MSWL*

*manuscript wish list

Samantha is looking for high-concept, commercial and upmarket fiction that features diverse, marginalized, and/or underrepresented voices with all-or-nothing stakes. 

I enjoy working with new and established writers interested in writing for adult, young adult, and middle-grade readers with fluidity.

If you would like to query me, please use this Query Manager form.

  • Genres: book club fiction, contemporary romance, romantasy mystery, thriller, speculative, gothic, horror, and fantasy. (Please send all the genre blends!)

    As of 3/2025: I’m hungry for diverse rep in romantasy, fantasy, and horror.

    Some dream projects for me would be a Haitian-inspired fantasy, a Black sapphic romantasy, a werewolf fantasy with pack dynamics and fated mates, and a fantasy or horror with a badass MC with disability rep.


    Things I’m drawn to in stories:

    • late-stage coming of age stories

    • immigrant experiences

    • healthy + toxic relationships (familial, platonic, or romantic)

    • themes of obsession, power, feminism, gray morality, and more.

    • chaotic openings and/or characters

    • specific experiences that hold universal truths

    • body positivity

    • sex positivity

    • fast-pacing

    • tight plotting

    • ruthless and messy characters

    • female villains

    • unexpected twists or POVs

    • con artists or grifters on job

    • convincing red herrings

    • ensemble casts

    • twisted games or puzzles

    • yearning and/or pining

    • non-western mythology

    • unique magic systems (especially with consequences)

    • unexpected villains and/or villain POVs

    • unraveling secrets at a reunion or celebration

    • reincarnation + fated lovers

    • haunting, small and/or isolated settings

    • anything involving curses or prophesies

    • inheritance stories

    • secrets amongst groups

    • cults and dark rituals

    • light + dark academia

    Books I Love:

    • The Brown Sisters series by Talia Hibbert

    • Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon

    • Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola

    • In My Dreams, I Hold A Knife by Ashley Winstead

    • My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

    • Never Saw You Coming by Vera Kurian

    • You’re Invited by Amanda Jayatissa

    • No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall

    • The Bridge Kingdom series + A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen

    • Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

    • Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

    • The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

    • The Blood Gift Duology by N.E. Davenport

    • The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon

    • Phantasma by Kaylie Smith

  • Genres: contemporary romance, romantasy, thrillers, horror, speculative, and fantasy. (Please send all the genre blends!)

    Things I’m drawn to in stories:

    • joyful BIPOC stories

    • ensemble casts

    • yearning and pining

    • fresh takes on familiar tropes

    • body positivity

    • BIPOC casts creating space in PWIs

    • LGBTQIA2S+ affirming stories

    • the high emotions of firsts—first date, first kiss, first friendship breakup, etc.

    • all the shenanigans, hijinks, and lists

    • atmospheric, haunting, and isolated settings

    • internal and external horror

    • mixed media + social media

    • generational reckonings

    • themes of: grief, finding community, battling for autonomy, feminism, battle for power, self-acceptance

    • light + dark academia

    • non-western mythology and folklore

    • unique magic systems (especially with consequences)

    • high stakes competitions, games, or puzzles

    • healthy and toxic relationships (familial, platonic, and romantic)

    Books I love:

    • Heartless Hunter by Kristin Ciccarelli

    • She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

    • We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

    • The Black Queen by Jumata Emil

    • The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

    • I Feed The Beast and The Beast Is Me by Jamison Shea

    • All of Us Villains by Amanda Foody & C.L. Herman

    • The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin

    • When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

    • Felix Ever After by Kacen Callendar

    • Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

    • The Inheritance Games series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

    • Sadie by Courtney Summers

    • Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson

    • Sawkill Girls by Claire LeGrande

    • Wilder Girls by Rory Power

    • The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

  • Genres: mystery, horror, and fantasy (please send all the genre blends!)

    I’m temporarily closed to this genre.

Other comps I love

Knives Out series; It’s What’s Inside; The Count of Monte Cristo; The Picture of Dorian Gray; Kill Bill; The Haunting of Bly Manor; Elite; Only Murders in the Building; The Afterparty; Severance; Defending Jacob; Gossip Girl; Sex Lives of College Girls; Schitt’s Creek; Ted Lasso; Behind Her Eyes; Booksmart; Trinkets; The Craft; Gilmore Girls; Never Have I Ever; Sex Education; The Old Guard; Crimson Peak; Julie and the Phantoms; Turning Red; Encanto; To All The Boys I Loved Before; Peaky Blinders; Heathers; Once Upon A Time; Switched at Birth; Ready or Not; Do Revenge; Missing…; Saltburn