Abby Saul
Literary Agent
The Lark Group
agent at The Lark Group (@LarkWords), reader of books, hiker of trails | she/her

Literary Agent
Catch-all #mswl: Adult mystery/thrillers, book club/upmarket, women's, historical, & contemporary fiction. Make me laugh and cry, transport me to someone else's life, surprise me. Some faves are here, come join them on my shelf: manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/abby…
Queries reopen 12/1!

Literary Agent
Mystery #mswl: Golden Age inspired cozy-leaning (with modern sensibilities)... yes please! Make me think of Christie or Marsh or (newer!) Osman and I'll be over the moon.
Queries reopen 12/1!

Literary Agent
Women's/Commercial Fic #mswl: finding out the life she thought she knew or wanted or built is not all it seems (either bc mystery! or bc she grew up / stopped lying to herself / faces a crossroads). Foodie, feminist, family (found family counts!) all faves
Queries open 12/1!

Literary Agent
Historical Fic #mswl: an unseen avenue into a popular historical moment (a job, a place, a person we haven't seen before giving new insight into a time we're maybe familiar with). Dual timeline, mystery/Gothic-leaning, female-driven all delicious bonuses
Queries reopen 12/1!

Literary Agent
Evergreen #mswl: character-driven mystery/thriller which leads me one way and then springs a trapdoor of a twist (ala Brianna Labuskes, Ruth Ware, Riley Sager, etc)
Queries reopen 12/1!

Literary Agent
Hey #amquerying authors! I’ve gotten lots of ?s about when I’m reopening. It’ll be December 1! I’ll post reminders and current #mswl between then and now, and I’m already excited to curl up with your words this winter. More soon!

Literary Agent
Last night mostly made me crave more - and more recognition for - women's stories. (And yes, I'm very proud to look at the next 7 months of @LarkWords releases and see all female-driven projects.) #MSWL

Literary Agent
I'm so excited to open back up to queries next week (1/18!)! My online #mswl continues to be a great place to find out what I like, and I'm definitely looking for thrillers that make me go 😱, historicals that make me go😭🥰, and contemporary fiction that makes me go 🧐😍

Literary Agent
The New Yorker @NewYorker
Between 1899 and her death, in 1962, the photographer Lora Webb Nichols created and collected some 24,000 negatives documenting life in her small Wyoming town, whose fortunes boomed and then busted along with the region’s copper mines. nyer.cm/LGyNjSGThese are very very worth seeing, and #MSWL

Literary Agent
This image came up as part of cover discussions for an upcoming book and... yes. #mswl forever!

Literary Agent
Abby Saul @BookySaul
I have certain plot things that I always love, in commercial or literary fiction: family secrets, locked rooms, dual timelines, exciting and tear-jerking finales, a sense of history and the book’s place in the larger scheme of life #MSWL.@LarkWords is again open to queries! I’m retweeting my latest #MSWL tweets because they still apply... looking forward to seeing your words!

Literary Agent
Anne Louise Avery @AnneLouiseAvery
A ribbon manufacturer from Saint-Étienne, Félix Thiollier's (1842-1914) melancholy photographs, shaped by the humanity of the Barbizon school, capture fragmentary moments in time, shards of light, twists of smoke, glances– vast narratives from the most transitory of experiences. pic.twitter.com/7zaMwmLFvW#MSWL !

Literary Agent
As always, the most important things I want are harder to define and defy plot. These are characters who feel real, a world that I get lost in, and incredible, unputdownable writing. #MSWL I can't wait to see what you've got! larkwords.com/how-to-query

Literary Agent
I'd really like a female-driven thriller that has a new take on the "maybe I can't trust the [partner/friend/parent] I trust most in the world" trope, ideally in a stunning setting (mountains! island! creepy manor on the moors!) #MSWL

Literary Agent
Women's fiction: I'm game for almost anything, but I'd love for it to be a bit swoony and totally transportive #MSWL

Literary Agent
I am wishing for some realistic and transportive literary fiction, grounded in the messy reality of human lives (past or present) - think THE GREAT BELIEVERS or A LITTLE LIFE #MSWL

Literary Agent
For mystery, I'm craving a Golden Age-inspired mystery but with a dark/bleak plot - Agatha meets Tana #MSWL

Literary Agent
I'd love an #ownvoices upmarket 20th C historical fiction - ideally with a secret something that has to be revealed (I'm thinking ala Lovecraft Country without the Lovecraftian horror/fantasy elements, which is ridiculous to say but I want it) #MSWL

Literary Agent
I have certain plot things that I always love, in commercial or literary fiction: family secrets, locked rooms, dual timelines, exciting and tear-jerking finales, a sense of history and the book’s place in the larger scheme of life #MSWL

Literary Agent
The Lark Group is reopening to queries on 10/5, so I'm going to be sharing some of my #MSWL this week!