WriteHive Mentorship Program

#HiveMentor

Jessica Lewis
  • AGE/MARKET
  • Adult
  • YA
  • GENRE WISHLIST
  • Contemporary
  • Contemporary Fantasy
  • Horror
  • Mystery
  • Romance
  • Science Fiction (Soft)
  • Speculative

Jessica Lewis has a degree in English Literature and Animal Science (the veterinarian plan did not work out). She began her publishing career in horror (Bad Witch Burning, a Bram Stoker Nominee for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel, and Monstrous) and also writes middle grade contemporaries under the pseudonym Jazz Taylor (Meow or Never, Starting From Scratch, and Cool Cat). She has a forthcoming sapphic rom-com in 2025 (Nav’s Foolproof Guide to Falling in Love). Jessica is from Alabama, where she writes full time and lives with her way-funnier-than-her grandmother. You can learn more at authorjessicalewis.com.

I’m looking for a mentee who is not afraid to work hard, but also is able to protect their vision. You are the authority of your own work; have a clear vision of the book you want it to be, and we’ll work together to get it there. In exchange, you’ll have me as a mentor for life. I’ll be here for the edits on this book, but also the next book, querying, when you get your agent, when your book publishes—I’m here to cheer you on! I also have a fun community of my former mentees you can join if that’s something you’re interested in as well. Bottom line is that we’ll work hard together but it’ll be worth it.

I’m open to both YA and Adult. The genres are listed below, but for all categories, I love queer books. Sapphic and ace books are close to my heart, but I’ll take any and all representation! Also always happy to see neurodivergent characters (I’m a member of the ADHD club! Hi!). Let’s get started!

YA:

  • Horror—this is my favorite genre! I love weird, strange, frightening stories that eat away at complex issues like grief and the horrors of everyday living. If you can comp House of Hollow, The Dead and the Dark, or Burn Down, Rise Up, I want it. If your book uses horror as a vehicle to explore a difficult topic, I want that too. Honestly, I love any and all horror, so if you have something queer and frightening, send it my way!
  • Contemporary fantasy—I also love contemporary fantasy. Witches, werewolves, haunted houses, magic powers granted from a long dead granny: I want it all. The Scapegracers is an example of a favorite contemporary fantasy of mine, but I’m flexible in this category. Surprise me!
  • Science fiction—when I say I like sci-fi, I specifically mean time travel. I LOVE a good time travel book. Also really into clones, robots, AR, gaming, etc. But please no hard sci-fi.
  • Speculative—this is for all my genre blenders out there. I love books similar to The Immeasurable Depth of You that straddles the line between a pure contemporary and a ghost story. If you have a story that blends two genres on my list, I’m most definitely interested.
  • Mysteries—I like a very specific type of mystery. I want something with a charismatic, memorable detective. Think Veronica Mars, Sherlock Holmes (the Robert Downey Jr. version), Conan of Detective Conan fame. I want a detective who is smart and capable, but also a little bit weird! Bonus points if neurodivergent in some way.
  • Contemporary—my second favorite genre! I read quite a bit of YA contemporary and I never get bored. If you have something like You Should See Me in a Crown or The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School, sign me up. Narrators who are funny, going through complex issues, who want to be understood—I adore it.
  • Romance—love me a good rom com! Romances that are more serious are beloved too, don’t worry! I recently devoured You Don’t Have a Shot, but I also really like Japanese rom coms, so if you have any anime-inspired work, I’m intrigued. For this category, however, I am looking at sapphic or ace romances only.

Adult:

  • Horror—pretty much what I said in my YA horror section, but more. Give me weirder. Give me scarier. Give me unique formatting like how Annihilation is written like a science report. Give me strange narrative choices, like Bunny using second person and the collective “we.” I think adult horror is truly a new frontier, and anything is possible!
  • Romance—I’m only looking for sapphic romance in adult because that’s what I read and write. But boy do I read a lot of it! D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding, That Summer Feeling, The Romance Recipe, Delilah Green series—I love sapphic romance and I’d love to help usher more into the world of traditional publishing. I like romance that is fun and makes me happy, and I’m a devoted to the cause of revolutionizing the third act break up. But where I like strange and unique in horror, I like comfort in romance so I’m looking for the opposite; classic, familiar tropes done in a fresh way.

My anti-wishlist:

  • Anything with sexual assault. That is a firm, non-negotiable no. Any queries or pages that have this will be immediately out of the running.
  • No hard sci-fi or anything set in space.
  • I’m not a good fit for high/second world fantasy.
  • I’m lukewarm on vampires. I’m not usually a fan, but if they’re really unique, I wouldn’t rule them out.
  • Anything involving the fae or fairy courts is a no from me.

Everything else can be negotiated, because oftentimes I don’t know what I want until I see it. Genre-mixing is encouraged (fantasy-SF! Speculative mysteries! Horrormance!), and usually if it’s sapphic OR has no romance at all, if it involves monsters and transformation, if it has unique form or is like something I haven’t seen before, I’m interested!

Jessica Lewis

She/Her

Traditional Publishing

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