Ciara Finan

Ciara joined Curtis Brown in early 2018 and is actively looking for a diverse range of fiction and non-fiction. She would consider her reading tastes to be quite expansive and ever-growing, but she is constantly drawn to books that have a decisive voice, unforgettable characters, an unexpected story, or can subvert and reconstruct the conventional narratives of love, friendship, family, loss and coming-of-age. She is particularly interested in finding and championing stories by writers from underrepresented backgrounds and communities. Broadly speaking, she is looking for fantasy, romantasy, rom-coms and general romance, book club fiction, psychological thrillers, historical fiction and commercial non-fiction. 

In the wider fantasy genre, she is keen on finding romantasy, cozy fantasy, dark/light academia, gothic fantasy and anything with political intrigue. She wants to be consumed by the world, the plot and the characters. Think authors like Leigh Bardugo, Tamsyn Muir, R.F. Kuang, Scarlet St Clair, Chloe Gong, Stephanie Garber, Ava Reid, Sabaa Tahir, S. A. Chakraborty and Sarah J. Maas. She is also open to working with authors within these genres who have previously self-published.

In crime and thriller, she is drawn to stories with a big psychological element, a very dark edge or an unexpected twist – she is still looking for the high of that reveal in Gone Girl. She wants to see novels with unhinged women doing unhinged things! She loves the narrative structure and voice in books like Verity by Coleen Hoover, The Push by Ashley Audrain, Girl A by Abigail Dean and A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers.

In romance and book club, she is looking for something that explores the complicated nature of romantic relationships – think Seven Days in June by Tia Williams, The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston, Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid and Miranda Cowley Heller’s The Paper Palace.

In historical fiction, she loves rich and lush historical novels that can transport her to another time such as The Mad Women’s Ball by Victoria Mas, Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, The Nightingale by Kirstin Hannah or Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. She would also love to see something reminiscent of The Buccaneers (2023) TV adaption or The Serpent Queen (2022) series – something with an alternative history feel. She is also drawn to novels that blend historical and speculative elements such as The Binding by Bridget Collins, The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley, Outlawed by Anna North or any new takes on mythology in the style of Madeline Miller and Pat Barker.

In the non-fiction space, she is very keen to hear from writers who want to explore topics such as history, feminism, nature, health, astrology and the occult, economics and politics in clear and accessible ways.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to ciara.finan@curtisbrown.co.uk

Please include:

– The word “Query” in the subject line

– Cover letter

– Synopsis

– The first fifty (50) pages from your novel or book proposal

Unfortunately, due to the volume of submissions I receive, I’m unable to respond to every query. But please do keep me updated if you receive a full manuscript request or another offer.

Guidelines & Details