Hi hi hi! Quickly popping in to share the link to an agent spotlight interview I did recently for natalieaguirre7.bsky.social's Literary Rambles blog! Thank you so much for giving me a chance to chat about agenting and my #mswl !
literaryrambles.com/2026/06/literary-agent-interview-giannamarie.html

✨For an ultra-specific #MSWL visit: manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/ashlee-maccallum/
✨To query: QueryTracker.net/query/queryash/queryashlee
✨ For my #kidlit fam, I am open to children's by referral only while I build the adult side of my list 🫶 (8/8)

✨Historical Fiction✨
-Fresh angle or underexplored historical moment
-Strong emotional throughline and character focus
-Dual timelines or narrative reveals that drive momentum
-Hidden histories or marginalized perspectives
-Book club appeal with a compelling central hook (7/8)

✨Women’s Fiction / Book Club Fiction✨
-High-concept emotional premise
-Relationship-driven stories with strong character arcs
-Family, identity, and reinvention at the center
-Secrets, moral dilemmas, or layered interpersonal tension
-Diverse perspectives (6/8)

✨Horror / Gothic / Paranormal Cont.✨
-Voice-driven narratives with strong character perspective and emotional depth
-Stories that blend horror, gothic elements, or the paranormal with identity, relationships, grief, or memory (5/8)

✨Horror / Gothic / Paranormal ✨
-Atmospheric, eerie, or unsettling storytelling. . . hauntings, decay, isolation, or a lingering sense that something isn’t right
-Psychological or social tension grounded in real fears, often intersecting with the uncanny or supernatural (4/8)

✨Mystery/Thriller ✨
-Psychological or domestic suspense with a strong hook
-High-stakes premise that escalates quickly
-Unreliable narrators or morally complex characters
-Bingeable pacing with sharp twists
-Cozy mysteries with a unique setting, voice, or hook (3/8)

Across all categories, I’m looking for:
-A clear, compelling, one-sentence pitch
-A strong, distinctive voice
-A touch of the unexpected, offbeat, or strange
-Stories that balance emotional depth with commercial appeal (2/8)

✨I'M OPEN TO QUERIES✨
#MSWL 🧵

I’m seeking high-concept, voice-driven adult fiction with strong emotional stakes, a clear hook, and broad commercial appeal. I’m drawn to diverse and underrepresented voices, as well as stories that feel fresh, strange, or genre-bending (1/8)

"I'm always interested in epic fantasy with big worldbuilding, high stakes, and characters to get invested in."
Rose Ferrao #MSWL

#MSWL I love authors who make familiar things feel newly strange.

A marriage.
A neighborhood.
A family.
A friendship.
A single decision that quietly changes everything.

#MSWL I’m looking for fiction that changes how I see the world after I close the book.

Upmarket, literary-commercial, elevated suspense, speculative with emotional weight, unforgettable voice. A story that I want to keep reading.

"Send me speculative fiction in the vein of HANDMAID'S TALE or 1984, but with a modern twist."
Elizabeth Guthrie #MSWL

"Send me science fiction with high genre elements – think science fantasy and space opera like GIDEON THE NINTH and SOME DESPERATE GLORY."
Rose Ferrao #MSWL

4. SHORT Middle Grade
-Short middle grade (50k or under) that lends itself well to illustration
-Author/illustrators
-Heartfelt and funny stories
-Books for boys that encourage empathy #MSWL

3. YA queer horror & speculative
-ANYTHING comped to Leviticus please
-Teen voices that sound genuine
-Stories with meaningful themes (without being preachy)
-Non-western settings and magic systems #MSWL #writersky

2. Adult thriller/horror
-Fast-paced thrillers and horrors, esp. from BIPOC or queer POV
-Campy queer horror equally laugh-out-loud as it is spooky #MSWL

-Fresh perspectives on feminism (esp BIPOC and intersectional voices)
-Theology (teaching, not preaching - where religions come from and how they affect people/society)
-Mental health topics like anxiety and depression. Can include self-help that isn't didactic #MSWL

1. Nonfiction
I'm really keen on nonfiction. I'm interested in why people do things, psychologically and socially.

Queer history & gender studies (A SHORT HISTORY OF TRANS MISOGYNY / BAD GAYS: A HOMOSEXUAL HISTORY #MSWL

I'm back open to queries this week & next! Check out the Storm website and below to see what I'm looking for:
#MSWL #querying #writersky #writersofbsky
querytracker.net/query/Madelyn_Knecht