Annalise is a graduate of Lesley University where she earned a B.A. in Creative Writing with a double minor in Literature and Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies. She is excited about uplifting stories by authors with marginalized voices and intersectional identities, ultimately making room for the diverse voices that have long since been ignored and suppressed in the literary world and beyond. When she isn’t agenting, Annalise spends an excessive amount of time snuggling with her cat, Mittens, and writing romance novels that are more swoony than strictly necessary.
Annalise is looking for more queer, BIPOC representation across the board, especially in romances that give happily ever afters to complex and palpable characters. She represents Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult books.
Annalise has a specific focus on representing queer and BIPOC voices in Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult books. She loves books with academic settings, books with a warm and cozy feeling, books about books, and books with a prominent romantic plot.
ADULT
Romance
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Annalise wants to see queer/BIPOC historical romances like a queer League of Extraordinary Women or Cat Sebastian.
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Annalise would love to see queer/BIPOC baking rom-coms in the vein of Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake and Battle Royal.
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Annalise wants romances that tackle the intersection of romance and mental health a la The Charm Offensive.
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Some of Annalise’s favorite tropes that she’d love to see are: enemies-to-lovers, serious-and-sunshine, and second-chance-romance.
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She would love to see sweet, diverse holiday rom-coms like Amor Actually and The Matzah Ball.
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Annalise does not accept erotica or romances feature unhealthy/abusive relationships to any degree.
Mysteries/Thrillers
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Annalise is looking for queer/BIPOC thrillers that function as social commentary such as Alyssa Cole’s When No One is Watching.
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Annalise would like to see mysteries that rework classics like The Wife Upstairs or One by One.
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She loves dark academia with a historical mystery.
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She loves novels with interesting formats such as compilations of files and articles like Night Film.
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She is not a good fit for supernatural, ungrounded thrillers, thrillers that border too close to horror, thrillers with violence against women, gore-heavy thrillers, or thrillers that use the “bury your gays” and/or “fridging” trope.
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She is not looking for medical or apocalyptic thrillers.
Commercial/Women’s/Contemporary Fiction
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Annalise wants character-driven contemporary fiction that has enough plot movement to keep the reader invested (no character studies, please!).
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She likes books that use alternative formats, like Daisy Jones & the Six, and question the boundaries of typical contemporary fiction.
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Books with social commentary about queer/BIPOC characters finding their way in life — think Luster and Such a Fun Age—are a good fit for Annalise.
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She loves books that focus in on fictional celebrities or reflect upon fame such as The Comeback by Ella Berman or The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
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Annalise also wants fiction featuring change as a thematic focal point with unabashed self-love and romance, like Claire Christian’s It’s Been A Pleasure, Noni Blake.
NEW ADULT
Annalise wants New Adult romance and contemporary fiction that focuses on found family and a during- or post-college bildungsroman plot with a romance. This is her ideal age space.
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She would especially like to see fiction set immediately post-college that follows the queer/BIPOC protagonist’s trials and tribulations in the “real world” or warm and nerdy new adult like Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl.
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Annalise loves New Adult fiction that is set at college or grad school. The more academic, the better!
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Any of the genres that Annalise has mentioned on this page (in both Adult and YA), Annalise would love to see in the New Adult space, especially college-aged mysteries and romances.
YOUNG ADULT
Historical
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Annalise wants YA historical fiction that focuses in on a lost perspective such as Stacey Lee’s The Downstairs Girl.
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Annalise loves historical works that focus in on plucky characters in prestigious academic environments.
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Fantasy
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Annalise wants upper YA/new adult low-key fantasies that don’t break the mental bank, like The House in the Cerulean Sea.
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She is also looking for fantasies that are firmly historical and grounded like The Last Magician or These Violent Delights.
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Annalise would love witchy fantasies that focus in on queer women of color like When We Were Magic.
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She is not a good fit for dragon/creature, fae, or epic/high fantasy of any kind.
Mystery/ Thriller
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Annalise is looking for mysteries and thrillers that have elements of YA contemporary such as bildungsroman plots and romance (especially LGBTQIA+) but don’t stray too far into high-school drama.
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Annalise would love to see academic-driven mysteries like Truly Devious and mixed-format mysteries like A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.
Contemporary
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Annalise is looking for quirky and offbeat books that focus in on ride-or-die women-centric friendships.
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She wants queer, BIPOC rom-coms hat have found family elements that are shamelessly romantic like I Wish You All the Best.
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An ideal contemporary for Annalise would be set during the MC’s senior year of high school/first year of college.
FAVORITE BOOKS
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Daisy Jones & The Six
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It’s Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake
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The Brown Sisters series
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The League of Extraordinary Women series
DREAM PROJECTS
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Queer/BIPOC Agatha Christie like Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia or Hither, Page by Cat Sebastian.
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A dark academia fantasy like Vicious, but if Eli and Victor fell in love.
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A sapphic, cottage-core light-fantasy, like The Tea Dragon Society for YA/NA.
DEFINITE PASS
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Annalise does not want any book that could be qualified as “trauma porn”. She is not interested in grotesque or gratuitous abuse/harassment or violence of any type. She does not want any pandemic or apocalyptic works, fiction or nonfiction.
CONTENT WARNINGS
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Annalise would appreciate if you included content warnings for topics such as: heavy discussions of grief, self-harm/suicidal ideation/suicide, or hassament/abuse of any kind.
RESPONSE POLICY
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Please note that Annalise responds to every query. Her typical response time is 10 to 12 weeks, but is usually quicker. If she doesn’t respond to you in that time, please know that she will get to you! Queries that don’t get responded to in that typical timeline are ones where she is seriously considering requesting fulls. She believes that each query deserves her full attention and judges projects not only on her wants, but whether or not she would be the best agent for your project. She appreciates your patience and wishes you the best of luck.