Carey Blankenship Kramer
Belcastro Agency
My Manuscript Wish List®
After growing up surrounded by books and people who loved to read them, Carey dreamed of bringing more books to the hands of avid readers like herself. She graduated from Berry College with a dual degree in English and Creative Writing. She later received her master’s in Writing and Digital Communications from Agnes Scott College. She has experience working with both publishing houses and literary agencies and loves her role as Junior Agent at Belcastro Agency. As an editorial agent, she loves working closely with her authors to ensure their stories come to life on the page.
While her sweet spot is horror and middle grade, Carey’s tastes are wide and varied. From mystery to fantasy to science fiction, she loves anything that can draw her in and have her rooting for the main characters.
Most Recent MSWL:
Specific Things I Would Love to Find:
- Cozy fantasy! Anything that is quiet with a twist of magic where I can fall in love with the characters and the settings.
- Books set in fun settings, like a coastal town or a summer camp or a mountain cabin.
- A horror book centered around video games.
- A story where the main character is a barista or a chef.
- I am OBSESSED with books that use multimedia storytelling or unique perspectives. One of my all time favorite books is A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.
- Picture books! I am really looking to represent a handful of picture book authors, so if you have something that fits any of my MSWL items, please send it my way! 🙂
- Stories written by Swifties or inspired by Taylor Swift’s lyricism.
Things I’m Learning Aren’t Really For Me:
- Fairytale retellings, UNLESS it’s from a POC author.
- Stories with Elves or the Fae as the main characters, UNLESS it’s from a POC author.
- Stories with cheating as a main focus of the romance.
- Alien centered stories.
- Thrillers were the main characters are running away from / fighting the government.
- Greek mythology books, UNLESS it’s from a POC author.
Evergreen MSWL
Specifics Across All Genres and Age Groups:
If you have a strong platform and love what you do, feel free to pitch me a concept.
If you have a strong platform and love what you do, feel free to pitch me a concept.
- #1: Diverse stories from Ownvoices.
- HORROR. Horror, horror, horror! If you have something remotely spooky, I want to see it.
- Neurodiversity rep. As someone with ADHD, anxiety, and depression, neurodiversity is extremely important to me.
- Queer stories, especially those with happy endings.
- Quiet, coming of age stories for MG audiences, especially if the word count is on the smaller side with a twinge of magic.
- Stories with animal sidekicks / main characters / or just fluffy pals. Especially horses.
- Video game stories.
- Dragons! Or anything with mythological creatures.
- Tennis centered books.
- Stories set in the South.
Middle Grade
- Adventure
- Contemporary
- Fantasy
- Graphic Novel
- Historical
- Horror
- Mystery
- Paranormal
- Science Fiction
- Literally everything. I LOVE Middle Grade.
Young Adult
- Adventure
- Contemporary
- Fantasy
- Graphic Novel
- Horror
- Mystery
- Paranormal
- Science Fiction
New Adult/Adult
- Contemporary
- Fantasy
- Horror
- Mystery
- Romance
- Science Fiction
I am NOT accepting
- Nonfiction
- Stories where the animals die. I’m so sorry, I am weak and cannot handle it.
- Stories written with the help of AI. No thanks.
Fun facts about me:
- Halloween is my favorite holiday.
- We have seven animals, including an axolotl.
- I love ghost stories, but after staying the night at a haunted AirBnb where the ghosts got too close for comfort, I’m actually a scaredy cat.
- I love candy, but not chocolate.
- If I’m not reading, writing, playing video games, or hanging out with my loved ones, I’m on the tennis courts!
- I looooove coffee and have a collection of coffee mugs that takes up an entire wall in the kitchen.
Submission Guidelines
Submissions should be emailed to https://querymanager.com/query/3066
Please use the about QM link to submit your story to me! I ask for your query, synopsis, and first ten pages.
Vital Info
I’d like the next…
- Over the Garden Wall (spooky, atmospheric, and surprisingly deep)
- If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come by Jen St. Jude (make me cry and stab me right in the heart with beautiful prose)
- Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (swoon worthy romance, DRAGONS!!!)
- Frizzy by Claribel Ortega (important themes, POC creators, and gorgeous artwork)
- Anything like Simone St. James writes (keep turning the pages thrillers with a supernatural twists, strong women characters)
- How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu (multi perspective stories that spans generations, unique sci-fi twist that still feels grounded)
- The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune (adorable queer romance, extremely unique concept, lovable characters you root for)
My favorites include…
I could not pick my favorite books if my life depended on it. I read so widely, the best way to see some of my favorites is to check out my Good Reads account. Some of my most recent favorites include Ghost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega, The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune, Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren, The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill, How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu, When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb, The Broken Girls by Simone St. James, and Just South of Home by Karen Strong.
Here are my favorite movies, TV shows, and video games:
- About Time
- Adventure Time
- A Night in the Woods
- Blaire Witch Project
- Cozy Grove
- Dead by Daylight
- Everything Everywhere All At Once
- Fear Street Trilogy
- Firewatch
- Haunting of Hill House
- How to Train Your Dragon
- Last of Us, video game and show
- Lion King
- Little Women
- Over the Garden Wall
- Oxenfree
- Phasmophobia
- Pride and Prejudice, all the versions
- Sims
- Skyrim
- Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron
- Stardew Valley
- Steven Universe
- Valorant
