Hi, I’m Shay. I’ve been writing for about 10 years now, querying off and on. I write a lot of different genres and age categories from MG to YA and NA but my main focus at the moment is MG Fantasy. I love to write friendships and sibling relationships, LGBTQIA+ characters and issues. I like things that are fun and whimsical and quirky but I also like darker stories and more horror or paranormal and so my books tend to fit into one or more of those descriptors. I watch probably too many tv shows and get far too invested in them. Same with superhero movies, no one should dissect a Marvel movie as much as I do I think. I read a wide variety of books and love learning more about writing, and I love critiquing. I’m a cat person and a passable home baker.
A note: I listed edit letters as my preference but I am flexible and do tend towards giving chapter by chapter feedback when it’s needed or wanted, I just prefer to read it all in one go. I can do line edit feedback as well, but it’s just not what I tend towards.
I’m definitely a character-driven reader, I love a good unique high paced-plot but if the characters aren’t relatable and I’m not invested in them, I can’t bring myself to care enough about a story. But beyond that, I’ll read pretty much anything. My favorite things are definitely fantasy of any sort, anything with dragons, sci-fi elements (or full sci-fi fantasy), interesting relationship dynamics, strong friendships, and found families. I’m also a big fan of horror and contemporaries. And pretty much anything with good LGBTQIA+ rep.
Favorite Books:
Percy Jackson and The Olympians (this series is what got me into reading when I was young and continues to be one of my favorite things ever). Keeper of The Lost Cities. Howl’s Moving Castle. Lumber Janes (the comics). The Prince and the Dressmaker.
YA and up: A Darker Shade of Magic. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. The Raven Cycle. The House in the Cerulean Sea. The Martian. The Extraordianaires.
I’m not the biggest fan of historical fiction of any kind. Homophobia. Chapter books and lower.
Treasure Planet meets Keeper of the Lost Cities in Inventions, Dragons, and Hot Air Balloons when Margo and Adalyn discover a dragon, join with a band of pirates, and go on an adventure across the treacherous sea to find Margo’s missing mom. All the while on the run from a mysterious figure who is hunting the dragon.
(I’m in the process of revising the beginning of the book. Oops.)
I have a couple projects on the back burner. I’m a compulsive drafter so I have a number of first drafts that I don’t know if I’m ever going to do anything with. My main projects after the one I’m currently working on include:
A MG fantasy novel that is sort of Transformers meets the Hunger Games (kinda). The pitch is: With the summer shaping up to be one big disappointment, twins Warner and Emmett are in for the surprise of their lives when their farm is chosen as the grounds for an immortal Olympic games.
A MG paranormal/horror novel about a girl who learns she can see ghosts when her brother is killed by an ancient demon.
And an upper YA/NA high fantasy novel about a supposed “chosen one” who ended up failing.
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