www.darceyr.com
@darcey_r

AGENT
Erin Murphy

WRITES
YA & MG Speculative

LOST BOYS (Henry Holt)
2017

BIO
Darcey Rosenblatt writes for middle grade and teenage people because she believes for them stories can be life changing – they were for her. Her debut novel Lost Boys (Henry Holt for Young Readers) is a historic fiction about a young boy sent to fight in the Iran/Iraq war in 1982. Darcey is a cofounder of the annual Better Books Workshop for middle grade and young adult writers. She and her family live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

PUBLISHING BACKGROUND
Its been a long haul for me – this book took over a decade to write and sell – in that time my wonderful agent actually rejected me and the other two agents in the firm rejected me too, but did it nicely and we stayed friendly. 4 years later they gave me a second look, signed me and sold the book 3 months later!

EXPERIENCE
I teach and write proposals and grants as part of my day job. I’ve mentored with AMM once before. I am in a very active critique group and I run a small annual workshop for MG and YA writers called Better Books

OVERVIEW
I am open to reading almost anything (not pure romance or pure horror) in YA or MG – slightly partial to great world building and I’ll give a very close read (line edits and overall). I can help with plot pacing, character development, dialogue, and even technical line edits – all depending on where the author is.

  • Contemporary
  • Fantasy
  • Sci-Fi
  • Mystery/Thriller
  • Historical
  • #ownvoices
  • LGBTQIA
  • Urban/Contemporary Fantasy

Love good, fresh sci-fi or fantasy, as there are a lot of tropes that get recycled.

I WILL PROVIDE:

  • Edit Letter (Big Picture developmental feedback)
  • Line edit (dropping notes into a Word Document)
  • Skype or phone call

WORKING STYLE
I am very thorough but I am not speedy. I’ll also offer to talk and maybe give it a second look after my mentee has reworked based on my comments.

IDEAL MENTEE
Take your work seriously, but not yourself. Be open to killing your darlings!

SEND ME:
I hate to say it, but I’ll know it when I see it and I’m open to a lot of stuff. If you’re writing the smartest kid in the room that’s a character that always interests me.

DO NOT SEND ME:
I’m not opposed to romance in an otherwise interesting story but it needs to serve the story for me – not be the story!

FAVES
Oh so many – WRINKLE IN TIME, I’LL GIVE YOU THE SUN, anything by Gary Schmidt, THE RAVEN BOY Cycle – Maggie Steifvater, Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy – Laini Taylor

Huge Joss Whedon fan – Firefly especially

Big Aaron Sorkin fan – Newsroom, West Wing.

Star Wars, Star Trek (not old school), The Expanse

Gary Schmidt, M.T. Anderson, Battlestar Galactica, Spinelli, Game of Thrones (especially the books)