationship that destroys them both. One of them may not be real. MY DARK VANESSA × ANNIE BOT #questpit #Q #A #LF #U

Cover of GOOD GIRL by Matthew Kerns. The cover is designed as a chat-log exchange: a left-aligned gray bubble containing the title GOOD GIRL in heavy serif type; below it a pink-bordered interiority block reading "(a novel)" in italics; at the bottom right, a soft blue bubble containing "Matthew Kerns." Faint null timestamps —:—— sit beneath each bubble.

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Mary Kate Allen @bymkallen.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

A barn owner who survives by enduring. A trauma surgeon who survives by controlling. A horse kick, an ER meet-cute, and the slow-burn kind of love that doesn’t fix grief, but gives it somewhere to rest. #questpit #Q #A #R #U #WF #litagentsguide

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Alex Blue @imalexbluenow.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

THIS WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING | Upmarket | 80K #QuestPit Closeted YouTuber Dani G is *this close* to being a real pop star, so she is willing to smile and sing while her life falls apart—until she meets a girl who shows her what the world looks like on the other side of performance. #Q #A #U #LGBTQ

A mood board for THIS WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING. A terracotta background with a photo collage. In the center, a Latina YouTuber emerges from a vintage car. On the upper right is her signed CD. The bottom right is a photobooth picture from the YouTube Space in LA. On the left is a photo from a concert and an old tweet.

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Ellen Writes @ellenjwrites.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

When years of unearthed family secrets erupt into murder, two sisters with a decade long feud must rebuild their fractured relationship in order to cover it up, or risk a life behind bars and losing the one thing they were certain they didn’t need – each other. #questpit #q #u #wf #t

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Quin Madden @quinmaddenwrites.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

LILY KING X NOAH KAHAN She is using solitude as a coping mechanism & he relies on emotional unavailability and moral injury to survive. PICTURE US, FALLING is not about being saved, but about being seen, & the brutal, beautiful act of loving while breaking. #questpit #Q #A #U #LF #amquerying

Author statement graphic for PICTURE US, FALLING. Features Noah Kahan quote. Story about emotional honesty, mental health, and running out of time to be truly known. Inspired by Noah Kahan and Lily King. With broken sculpture imagery.

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Beth Holly @bethholly.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Actively querying my debut novel SHE CAME BY IT HONESTLY, a multi-generational story of mothers and daughters and the corrosive power of family secrets. #questpit #Q #U #WF

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Brayden Russell @braydenrwrites.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

When a designer drug that lets the rich edit memories sweeps through a coastal state split between luxury and neglect the poor become its testing ground. #questpit #t #u #d

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

YOU HAVE TO HANG ON 💪🏼 vigilante justice ⚖️ moral complexity 👫 cathartic end 🤣 hard topics with warmth and humor 🧠 ND MC ❤️ mental health 🌎 pro-immigrant 👧🏽 precocious preschooler 🤝 found family 💔 grief 🤫 past secrets 👩🏼‍💻prof dev edit #QuestPit #Q #A #T #WF #U #AgentGuide bsky.app/profile/sara...

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Harper ✨️DVpit pinned @harperkinsley.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

🎭DEAR WENDY x MY FAIR BRADY🎭 #QuestPit #Q #YA When Sofia is cast as the romantic lead of her senior musical with her toxic, cheating ex-boyfriend, she enlists the help of skeptical aroace sound tech, June, to help her "fall out of love" with him, move on for good and become the star of her own show

Collage of theater images with torn paper edges. Highlights include a spotlighted performer, soundboardm red theater seats, and the text "Forget About the Boy."

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Cail Rowan @cailrowan.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Bone HousesXHouse of Hollow A delicate bloom holds a secret & threatens peace when Luna’s father vanishes into The Orade. She & Treasure search for him, but cruel sectors & a magic-plague force her to face untamed powers & a hard choice: save him, save Treasure, or lose herself. #QuestPit #Q #YA #F

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Author Tess Foster @tessfoster.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Just for the Summer x Things You Save in a Fire An overburdened, chronically ill daughter fights to keep her party girl mother in assisted living without losing her health and sanity in the process. 75k contemporary women’s fiction with romantic subplot Dual POV #Q #A #WF #QuestPit

Book title: side effects may include love
Meta data: contemporary women’s fiction, 76k words, dual POV, comps Just for the Summer x Things You Save in a Fire

The pitch and mood board. Winter in north shore Minnesota. A disco ball. Pills. Vinyl records.

An overburdened eldest daughter fights to keep her party girl mother in assisted living.

Comps. Just go the Summer, Evie Drake Starts Over a Things you Save in a Fire.

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

The God of the Woods x How to Read a Book #QuestPit #Q #A #T #WF #U #AgentGuide An intimacy-averse private investigator and a paramedic who saves everyone but himself are the only people willing to help an undocumented mother protect her daughter from the girl’s wealthy American father. (1/3)

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

I’m pitching in #QuestPit tomorrow! I’d love a boost—like and repost tomorrow—to help my pitch reach agents, and I’m happy to return the favor! Drop your pitch below and I’ll look for it ❤️ Check out my pinned post for a preview of my own pitch 😉 #amquerying #writingcommunity

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

The God of the Woods x How to Read a Book *currently querying* An intimacy-averse private investigator and a paramedic who saves everyone but himself are the only people willing to help an undocumented mother protect her daughter from the girl’s wealthy American father. (1/3)

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

When my youngest daughter was about six months old, I started wanting a tattoo. check out my latest essay and consider subscribing (all my content is 100% free!) and sharing! elicitingesperance.substack.com/p/getting-yo... #personalessay #amwriting #writingcommunity #tattoo #intentionalliving

elicitingesperance.substack.com

Getting your insides to your outsides

When my youngest daughter was about six months old, I started wanting a tattoo.

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Voooootes please! I’m packing for a long weekend visiting beloved family and have actually run out of library books, so going tapping into my TBR shelf in my own library! We’re flying not driving so I can only take two…which to take!? #Booksky #TBR #ReadingLife

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

So lovely and generous of @jenna.satterthwaite.author to open up her massively popular newsletter to guest posts and interviews!! Thrilled to have had the opportunity to tell my story! Here’s the link if you want to check it out! open.substack.com/pub/jennasat... #amquerying

open.substack.com

On dying on sub, breaking up with your agent, and choosing yourself

Author Sarah Berke on 700+ rejections, query mistakes, balancing writing + parenting and more...

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Favorite excerpt: “The work of raising and teaching kids is layered and demanding, but it’s also some of the most meaningful and impactful work we can undertake.” Read my full review here: open.substack.com/pub/elicitin... And follow me for more book recs! #BookSky #parenting #momlife

open.substack.com

Big Kids, Bigger Feelings

A guide to supporting the social and emotional learning of elementary-aged kids, Big Kids, Bigger Feelings tackles issues common in those pivotal years.

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

The novel is unsettling and chilling—there’s a sense that something is lurking, and everyone feels like a potential threat. Which, it turns out, they are. #bookreview #bookrecommendations Full review here: elicitingesperance.substack.com/p/the-mad-wife

elicitingesperance.substack.com

The Mad Wife

“I used to resist the dark places, but now I knew that the fullness of life includes all of it: the light, the dark, and the shadows that creep between.” - p. 293

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

www.allianceforgeorgialibraries.org/oppose_sb74

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

This is a love story for us middle-aged moms. Passion + the daily realities of parenting elementary schoolers + the drag of emotional baggage + warmth and wit. Full review: substack.com/home/post/p-... #bookrecommendations #momswhoread

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

This essay is deeply personal—a raw reaction to Minneapolis. Full essay—including audio version—here: open.substack.com/pub/elicitin... If this resonates with you, please consider subscribing and sharing. #socialjustice #parenting #personalessay

open.substack.com

It has to start somewhere

The news coming out of Minneapolis has weighed heavily on me, particularly the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both of them thirty-seven years old.

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Jen Dupuis @jendupuis.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Firefly Lane x Liane Moriarty Disabled GenX Ellie reconnects with her college crush, but her friends suspect him in the unsolved disappearance of one of their group on graduation day. Ellie must risk her safety to learn the truth about her missing friend. #QuestPit #Q #A #WF

Moodboard clockwise from top left: silhouette of woman sitting on bed in darkened room; Sony Walkman with orange sponge headphones; hands clinking wineglasses over table; hands on top of each other in circle; cassette tape with the tape in a heart shape; scattered Polaroid pictures; woman lying head on man’s lap in field

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

A PI and a paramedic, each haunted by an inescapable past, break their own rules to help an undocumented mother assaulted by her daughter’s American father. 💪🏼vigilante justice ❤️love story 🧊anti-ICE 🧠neurodiverseMC 🌈end=hope 👩🏼‍💻prof dev edit ⌨️pgs www.SarahBerke.com/agent-guide #questpit #Q #A #T #WF #U

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

A PI and a paramedic, each haunted by an inescapable past, break their own rules to help an undocumented mother assaulted by her daughter’s American father. 💪🏼vigilante justice ❤️lovestory 🧊anti-ICE 🧠neurodiverse MC 🌈end=hope 👩🏼‍💻prof dev edit ⌨️pgs www.SarahBerke.com/agent-guide #questpit #Q #A #T #WF #U

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

A PI and a paramedic, each haunted by an inescapable past, break their own rules to help an undocumented mother assaulted by her daughter’s American father. 💪🏼vigilante justice ❤️lovestory 🧊anti-ICE 🧠neurodiverse MC 🌈end=hope 👩🏼‍💻prof dev edit ⌨️pgs www.SarahBerke.com/agent-guide #questpit #Q #A #T #WF #U

A PI and a paramedic, each haunted by an inescapable past, break their own rules to help an undocumented mother who is assaulted by her daughter’s American father.

Comps: God of the Woods, Wedding People, How to Read a Book

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

A PI and a paramedic, each haunted by an inescapable past, break their own rules to help an undocumented mother who is assaulted by her daughter’s American father. 💪🏼justice ❤️love story 🧊anti-ICE 🧠neurodiverse MC 🌈end = hope 👩🏼‍💻prof dev edit ⌨️sample: www.SarahBerke.com/agent-guide #questpit#Q#A#T#WF#U

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Sarah Berke @sarahjberke.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Had a blast designing this sassy, whimsical site for USA Today Bestselling author Lynne Marshall (1st book in the Cynthia Peabody series available for pre-order at www.lynnemarshallauthor.com!) I’d love to work with you, too! Send me a message at www.esperancecreative.com and let’s get started!

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