Sophie Sheumaker

Sophie is seeking fiction for middle grade through adult. Across the board, she is seeking works by historically underrepresented voices and stories with the sort of casual diversity that is representative of the world in which we live.

In middle grade, she is always on look-out for soft, magical worlds that mirror our own. Fantasy that feels like a fairy tale but isn’t necessarily a Disney-esque retelling (think The Girl Who Drank the Moon/The Phantom Tollbooth/The Princess Bride). She loves a third person narrator that feels like a character and stories driven by the wild, ever-changing, ever-learning emotions of early adolescence. Quiet magic that’s woven subtly throughout the story and big families/communities that rely on each other (Encanto/Ponyo/MG Gilmore Girls). Adventure-filled stories that read like they came out of the over-active imagination of an eight year old. MG that can be reread and reloved as an adult and doesn’t treat the reader like they’re a child.

If any of the above can be translated into a YA/Adult setting, she’d love to see it. Here, she’s looking for fantasy, romance, LIGHT grounded sci-fi, and anything speculative/genre-bending. Fantasy can run the gamut from cozy with a soft magic system (Maiga Doocy’s Sorcery and Small Magics) to high-fantasy with an intricately woven magic system (think Godkiller, The Jasmine Throne). She’s particularly on the lookout for horror-fantasy, from the grounded The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires to high fantasy What Feasts at Night.

For romance, she’s particularly interested in queer stories, especially sapphic romances. She loves witty dialogue and banter (Emily Henry/Talia Hibbert) or a hooky beach read with the melodrama of a K-drama (True Beauty, Business Proposal, To the Beautiful You). Contemporary/fantasy/romantasy, tried and true tropes in your typical straight romance done through a queer lens. Especially on the look out for a surprising magical/speculative twist (One Last Stop). Likewise with romance, she’d love a horror-romance, particularly if it had a speculative bent. Dark, all-consuming love and the wickedness that might come from that (note: this is not a call for glamorized abuse).

In general, she loves quirky-off beat storytelling that can deliver serious messaging without taking itself too seriously, characters with richly developed relationships that are central to the story, and stories that center female friendship/sisterhood.