M. Stevenson

Bio

M. Stevenson (she/her) is a writer, educator, and naturalist who writes various flavors of speculative fiction, usually with a romantic twist. Her debut novel BEHOOVED will be published by Bramble and Hodderscape in May 2025, and her short stories and poetry have appeared in Small Wonders, Podcastle, Phantom House Press, Barely South Review, Tiny Seed Literary Journal, Poets Reading the News, and other publications. An avid swing dancer, she’s often found dancing Lindy Hop or wandering the woods. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @mstevensonbooks.

Marina is open to mentoring adult and NA manuscripts in any subcategory of fantasy, and would especially love to work with queer and/or disabled writers.

MSWL

The short version: send me your adult and new adult fantasy! All subgenres, all types! In general, the books I love tend to center relationships, not necessarily of the romantic variety.

I am looking for manuscripts that are the best match for my particular mentoring skill set—so for me, that includes:

  • Fantasy set in secondary worlds

  • Stories that prominently feature relationships, romantic or otherwise

  • Manuscripts that fall on the cozier or more humorous side of the spectrum (although I’m definitely open to other things, including manuscripts with horror elements)

  • Books where the author’s intention is fast pacing—think action and adventure rather than lengthy epics or sitting around drinking tea for five chapters. I can help with streamlining pacing (which doesn’t necessarily mean cutting—don’t worry!)

  • Underwritten manuscripts (I’m in the underwriters club, so I have a good sense of where things need to be expanded)

  • Romance—I can help with both relationship arcs and spice!

  • Authors who are seeking traditional publication

  • If your book doesn’t include all these things, no worries—if any of them apply, we might be a good match!

I’m not the best fit for:

  • Grimdark or very heavy stories—I need hope in my stories, and unrelenting darkness isn’t a good match for me. 

  • Mentees who plan to self publish. I’m happy to work with you on craft, but I don’t have the knowledge to guide you through self publishing.

  • Vampires and romantasy-style fae, unless they’re done in a new and unusual way—they’re just not really my thing.

  • Pregnancy plots and tropes—not a hard no, but again, not really my thing.

  • Books with lots and lots of needle use. A few instances are fine.

  • Manuscripts with lots of typographical errors that need heavy line editing. I will line edit with you, but I’d prefer to focus on story- and scene-level work.

One other note: I’m open to mentoring new adult manuscripts, but do note that since traditional publishing doesn’t really recognize NA as an age category, if you submit a NA manuscript to me we will discuss how to position your manuscript and possibly revise it towards falling into either adult or YA.