WriteHive Mentorship Program

#HiveMentor

MaryBeth 'M. Dalto' McCarthy

Mentor Expertise: Indie/Small Press, Digital, Serialization (Wattpad)
She/Her

Mentor Bio

M. Dalto is a bestselling Young Adult and New Adult author of adventurous romantic fantasy stories. Two Thousand Years, her debut novel from The Parliament House, was one of Wattpad’s 2016 Watty Award winners for excellence in digital storytelling. She has since released its three sequel novels and four companion novellas, as well as numerous other contributions to various published anthologies. She was recruited to participate in Wattpad Paid Stories program for serialized authors in March 2019, was invited into the Wattpad Stars program, and since October 2021 has been welcomed as an exclusive Wattpad Creator. She continues to spend her time both as a freelance editor and as a mentor, as well as WriteHive’s Indie Professional-In-Residence, where she hopes to engage, assist, and inspire new writers through their literary journey. Working as a full-time real estate paralegal, she has her evenings and weekends to pursue her own writing agenda as well as co-own independent publishing house Sword & Silk Books. When she’s not typing furiously at her computer, she enjoys reading fantasy novels, playing video games, listening to BTS, and drinking coffee. She currently lives in Massachusetts with her husband, their daughter, and their corgi Nyx and hamster Oreo.

Mentorship Expectations

I am looking for a mentee who wants to have fun and laugh while also grinding hard to make their manuscript the diamond we know it can be. A lot of ideas and suggestions may fly around in our writing and editing sessions and I need a mentee who knows how to take critiques for what they are – positive suggestions on how to make their work sparkle. I need someone who knows that we’re in this together, with the same goals, until the very end. I can be as available as a mentor as you want me to be, whether it’s checking in every day, or following-up once a week. I am always available via email, social media DMs, or Discord, Google or text. My main request is to just keep an open line of communication, and to have a mentee that feels as comfortable reaching out to me as I will be to them.

Manuscript Wishlist

Short answer: Fantasy, fantasy and more fantasy. All of your fantasy subgenres belong in my inbox now, please and thank you.

Long answer: Ideally, I am looking for Older/Upper YA/Crossover/New Adult novels that will make me think, swoon, and/or laugh. Please send me your:

  • Fantasy
  • Romance
  • Mystery/Thrillers
  • Horror
  • Magical Realism

My favorite tropes include:

  • Love triangles and other various shapes of all kinds
  • Enemies to lovers
  • Slow burn romances
  • Dream sequences
  • Prophecies
  • THERE’S ONLY ONE BED
  • Close proximity
  • Fake dating
  • Arranged marriages

I love novels with deep character development, a setting where I can get lost, and plot twists that make me want to throw the book across the room only to chase after it and reread it again. Whisk me away to a new land or just a unique circumstance with characters I can’t get enough of and I’ll love you endlessly. I would love to get their hands on completely three-dimensional, fully-realized characters (especially the villains!) with clear motivation and a lot of voice, strong female leads who can save themselves, and at least a little romance. The more morally grey, the better! LQBTQIA+ and marginalized voices are absolutely more than welcome!

WHAT I DO NOT WANT: I am not a fit for PB, MG or younger YA novels, or books that fall heavily in the Literary Fiction or Contemporary genres. I will not under any circumstance mentor a book that condones homophobia, transphobia, racism, misogyny or anything else discriminatory to anyone. Period.

M. Dalto

She/Her

Indie/Small Press
Digital/Wattpad

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