Caitlin O'Connell

And everything in this post is still true! #MSWL

#MSWL And one more thing: at Workshop we have some fun things we can do with shorter novels for both MG and YA, so on the lookout for those as well! Agent friends, please send me all the things! :)

#MSWL A very specific thing I'd like to see: a fantasy or a historical where the main character uses traditionally feminine skills to their advantage (like hiding coded messages in embroidery, for instance) rather than being dismissive of it.

#MSWL A few specific things I'd love to see: lady knights! Time loops! (I loved THE ISLE IN THE SILVER SEA by Tasha Suri) Historical detectives, like Sherlock Holmes or Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, but with queer girls. Painterly graphic novels that still have a punchy hook.

#MSWL Even in fantasies/historicals, I need the teenagers to feel like teenagers and not like this could be an adult book. Some examples I've enjoyed recently were LADY'S KNIGHT by Megan Spooner & Amie Kaufman, the FORGE & FRACTURE SAGA by Brittany N. Williams, and AMONG GHOSTS by Rachel Hartman.

#MSWL Genres, you say? I'm glad you asked! I am not a good fit for most straightforward contemporary without a strong speculative twist. But I love fantasy, I love historicals, I love mysteries, I love genre bending stories. I am picky about sci fi but when I love it I LOVE it.

#MSWL I am primarily eager for queer stories! Please please send me your queer books! If there is sapphic yearning, particularly in any of the genres I'm most interested in, why is it not in my inbox already?? There also remains a lack of trans girl stories in kidlit, I'd love to see some!

Hooray hooray, it's #MSWL day! So excited. :D Quick background about me: I'm an associate editor at Penguin Workshop, editing primarily licensed titles for major brands and media partners. However, I am also open to (and eager for!) MG and YA submissions. I am only looking for agented submissions.

Agent friends! My first read of the year was Tasha Suri's THE ISLE IN THE SILVER SEA, and I loved it! If you have any YA projects with similar elements (lady knights, sapphic yearning, time loops, stories about stories, did I mention sapphic yearning??), please please send them my way! #MSWL

Agent friends: I zoomed through the audiobook of VERITY VOX AND THE CURSE OF FOXFIRE this weekend and it was great and had everything I want in a YA fantasy. Cool witchy magic! A fun voice! Cozy, but still important stakes! SAPPHIC!!!

If you have anything like this, send it my way? :) #MSWL

#MSWL I'm looking just for MG and YA for original submissions, but agents, most of what I do is IP/work-for-hire on brands and licenses, mostly picture books through chapter books, activity books, and some nonfiction picture books. If you have clients with experience in that space, let me know!

#MSWL for graphic novels, in terms of art style, a very incomplete list of some favorites for an idea of my taste:

-Beetle & the Hollowbones
-The Deep & Dark Blue
-Ink Girls
-I Shall Never Fall In Love
-On a Sunbeam
-The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich
-The Pale Queen

#MSWL some more specific thoughts:

-All the queer books. Please & thank you.
-Is it sapphic? Is there yearning?? Why do I not have it already?!? (Bonus points if historical.)
-Do you have something where fanfic is a big part of the plot? Yes please!
-Time travel or time loops? Sounds fun, I'm in!

Okay, agent friends, it's #MSWL time! I'm an Associate Editor at Penguin Workshop, looking for middle grade and YA, as well as graphic novels in both categories. I love historical fiction, fantasy, and mysteries, and if you have something that combines those elements in a clever way, send it to me!

It's #MSWL day!! I'm excited to share a few things I'm looking for later today (but first: meetings), so in the meantime, here's my page on the website. Please note I am only open to agented submissions. www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/ca...