MENTOR:
Annie McQuaid (she/her)
CATEGORY:
New Adult, Adult
SUB GENRES:
Contemporary, Rom Com, Romantic Suspense, Fiction with strong romantic elements
BIO:
Hi! I’m Annie and I’m looking forward to swooning over your story.
My adventure romance CRASH LANDING about exes who crash on a remote island and must work together to survive (and spoiler alert - fall back in love) will debut in early 2025 with Avon/Harper Collins! I’m represented by Cathie Hedrick-Armstrong at The Purcell Agency.
I was a 2022 KissPitch Mentee and learned so much from my own experience having a writing mentor (shoutout to Erin Rose!) and hope to pay that forward. I’ve been writing since I was a kid (like most of you) and studied creative writing at Elon University. I adore the editing process and want to help you fall in love with it too.
I live in Raleigh, North Carolina, and when I’m not writing I work as a Marketing Director for a publishing company (one that sells textbooks, so not very glamorous).
Things I enjoy in no particular order: my perfect niece (actually she is first), summertime, Taylor Swift, TikTok trends, matcha lattes, reading (duh), cheesy action movies, getting the Wordle in under 3 tries, and my fat cat, Sadie.
MSWL:
I’m looking for any (or all) of the following:
- High-concept/hooky books with as much plot and premise as romance (i.e. SEND ME YOUR ADVENTURE ROMANCES, pretty please)
- Laugh-out-loud, banter-filled rom-coms
- Smart heroines and book boyfriend-worthy love interests
- Characters that are uniquely themselves and proud of who they are.
- All bodies, all brains, all sexualities!
- Stories featuring time travel, time slips, or a speculative twist
- Escapist romances set in a unique location
- I’m a huge film geek so I’d love to see any takes, twists, or redos of a beloved movie
- Second-chance, enemies to lovers (as long as there is no bullying), fake dating, and he falls first tropes
- And gorgeous prose will get me every time
I’m not the best fit for:
- Historical romance
- Age gap, pregnancy, instalove, sports, love triangle tropes
- Super high heat (there are better mentors for this to learn from than me!)
- Anything too dark or heavy. While I respect and admire stories that tackle life’s harder subjects – lately I’ve been reading (and writing) to escape reality. Make me laugh, make me swoon, and leave me in a better place than you found me.
MENTORING STYLE
I’m a big fan of the critique sandwich where I rave about how much I love your story and characters while sharing feedback on suggested changes. I’ll ask you what kind of feedback you prefer and adjust to what suits you best. I’m also a lover of spreadsheets and deadlines so you can expect some of those in your future too.
I’ve learned so much from going through my own mentorship program as a mentee, querying to get an agent, and going on submission to get a book deal and I want to share it all! Ideally, I want to partner with someone who is ready to dive in headfirst and willing to do the work to make their story shine. However, this is your story and the final edits are completely up to you! My goal is to add you to my writing community and work with you to make your whole story (beyond the first 50 pages) the best it can be.
I’ll be available to brainstorm or talk through plot holes via email, Zoom, phone, or Discord - whatever works best for you. I work remotely and have lots of flexibility on the weekend and evenings.
I look forward to working with you!