A Texas native, Leah briefly moved to the East Coast to attend Rosemont College and to pursue her dream of working in publishing. She graduated from Rosemont College with a B.A. in English and History and soon after became an agent at Ladderbird Literary Agency. Leah then went on to pursue and receive her M.A. in Publishing from her alma mater as well. Having accomplished her dream of working in publishing, she has since moved back to the South to begin her next adventure and continue searching for the next commercial YA or Adult project that will hook her (or make her cry).
Leah likes to spend her time enjoying the company of fictional characters more than people. But when not in the company of fictional characters, Leah likes to travel, hang out with friends and family, and catch up on the movies and TV shows she is always behind on.
Her projects include forthcoming books from H.D.Hunter, Ravynn K. Stringfield, a number of IP projects, and more! She is a tenacious advocate for BIPOC writers and is always looking for ways to bring more diverse intersectionality to publishing.
Leah is exclusively looking for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, and Pacific Islander voices with or without LGBTIQA+ intersectionality—basically anyone underrepresented and/or marginalized.
Picture Books
Diverse, heartfelt and emotionally resonant stories about family, heritage, and tough, complex topics (i.e loss, identity, divorce, disabilities, etc). She is also looking for stories that are fun, adventurous, and creative. Some of her favorite PBs include: Julian is a Mermaid, Amazing Grace, Jabari Jumps, I Am Enough, Hello Lighthouse, We are Water Protectors, Rough Patch, The Little House, Sulwe, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Max and the Tag-Along Moon, Your Name is a Song, and My Hair is a Garden.
Young Adult/ Crossover/ Adult
Contemporary, and Romance
She loves a good romantic meet-cute, coming of age, and/or self-discovery story, especially in or post-college. Specifically, how one’s expectations drastically differ from reality or how a recent college grad is blindsided after entering the adult world, the working force, and how they slowly manage to navigate it and get on their feet. She is also really interested in plots that deal with the struggles of today's online dating culture, about how couples deal with growth and life pulling them in two different directions, or how society’s views can impact interracial relationships. This can also apply to platonic friendships (especially F/F friendships) as she thinks they are affected in the same ways. She’d love something realistic, raw, introspective, and family-centered. Kudos if any of this takes place in or around a skate rink (i.e Rollbounce) or something more commercial like a reality dating contest.
Think along the lines of the following: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Just One Day, Darius the Great Is Not Okay, Someone Great, Pose, The Midnight Library, The Vanishing Half, The Half of It, Schitt's Creek, Emily in Paris, Sex Education, Derry Girls, Holidate, and Julie and the Phantoms.
Mystery, thrillers, and suspense
She is here for unreliable narrators, dark academia, who-dun-it!, any and everything heist related, and plots that will keep her on the edge of her seat guessing! She’d love something along the lines of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, Behind Her Eyes, And Then There Were None, When No One is Watching, One of Us is Lying, Sadie, anything Tiffany D. Jackson, Leverage, Now You See Me, Six of Crows, Knives Out, Cruella, and/Nancy Drew or Enola Holmes
SFF, Speculative, Gothic, and Social Horror
When it comes to fantasy, Leah loves myths, legends, fairytales, or classic retellings/reimaginings of lesser-known myths/legends i.e. Middle Eastern, Indigenous, African, and South American. Give her something like The Mummy, Practical Magic, The Ember in the Ashes, City of Brass, Midnight Mass, Bad Witch Burning, Witches Steeped in Gold, or Skin of the Sea. She would also love a fairytale retelling or re-imagining–something in the vein of either The Lost Queen, Circe, or The Bloody Chamber. For sci-fi, something in the vein of Red Rising, Black Mirror, The Fifth Wave, and Orphan Black.
She’s also searching for gothic with atmospheric horror—think Mexican Gothic, Year of the Witching, The Addams Family, The Yellow Wallpaper, White Smoke, Archive 81, Edgar Allan Poe, The Haunting of Hill House, Haunting of Bly Manor, the Lizze Borden story, and Crimson Peak. For social horror, something similar to MASTER but better executed or anything with Jordan Peele vibes.
FAVORITE BOOKS
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The Daevabad Trilogy
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Red Rising Series
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The Vanishing Half
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Sadie
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An Ember in the Ashes Quartet
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Crooked Kingdom
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With the Fire on High
DREAM PROJECTS
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Crimson Peak x Yellow Wallpaper x The Haunting of Bly Manor
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A Lady Macbeth take
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Sadie
DEFINITE PASS
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No's for her would be MG, dystopian, legal or spy thrillers, and non-fiction. Please no cliche romances where the plot is centered around cheating, parental disapproval, or high school drama. Give her something out of the ordinary, and conflict that’s hard-hitting and really makes her wonder if anyone is right.
CONTENT WARNINGS
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None required
RESPONSE POLICY
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All queries will receive a response–form or otherwise.