Bonnie Swanson

Bonnie Swanson (the agent not the cartoon character!) is a former elementary school teacher who lives in Southern Illinois. She has a husband, three grown children, two bonus daughters, and three fur-babies who think they need to eat all the cat food. While she eagerly (and impatiently) awaits grandkids, she is lucky enough to have one granddog, Onix, and two grandkitties, Maki and Whiskey. Bonnie represents authors who cover all the age groups from picture book through adult, many of whom have their own furry overlords or small two-legged dictators commanding their households, too. When open for queries (check the FinePrint website for an announcement) here are a few of the things she looks for: Across the board for all age groups she prioritizes underrepresented authors. (BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, etc) She has very eclectic tastes and sometimes doesn't know what she's looking for until she reads it. However, there are a few consistencies in what she likes/doesn't like. Adult/YA Likes: She is dying for a good speculative psychological horror mystery! (Think a gender-bent/gay Sherlock Holmes, set in Middle Earth or outer space, with all the creepy feels of Silence of the Lambs!) Normalized queerness where it isn't the focus of the plot or subplot. She's a sucker for a good romantasy (HEA required). Issue-driven stories that address timeless social issues and the people who fight to change them, stories where the underdog wins, non-traditional characters who feel real (even if they are in outer space), accessible literary prose, the Oxford comma. DISLIKES: stories with violence against women/children/animals, erotica, misogyny, alpha males. PB: The story must be child-centered and give them all the agency. Children have enough grown ups telling them what to do in their real lives; in books they should get to be the heroes. Fiction or Nonfiction is okay and if it rhymes it has to be absolutely PERFECT! MG: She is SUPER selective! But she likes stories based on kid-focused issues that have a touch (or more) of magic. An aged-up version of the Junie B. Jones series with a nonbinary main character in a magical school setting would jump to the top of her TBR list. No animal stories please where they are the characters.