#PitchWars: My Wishlist

Man, I thought writing my bio was hard. I'm going to be mentoring in the Adult and New Adult categories, and I wanted to just be like,

Original art © Allie Brosh*

But I was pretty sure that would rate a disapproving look from Brenda and, perhaps, shunning by the other mentors. So then I decided to look at the agents' websites to see what they wanted to see as well as the Agent and Editor Wishlist Tumblr. I managed to narrow it down to Some of the Things.

Here's what I don't want: no horror, cannibalism, evil zombies, incest, child abuse, animal abuse, pedophilia, necrophilia, or anything that goes beyond taboo and into despicable. I also do best with books that have a happy ending, whether it be happy forever or happy for right now. The book can be full of struggles and angst, so long as I have the comfort of knowing everything will turn out all right by the end. 

Moving onto my area of expertise, I am best with romances (big shocker there, huh?) and, more specifically, paranormals. I do read pretty much anything that has a romantic element in there somewhere, regardless of overall genre. However, if you have something that you think isn't my usual fare, but you're sure I'm the perfect fit because Joss Whedon is your Master too, submit it to me anyway. 

Now, onto, my wishlist with specifics (these are my dream plots; if you have any romance-y book, please consider submitting to me!):

My 'I Wanna Read This' Wishlist

• Urban fantasy along the lines of Ilona Andrews or Patricia Briggs, but with a different twist. Also, a modern-day Buffy book, complete with quirky humor.
• Thriller/Mystery/Romantic Suspense/Military Romance centering on a realistic plot ripped from today's headlines like global warming, genetically modified foods, superstorms, or honeybee extinctions. 
• Magical Realism Contemporary, something like Eureka, but where it's magic instead of technology. 
• Contemporary NA that focuses more on the college side of life or a long-distance relationship where they email during the semesters and reconnect during breaks. 
• Science-Fiction with strong female characters and ethnically diverse characters. Think Voyager's cast with TNG's storylines. 
• Contemporary NA involving a quarter-life crisis.
• Steampunk set in America, where things diverged after Ben Franklin discovered electricity. 
• Any paranormal romance, but it shouldn't feel like a clone of what's already been published. 
• In any commercial genre, a book inspired by a gender-swapped fairy-tale. For example, a gender-swapped, sci-fic, Cinderella: He's the lowly grunt on his step-father's ship and she's the highly-decorated captain looking for a second in command. A fantasy-esque Swan Princess: He's cursed by the sorcerer because the Big Bad wants the heroine for himself, but she says F that and sets off on an epic quest to rescue the hero. 
• Erotica. I would love a true mmf menage, a la Lauren Dane's Laid Bare. Also, something with a risque edge to it, like exhibitionism or voyagerism. I'd particularly like to see a NA erotica, but all parties should definitely be over eighteen and, to be the most marketable, they should ideally be at least twenty. No bestiality or water sports please. MM or FF is fine, but I don't have a lot of experience with FF materials. 
• Contemporary romance where the main couple are/were contestants on a Voice-type reality show and their relationship starts to develop during filming, or if they were child contestants together twenty years ago and reconnected during a reunion special. 
• Space Western, i.e. Firefly in book form, but it shouldn't read like Firefly fanfiction. 
• A 'contemporary' that is set fifty years from now and is futuristic without being dystopian. 

I'm going to stop myself here because I could go on. In general, I'm looking for something I haven't read before. I've read over 300 books this year alone so I want something fresh with an unique voice. I'd also prefer books that aren't completely white-washed.  I live in white suburbia where there wasn't a single black person in my graduating high school class, but I still have people of various ethnicities, and sexual orientation for that matter, in my life. I'm not saying I want cultural stereotypes, just not a book full of straight white people. The only exception here is if your book is a historical or has some other setting where cultures wouldn't mix. 

I hope between the wishlist and my bio, you now have an idea if I could be the mentor for you. Follow Brenda's blog for more details on how to submit when submissions open on December 2nd. In the meantime, if you have any general, non-pitchy, questions, the comments are open! 

*Graphic was taken from Allie's hilarious Hyperbole and a Half blog entry, This is Why I'll Never Be an Adult, This entry was also reprinted in Allie's book, Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened. I gave it 5 stars on GoodReads. 

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