Birdie Schae

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Bio

Birdie Schae (she/her) is the author of queer YA novels in which autistic girls get to tell their own epic stories. She writes about love in its many forms and messy teenagers with big hearts, but when she’s not writing, she can be found crying over all sorts of fiction, listening to a concerning amount of music, or tweeting. Not like an actual bird—just on Twitter. She is represented by Brent Taylor at Triada US.

Navigating the publishing world is anything but easy, especially for people from marginalised backgrounds, but Birdie knows a helping hand can make a world’s difference. She would like to use her experience as a former literary intern, an ex-book blogger, and a writer herself to strengthen someone’s story and offer all kinds of support. Birdie is open to mentoring all genres in the YA space and tends to fall hardest for stories with strong emotional elements.

MSWL

WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR

In short: Send me your diverse, big-hearted YA stories (any genre is welcome) that will make me feel every emotion humanly possible!

I’m looking for fresh, emotional YA stories by people from marginalized communities. Whether that comes in the form of a lighthearted romcom, an intense murder-mystery, a psychological horror novel, or a sob-worthy coming-of-age story doesn’t really matter; as long as it has teenagers and their (often complicated!) feelings at its heart, I’m game.

A little more specifically, I would love to see:

  • Intersectional representation! We need more diversity within diverse stories, and I’d absolutely love to support a mentee who is part of multiple marginalized communities and writes about that experience. If some people would call the representation in your story “too niche,” I definitely want to see it.

  • Messy and passionate teenagers! I would love to read about a young person who goes after what they want and learns all sorts of stuff along the way through their mistakes.

  • Seasonal stories! I love it when books are set during one specific season and the author plays with this. Make me feel the fall/winter/spring/summer atmosphere in every word you write! 

  • Gen-Z chaos! Again, doesn’t matter if this is part of a romcom or a creepy horror novel. I just love reading about teens who crack jokes at the worst moments, have the most ridiculous conversations, and generally bring a chaotic vibe to the party. Especially if you yourself are a gen-z author, I am begging you to send your work to me.

  • Did I mention yet that I love emotional books? (Note: I define emotional fairly broadly, so if you have a lighthearted story, I might still consider it emotional depending on the themes you explore!)

  • Other elements and themes I adore: sibling stories, double POV, (unlikely) found family, grump x sunshine dynamic, first love, and grief.

Even more specifically, I would die to see:

  • Contemporary novels that are (primarily) set outside of the US or the UK.

  • Queer characters that are in an M/F relationship.

  • Romcoms that feel very lighthearted but when you look deeper, you discover they actually explore serious and important topics (ie: give me the plot of a 90s romcom movie and make it into an allegory for a teenager discovering she’s bipolar).

  • Clever but absolutely insane books—especially in the horror sphere. If you can explore something relevant to today’s society (ie: parasocial relationships) in a horrifying way, I need it.

  • Books that make me feel the way Disney Channel Original Movies do. I will not elaborate on this :)

WHAT I’M NOT LOOKING FOR

  • Insta-love, hate to love where the characters did really messed up things to each other, and love triangles usually are not for me.

  • Books that are really plot-driven. Connecting to characters early on is essential to me so I can care about the plot, so I do prefer the focus to be on them.

  • Realistic historical fiction tends to not be for me. If your book combines historical events with fantastical elements, however, I’m totally in.