Dear Team at Trident Literary,

I would like to query you about your interest in women’s fiction written by BIPOC.

18-year-old Noah has been no stranger to grief—raised by a distant father after her mother’s death, she’s long relied on music and self-reliance to fill the silence. Then she meets Derek, and for a while, it feels like she’s finally writing a new story—one filled with love, laughter, and the future she never dared to hope for.

But six years later, that story shatters. Derek, now distant and struggling with addiction, confesses he’s lost their money and their dreams to a failed business. After a devastating argument, he drives off drunk—and hours later, Noah gets the call: Derek is gone. In the haze of grief, a forgotten cigarette sparks a fire that consumes their home.

Everything—her marriage, her memories, her music—turns to ash.

With nowhere else to go, Noah returns to the home of her sharp-tongued, candy-hoarding grandmother, whose dry wit and quiet resilience slowly coax Noah back to life. When Noah discovers she’s pregnant, she’s forced to confront the weight of her loss—and the terrifying possibility of building something new.

As her grandmother’s health declines, Noah steps into the role of caretaker, even as she prepares for motherhood. And in those quiet, difficult moments—rocking between heartbreak and hope—Noah begins to heal. She learns that love isn’t just something you lose. It’s something you carry forward.

Every Step of the Way is a 68,000-word coming-of-age novel about rebuilding when all seems lost. With emotional depth and a touch of wry humor, it explores the messy, beautiful act of surviving grief and finding grace in unexpected places. It will appeal to readers of We Are Okay by Nina LaCour and Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, catering to an audience of age between 25-35.

I was born and raised in San Jose, Costa Rica, but moved to the US when I was sixteen to pursue what has been a successful career in professional wrestling, which has given me a platform to promote this novel. I hold a Master’s in American Sign Language/English interpretation and live in Orlando, Florida. This novel was born from my own experience with grief and the healing I found in writing through it, written as a way to explore and process emotions too big to carry alone. Every Step of the Way is my debut novel.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration. I would love to share the full manuscript with you. Attached are the synopsis of the novel as well as a writing sample.

Warmly,

Sofia Ramirez Castillo

(786) 483-6195