Manuscript Wishlist
As a queer Black and Vietnamese woman, Kiki is especially interested in seeing queer BIPOC characters featured in high concept commercial stories across Adult and Young Adult fiction. She represents science fiction, fantasy, romance, women’s fiction with a very special interest in horror, domestic suspense, psychological and speculative thrillers.
Kiki’s sweet spot is a fast paced plot lead by unforgettable opinionated characters who are forced to confront their demons in order to get themselves out of trouble, but she can’t deny being a sucker for the right emotionally driven introspective journey.
Above all, she is a better fit for the unlikable bad girl than the rule abiding overachiever.
Adult
Seeking shenanigans in “unconventional” settings and fields. Think Single White Female at an aquarium instead of legacy media corp or haunted 7-11 instead of haunted house.
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Loves to be chilled, thrilled, and disturbed. Open to pretty much everything but extreme, gratuitious gore.
Slashers (Dark, comedic - both!)
Haunted anything-but-a house. Apartment buildings, convenience stores, photobooth, skate parks.
Gothic and bonus points if you can get us into crowded cesspool as chilling as an isolated manor.
Unlikable narrators, preferably child-free by choice.
Is this real or did I make it up? like the tv show with supernatural origins in Mister Magic by Kiersten White and I Saw A TV Glow
Mixed Media (transcripts, articles, documentary footage etc)
Meta-horror narratives
Books loved:
Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin
Bat Eater and Other Names For Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker
rekt by Alex Gonzalez
Itch by Gemma Amor
You Weren’t Meant to Be Human by Andrew J. White
Malice House by Megan Shepherd
Movies/TV loved:
Swarm
Archive 81
From
Marianne (French)
Talk to Me
Caddo Lake
Heretic
The Substance
The Village
Abigail
Mr. Crockett -
Obsessed with deadly secrets, backstabbing co-dependent friendships, and an irrational thirst for blood. Would rather see genre tropes turned on their head between bartenders at an underground club than middle class housewives in the suburbs.
Think:
Speculative genre-blends like The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey
Cruel Intentions but murder (not rich people specific)
Backstabbing and betrayal featuring a chaotic lesbian friend group
non-rural small towns generational beef
High-control groups (social, athletic, religious)
Titles like:
Barbed Wire Heart by Tess Sharpe
Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell
One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole
Friends Like These by Kimberly McCreight
Midnight is The Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead
You Know What You Did by K.T. Nguyen
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The less moral-save-the-world-with-personal-sacrifice and more intimate and selfish the stakes, the better.
Prefer standalone and duologies
Grounded contemporary worlds or non-western second worlds
Bonus points if there’s less swords and fire-light and more modern/technologically advanced worlds
Not a fan of shadow daddies
Think:
Black Water Sister by Zen Cho
The Unbroken by C.L. Clark
Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland
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Solely interested in BIPOC and queer stories that highlight the lives of millennial queer folks of color within the modern world. This can be exhibited in contemporary, speculative, or other genres.
Think shows like:
Michaela Coel’s HBO series I MAY DESTROY YOU as the tonally vibrant genre-bending, voicey project I’m looking for.
Showtime’s WORK IN PROGRESS which centers co-creator Abby McEnany’s fictionalized self as a 46 year old self-identified fat, queer dyke which balances the levity of mental illness with comedic punch.
Let’s have fun, and get dark, get personal, while also showcasing BIPOC and queer lives outside of singular arcs of pain and suffering.
I want the after coming out, the messy, hilarious, poignant moments that make up the little pieces of our lives.
I want BIPOC lives within BIPOC communities in stories that don’t center navigating whiteness.
Young Adult
Interested in the slackers, miscreants, and misguided — the kids with ambitions outside of the Ivy League tract. Think Skins not Gilmore Girls. Or Heartbreak High not Never Have I Ever for the Netflix generation.
*Works best outside of school as a primary location
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I want it all: slice of life, coming-of-age, romance! Not a fan of rigid social hierarchies.
Think:
Call Your Boyfriend by Olivia A. Cole & Ashley Woodfolk
Thirsty by Jas Hammonds
This Is Me Trying by Racquel Marie
Hold Still by Nina LaCour
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Give me the sneaky, snarky, devious misfits terrorizing or being terrorized. I want all the drama, the angst, the impulse.
Mega-wishlist:
Book like the video game Oxenfree
a version of I Saw A TV Glow where the characters are actually stuck in a spell/supernatural prison they have to escape to get back to their real lives
Books Loved:
Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Jacob White
If We Survive This by Racquel Marie
There’s No Way I’d Die First by Lisa Springer
Girls Who Play Dead by Joelle Wellington
Come Out, Come Out by Natalie C. Parker
Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury
Twin Tides by Hien Nguyen
Old Wounds by Logan-Ashley Kisner
Extasia by Claire Legrand
Rules for Vanishing by Alice Kate Marshall
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Toxic friendships, relationships, situationships. Secrets that break friends and make friends. Hidden desires that threaten sisterhood.
Think:
Have You Seen This Girl by Nita Tyndall
Wander In The Dark by Jumata Emill
The Scammer by Tiffany D. Jackson
They’ll Never Catch Us by Jessica Goodman
Under This Red Rock by Mindy McGinnis
Darkly by Marisha Pessl
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Open to select titles. Looking for something that feels fresh; unlikely protagonists, locations, and premises. Dipping my feet into romantasy and dark academia, but looking for a twist or different look into the genre.
Think:
Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard
Deadly Ever After by Brittany Johnson
An Arcane Inheritance by Kamilah Cole
A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee
Not For Me:
Non-genre (like mysteries, horror) stories set in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, early-2000s.
Conventional hero journeys.
Dystopian/Post-apocalyptic worlds, ESPECIALLY if it’s about overthrowing an authoritative power.
An “ordinary/normal” MC discovers they’re magical/mythical creature.
Traditional vampires, werewolves, mythical/paranormal creatures. Something entirely new & inventive like Blade was? LOVE!
I literally hate political thrillers, please never send them to me. Ever.
If it’s set during/about COVID 19, it is an AUTOMATIC PASS.
A non-comprehensive list
I DO NOT like Taylor Swift.
Holiday-themed/centered romances
Dragons
Magic schools
Interracial relationship cures racism
American War/veteran stories (I am literally the daughter of a Vietnamese refugee)
mafia romances