My bookshelf is 50% character-driven sff/speculative/spooky, 50% realistic contemporary/historical (coming-of-age romance, mystery/thriller, action-adventure, and verse novels), mostly by BIPOC, queer, or traditionally underrepresented folks, & my taste very much reflects that.

#MSWL Agents, I've been seeing some fantastic YA sff subs. I'll never say no to sff that captures my heart, but I'm also on the lookout for gorgeously written verse/prose, layered coming-of-age (historical or contemp) esp if it weaves in queer romance and/or mystery/suspense.

cozy horror bakery #MSWL

Agents, authors, I've been updating my website recently to reflect my role at @DisneyBooks —including by adding an #mswl page! Head on over to check it out: rachelstark7.wixsite.com/home/general-1

(Sadly due to legal blah-blah, I really, *really* can't look at un-agented/unsolicited pitches)

I thought I might try a #MSWL thread with a slightly different spin. Agents, these are a selection of my favourite books of all time, in no particular order, so you can get to know the kind of SFF I love.

What is happening?! Idk just a dream coming true. #mswl updates coming soon!

would love to read a horror submission about the ‘third man effect’ it’s wonderfully creepy and could be really heartfelt too #MSWL

Agents! I am DESPERATE for books that feel like The Summer I Turned Pretty! #mswl

Or maybe what you have is not like anything we've ever seen before - super gay, weird, and innovative with all the seemingly disparate threads somehow coming together & there's just no way I could've known to want something like your bonkers creation. Well! I might want it then.

GN: absurd, funny MG; fantasy/spec like This Was Our Pact; YA like The Prince and the Dressmaker, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up..., Genderqueer, Go with the Flow, The Magic Fish, beautiful coming-of-age like This One Summer that lingers w/you but make it all gay gay gay. 5/6

YA: coming of age romance like Last Night at the Telegraph Club or Ari & Dante w/gorgeous prose; coming of gender; atmospheric gothic (like The Handmaiden); historical/nf; mystery/thrillers like Firekeeper's Daughter or Patron Saints of Nothing; character-driven speculative. 4/6

MG: character-driven fantasy/speculative/spooky; gorgeous verse novels; beautifully written coming-of-gender/gay stories w/ young people just beginning to come into their identity or discovering first love and crushes. Think Chiron in Moonlight when he's still a kid/preteen. 3/6

PB: I'd love to see nonfiction & fiction that undermine heteronormativity/gender binaries & celebrate queer kids beginning to find words for who they are, or who don't yet have the words for "trans," "nonbinary" (how you can be AMAB, feel like a girl, & still like girls) 2/6

With #queerpit approaching, I thought I'd write up a super specific super gay #MSWL . I acquire for picture books, MG, YA, graphic novels, & nonfiction for Atheneum, and I'm looking for queer esp intersectional (BIPOC, neurodivergent, disabled) and trans/NB/genderqueer voices. 1/6

GN #MSWL : If any creators/agents have a project w/a similar vibe as this, I'd love to see it! I'm also on the lookout for coming-of-gender stories; queer romance; contemporary like Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up.., This One Summer, Go with the Flow; absurdly funny MG/early readers

Books from Canadian authors, about Canadians, and/or set in Canada #MSWL

One of my earliest tweets was of how the pioneering women in the geosciences dressed like me, a practicing Muslim woman who also has a degree in geoscience. Now, I want to say #MSWL to this! Give me books where modest girlies can learn & save the Earth, too.

Seeking authors! Please share. We're growing our list of books about disabilities with goals of building allyship and inclusion. Learn more and submit here: freespiritpublishing.submittable.com/submit/262101/call-for-authors-writing-about-disabilities-for-kids #mswl #callforsubmissions #disability #disabilities #disability inclusion #writers #kidlit

But I am still relatively new and not burned out by this industry yet... And we are really excited over at Romantic Suspense to find new authors, especially authors writing diverse perspectives, so if you have questions, hit me up! My full wishlist is pinned in my profile.

We updated our romantic suspense guidelines last year and are actively doing outreach to find authors who are writing LGBTQ+ stories. I know that category romance in general and Harlequin in particular have not always been quick to embrace stories from underrepresented voices.