Lilly Lu
BIO
Lilly Lu is a queer author and literary scholar passionate about uplifting BIPOC and other marginalized voices. Their mentees have gone on to be agented with book deals themselves. Lilly's creative work has appeared in places such as Yuzu Press, the lickety split, and Heartlines Spec--with a currently unannounced project on its way!
MSWL
MSWL for Adult/YA:
-speculative romance, the queerer the better, grounded in this world or something adjacent to it
-ace stories, ace romance, ace-spec rep! also/and disabled rep!
-low fantasy
-stories where the friendships and other relationships feel fully realized
-character-driven stories
-anti-colonial, anti-patriarchy themes
-intergenerational healing--if there is a sibling plotline or something about diaspora mothers and daughters, you'll have found my soft spot
-anti-heroes, revenge plots with heart, tragic corruption arcs!
Media I love:
-Interview with the Vampire (disaster gays, yay!)
-The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw
-Midnights with You by Clare Osongco
-Everything Everywhere All At Once
-The Untamed/MDZS
-Love Between Fairy and Devil (c-drama)
-The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White
-Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
My non-mswl:
-military romance
-action novels that aren't character-driven
-stories about contagion
-religious texts meant to impart an allegory or moral
-contemporary stories that frame Covid in past tense
-novels that take place in outer space
-novels centered on sexual assault, school shootings, gun violence, child abuse
-non-fiction or legal fiction
-novels that worldbuild based on Orientalist tropes ("East" vs "West")