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Ashlee MacCallum

Howland Literary

My Manuscript Wish List®

Ashlee MacCallum joined Howland Literary after interning at Triada US. Originally from Glasgow, Scotland, Ashlee is passionate about championing marginalized creators and uplifting historically underrepresented voices. She gravitates toward high-concept, commercial fiction with bold storytelling, standout pacing, and a distinct voice that grabs you from the first page. Ashlee has a soft spot for speculative stories, mysteries, and anything delightfully weird.

At this time, Ashlee is open to YOUNG ADULT FICTION.

MSWL

Across all categories, I’m looking for:

  • Strong, distinctive voice
  • Diverse and underrepresented perspectives
  • A touch of the unexpected, offbeat, or strange
  • Stories that balance emotional depth with commercial appeal

YOUNG ADULT (HORROR, MYSTERY/THRILLER, PARANORMAL, COZY FANTASY, DARK FANTASY)

Horror: Twisted tales with layered storytelling

  • Southern Gothic
  • Occult
  • Paranormal
  • Bubble Gum
  • Psychological
  • Found footage
  • Monsters
  • Dark Academia
  • Small-Town Secrets
  • Femgore
  • Generational Curses
  • Cults & Secret Societies
  • Twisted Fairy Tale
  • Ghost Stories with a Twist

Mystery/Thriller: Fast-paced stories that blend danger and emotional depth

  • High stakes
  • Emotionally driven
  • Danger and secrets
  • Dark challenges
  • Reluctant detectives
  • Race-against-time
  • Revenge
  • Unreliable narrator
  • Deadly Games & Competitions
  • Literary & Classic Retellings (think Beth Is Dead)
  • True Crime Obsessions
  • Cold Cases & Disappearances
  • Unconventional Storytelling (podcasts, mixed media, transcripts)
  • Morally Gray Characters
  • Locked-Room & Closed-Circle Mysteries

Paranormal: Supernatural forces lurking just beyond the veil of reality

  • Ghost stories/hauntings
  • Vampires
  • Werewolves
  • Paranormal Romance
  • Curses
  • Shapeshifters
  • Dual worlds
  • Dark rituals
  • Forest spirits
  • Reimagined Supernatural Lore
  • Mediums & Spirit Communication
  • Unlikely Human-Monster Alliances
  • Supernatural Time Loops
  • Reincarnation & Past Lives

Cozy Fantasy: Whimsical worlds, peculiar magic, and unconventional adventures with heart

  • Found Family
  • Gothic Whimsy (haunted mansions, eccentric ghosts, peculiar magic, mysterious family secrets, and charmingly macabre settings
  • Magical Oddities
  • Cursed Small Towns
  • Eccentric Witches & Witchcraft
  • Misunderstood Monsters
  • Whimsical Mysteries
  • Haunted Bookshops & Curious Shops
  • Charming Curses
  • Folklore Reimagined
  • Unconventional Magic Systems

Dark Fantasy: Sinister magic, morally complicated characters, and atmospheric worlds where beauty and horror collide

  • Gothic Horror
  • Decaying Grandeur
  • Morally Gray Characters & Antiheroes
  • Dark Academia
  • Dangerous Bargains
  • Cursed Bloodlines & Family Secrets
  • Twisted Fairy Tales & Folklore
  • Beautiful Monsters/Monstrous Heroes
  • Witchcraft & Hexes
  • Dark Mythology
  • Villain Origin Stories
  • Obsessive Love & Dangerous Devotion
  • Necromancy

Specific Wishlist

  • BIPOC narratives
  • Queer stories
  • Greek mythology
  • Asian folklore
  • Indigenous voices
  • Cottagegore
  • Antiheroes
  • New Orleans
  • Vodou
  • Disability rep
  • Scottish & Celtic folklore
  • Appalachian folklore
  • Witch trials
  • Victorian spiritualism
  • Traveling circuses
  • Southern folklore
  • Unusual family dynamics
  • Forgotten history
  • Macabre humor

Fun facts about me:

When she’s not lost in a book or spinning one of her own, Ashlee is probably mapping out her next Disney adventure, binging a true crime podcast, or humming show tunes in the kitchen. She’s fueled by caffeine, charmed by ghost stories, and fluent in banned books.

Submission Guidelines

Ashlee is currently accepting Young Adult queries at this time. 

Query Link: https://QueryTracker.net/query/queryashlee

Guidelines & Details

Vital Info

ashlee@howlandliterary.com

@_ashleedani

@ashleedani.bsky.social

Website

Agent, Junior agent

Fiction:

Young Adult

Favorite sub-genres:

#Dis, #ownvoices, BIPOC, Books about books, Commercial Women's Fiction, Commercial adult fiction, Complicated Relationships, Contemporary Fantasy, Cozy Mystery, Crime & Thriller, Disability, Diverse Protagonists, Domestic Suspense/Thriller, Ensemble Casts, Fairytale Retellings, Family Drama, Fantasy Grounded in Reality, Female Friendships, Feminist Horror, First Person, Folklore, Found Families, Geek Culture, Gothic, Gothic Fantasy, Gothic Horror, Hauntings, High Concept, Historical Fiction, Historical mysteries, Humor, Immigrant Experiences, Immigrant Voices, LGBTQ+, Latinx stories, Layered Family Stories with multiple narrators, Magic Realism, Marginalized Voices, Mental Health, Modern Retellings of Fairy Tales, Monsters, Mothers and Daughters, Multicultural and Diverse Thriller and Mystery, Multigenerational, Multiple POV, Multiple Timelines, Mysteries, Mystery / Crime, Neurodiversity, Occult Horror, Outdoors, Own Voices, Paranormal, Paranormal Horror, Paranormal Romance, Paranormal Thriller, Psychological Horror, Psychological Suspense, Psychological Thrillers, Retellings, STEM, Scottish, Shakespeare Retellings, Smart Beach Reads, Southern Fiction, Southern Gothic, Speculative, Speculative Fiction, Speculative Thriller, Strong Females, Supernatural Elements, Supernatural Horror, Suspense, Tarot, Thriller, Thrillers, Time Travel, True Crime, Upmarket Commercial Fiction, Upmarket Fiction, Upmarket Women's Fiction, Whodunit, Women's Fiction, Women's Issues, Worldbuilding, Young Adult, Zombies, character-focused stories, commerical women's fiction, dark academia, dark fantasy, diverse, diverse and own voices, enemies to lovers, family saga, folklore history, friendship stories, ghost story, gothic romance, horror, just... all the tropes, locked room, mental illness, queer, queer horror, quirky, read-alouds, rivals to lovers, upmarket/book club with female protagonist, whimsical, witchcraft, witches, witty

I’d like the next…

  • The Wedding People by Alison Espach
  • Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
  • The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
  • None of This is True by Lisa Jewell
  • The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
  • The Maid by Nita Prose
  • My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney
  • The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
  • The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
  • The Guest List by Lucy Foley
  • First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

My favorites include…

TV
• The White Lotus
• Yellowstone
• Peaky Blinders
• The Haunting of Hill House
• School Spirits
• Yellowjackets
• The Night Agent
• Sons of Anarchy
• Breaking Bad
• The Midnight Club
• The Office
• Game of Thrones
• Lost
• Outer Banks
• Gossip Girl
• American Horror Story
• Grey’s Anatomy
• The Vampire Diaries
• Shameless
• New Girl
• Prison Break
• Ozark
• Ghost Whisperer
• DARK

MOVIES
• Armageddon
• Mean Girls
• Titanic
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• White Christmas
• Indiana Jones
• The Help
• The Dark Knight
• Spirited Away
• Coco
• Braveheart
• The Others
• Hotel Rwanda
• Wizard of Oz
• Matilda

MUSICALS
• Phantom of the Opera
• Dear Evan Hansen
• Heathers
• Hamilton
• The Sound of Music
• Anastasia
• Grease
• Cabaret
• Kinky Boots
• Les Misérables
• Newsies
• Hairspray
• Annie
• Mean Girls
• Legally Blonde
• Waitress
• RENT
• Rocky Horror Picture Show
• Little Shop of Horrors