Maeve MacLysaght

I only accept queries via Querytracker: querytracker.net/query/MacLysaght

This link will open May 15th, 2026. See you soon!

Nos:

🤖🚫 IF YOU HAVE AI IN ANYTHING, NO THANK YOU

🖼️ PB, MG, or illustrator-only pitches

🙅‍♀️Faith stories, Aliens and Superheroes, portal fantasy

⁉️Stories with the express purpose of tricking or disappointing the reader

In Nonfiction:

💻 Fandom and nerd culture academia

🍬 The intersection of modern politics & pop culture

🦠 Weird histories, deep dives into oddball concepts

🚓 Ethical true crime & structural injustice

In YA:

🕵️ Hijinks, heists, and daring plots!

👠 Gender & sexuality as play and exploration, not trauma or parable

🎤 Voice for days, kids making 100% (in)correct KID choices

💬 Witty, complicated friend groups

In Horror:

⚰️ Indigenous horror, unexplored folklore of all countries and people

⛴️ Closed-set horror, like a cruise ship, a locked mall, a flooded island

👹 Tightly interwoven choice and plot; characters that drive the plot; rejecting puritanical moral codes

🌽 Ethel Cain & Hozier music

In Fantasy & Science Fiction:

🍷 Lush, decadent, slightly fallen worlds with horrible, sexy people

👺 I’m weak for a monster, a knight, a saint, or an alchemist

🏚️ A haunted house, a secret organization, a placid surface with fraught depths

🔮 A bargain, a deal with the devil, a curse

In Mystery:

🔎 I’m really looking for a charming sleuth with series potential!

💾 Monster/case of the week that builds to a greater plot

🏡 Harlan Coban pacing & intricacy, but not terrible to women

🐺 True Detective: Night Country, but if they were (correctly) gay

In Romantasy:

❤️‍🔥 ROMANCE COMES FIRST! If theres a monarchy, it exists to put the characters in a fraught marriage; magic exists to make them unbelievably sexy/horny/compromised

🌶️ High heat, high emotion, fast plot

🗡️ Toxic, horrible, sexy people. I want the reviews to be “WHAT DID I JUST READ”

In Romance:

💘 I want, most of all, to fall in love. Make me swoon like a Victorian maiden. 100/10 on the swoon scale.

🌸 Historical romance that explores secret societies, unspoken relationships

🗝️ Romance always has to have another genre for me, be that fantasy, horror, or mystery (or all three!)

Overall, I am seeking:

🗡️ Strong, confident writing with a tinge of darkness

🎓 Compelling voice and convincing authority in fantastical worlds

⚡ Stories dialed up to 11, high genre 🚀

💌 Tropes, done creatively!

🍳 Stories that pull a little of column A and B

🍑 Romance and mystery in *everything*

#Amquerying authors, it’s time for 2026 #MSWL refresh! As always, I am looking for YA, Adult, Graphic Novel, and select Nonfiction titles with a focus on commercial genre fiction from marginalized voices.

My reading taste is eclectic, but to give you some vibes, think of me for projects that are..

As a reminder, I accept queries ONLY via QM:
querymanager.com/MacLysaght

I'm also looking for something truly Romantic, capital R. Sweep me off my feet w/ characters I can fall in love with - I like an asshole character as much as the next gal, but I also love love. Regency, Fantasy, just no contemporary. Something like LADY FOR A DUKE or A STRANGE AND STUBBORN ENDURANCE

Keeping in the theme, I'd love a horror (YA or Adult) like YELLOWJACKETS that's as much about the speculative element as the interpersonal tension

I just watched BOTTOMS and, unfortunately, it's going to be my personality for a few months. I'd love a YA with that level of funny, young voice and tropes taken to absurdist extremes.

Mystery! Anything from gentile POIROT and MISS FISHER to gritty supernaturally tinged TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY. I'd love a sleuth I can sink my teeth into and I'm really hungry in this space

Happy #MSWL day! Bumping my longer MSWL list here, but I'll also add in a few things I'm looking for in particular!

bsky.app/profile/mmmlysaght.bsky.social/post/3lapn65bba22x

Perpetual #MSWL

I've read a lot of very good fantasy books about very bad things happening to people for ~reasons~ and I want to feel joy again. This would be a great time to send me your steamiest queer romantasy ⚔️🫀 #mswl

As a reminder, I will be open to queries May 1st, 2023 📅

Please note I ONLY accept submissions through Query Manager, email submissions will remain forever unanswered: QueryManager.com/MacLysaght