craziest part of pitching to publishers is pretending to care about current trends. "Oh I heard vampires / Bridgerton were in right now :)" as if I've not been in a cave for 10 years wallpapered with WIP red string boards labelled CARMILLA (1872), THE QUEER EROTICISM OF THE MONSTROUS, or 'WHAT IF MASTER AND COMMANDER BUT TRANS AND FUCK THE BRITISH EMPIRE'