After 2 years of indie publishing, in late 2025 I threw my hat back in the ring for traditional publishing, with a round of in-person pitches at WA’s Festival of Fiction. I pitched to 4 of the big 5 publishing houses, and received requests for pages from all of them. It's up to my pages (and the fates!) if I go further, but my successful pitch is below.
The pitch
Buffy meets Bladerunner.
Neon Vamps is a spicy 80,000-word vampire romance with high suspense and a gritty cyberpunk feel perfect for lovers of JR Ward. [Swap out JR Ward for publishing house comparable book]
Nyx is a hacker with sensory sensitivity issues hiding her half-vampire nature AND hiding her sassy AI friend, who looks like 80s Madonna. They’re hiding from the technocrat vampire Houses who rule the prison city she lives in.
When Nyx’s sister goes missing she sets out to find her, exposing her to the Houses and the ruthless crime organisation, the Cursed Bloods and their hot alpha-hole leader Azazel.
Azazel sees Nyx as an asset against both the Houses and the fae outside the city. He uses and protects her, until they both succumb to the fierce connection they fight right until the ‘happy for now’ ending, that collides both their found families.
I work in government tech policy, I’m neurodivergent, and I grew up watching Buffy, reading sci-fi and going to goth clubs.
I’ve been published in short form since 2019, and in 2023 I won the RWA Spicy Bites award. This will be my first trad published full length novel, and a debut under my own name, with a series planned.
Lisa's latest release is as L.A. Monteiro:
Lisa Rodrigues
She works part-time in public tech policy, after ten years in marketing and communications, and is currently querying ‘Neon Vamps’.
Visit Lisa's website: lisarodrigueswrites.com
