Bio
Courtney Kae (they/she) is the author of the Fern Falls series and the upcoming paranormal romcom, She’s a Reaper. They live in Los Angeles with their kiddo and well-spoiled cats and can be found watering their plants, co-hosting the romance podcast, Happy to Meet Cute!, and online at www.courtneykaebooks.com and @court_kae.
A personal hello to say I’m so freaking thrilled to revel in your beautiful stories!! Stories are my favorite thing EVER and I love all the culture and media that celebrates them (I am actually typing this up while at ComicCon San Diego, hahaha!). I’m a big Marvel and Disney nerd and am obsessed with shows like What We Do in the Shadows and Schitt’s Creek. I’m currently listening to the Broadway cast recording of Death Becomes Her and counting the days until the Practical Magic sequel premiers!!! I am in the middle of Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle and am enjoying it a ton. I am THRILLED for The Devil She Knows by Alexandria Bellefleur! Gimme!!
I have been writing for about 15 years and professionally for nearly 5. In the Event of Love (a sapphic holiday romcom) was my debut rom-com, followed my its series duo, In the Case of Heartbreak. My next book, She’s a Reaper, is a sapphic romcom about fake-dating the grim reaper and will pub late summer 2026.
I am represented by Claire Friedman at Inkwell Management and published by Kensington Books.
I am a Pitch Wars 2020 alum who went on to co-mentor Pitch Wars in 2021 with the incredible Jenny L. Howe.
I’ve had the joy and honor to work with mentees, critique partners, and friends on their incredible books and love nothing more than seeing all of them on shelves!
Manuscript
Wishlist
(MSWL)
Awwww, yeah!! Let’s get to the good stuff!!!
First and foremost, these tastes are all subjective to me as a reader, editor, and writer, and if you feel we may be a good match, I am THRILLED and honored to read your work!
I love LOVE a strong voice. I love being hooked and pulled right into a story, whether that is by a vivid image, premise, or tone.
I love a romance genre mashup and anything quirky, witty, and sharp.
I’ll always lose my mind over a killer and cinematic premise and my gay little heart will always gravitate towards LGBTQIA+ love stories!
Mentoring Style
My mentoring style is hands-on but also tailored to meet you where you’re at and to accommodate the needs of your manuscript.
My brain works well with plot structure (which is one of the reasons I love the romance genre so much!). I always focus from the bones up with a honed understanding of genre conventions and beats. Character development and story structure go hand in hand to me. This may look like asking a lot of character-driven questions and getting to the hearts of your characters to dial the plot into a tight and punchy row of dominos.
Larger-scale developmental edits don’t scare me one bit but most importantly, I want you to be making story choices that are interesting to YOU. I want you to be able to enjoy this amazing thing you’re creating! I want to help take some of the fear out of the writing process by helping you tailor your own personal process and trust in it.
I’m here to help you craft and polish a story you are immensely proud of—I wanna be your cheerleader! That also means I love providing pep talks and am more than happy to answer any publishing questions you may have!
From manuscript to querying and beyond, I’m in your corner.
Applications
from Connections
The story I choose will be the one I connect to the most and have the strongest editorial vision for, period. I would never play favorites in a selection. If we’re mutuals online and you feel your story may be up my alley, please don’t be deterred to apply to me.