Bea Fitzgerald

I’m happy to be surprised in my fantasy and sci-fi submissions but if you’d like more about my tastes and what I’m specifically looking for, please see the below: In fantasy I’m looking for tropey romantasy especially any with stakes so high the world itself might be at risk. Give me messy characters in a complex world and foolish and difficult choices to be made. I’m also very happy to see these vary across the spice scale – from none at all to so hot my kindle might blow. My recent favourites include Fourth Wing, The Night Circus and Once Upon A Broken Heart. At the other end, I’d love high-concept low-stakes cosy fantasy stories that feel like a don’t-leave-the-tavern DND session – like Legends and Lattes, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches or Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea. I want to have fun with fantasy, so darker narratives have to feel indulgent or lyrical – a recent favourite was A Dowry of Blood. I can also get sucked into some really good world-building – like Dragonfall, Godkiller and The Final Strife. These stories were also wonderful for the queer normative worlds and I’d love to see that in my submissions. I’m always thrilled by stories rooted in myth or folklore like Kaikeyi, Morgan Is My Name and Daughter of The Moon Goddess. I also really enjoy magical realism, especially in an evocative historical setting like the drawing of the 1930s in Shanghai Immortal or the 1920s in Gods of Jade and Shadow. My sci-fi tastes are pretty specific in that I like sci-fi stories that use the possibility of space and the future to explore humanity and ideas of progress, often in a very fun and irreverent way. My favourites in this genre include The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet, Mindwalker and Frontier.