VOICE: I start reading your manuscipt and I feel like I can see and feel what is happening in front of me.
It’s as if you are sitting across the table, I lean forward, I don’t want you to ever stop talking. Send me that book!
ATMOSPHERE/SET DESIGN:
(1)Take me to a place I may have been –but never seen in the way you are showing it to me.
(2) Take me to a place I’ve NEVER been and make me want to be with you there–or scare me from there with a vengeance.
FAMILY: Let me meet the family you’ve created and allow me to get involved with multiple relatives because they are so unique in voice,character or behavior.
SUSPENSE: Put me on the edge of my seat; leave me dangling at the end of a chapter…and most of all–make me curse you for keeping me up all night!
ELEGANCE OF EXPRESSION: Dazzle me with your descriptive technique, simple prose, or any outstanding element that defines your craft.
STORY,STORY, STORY…..like “location” it is always critical.
Things Meredith Likes In both Adult & YA
Almost anything “out-of-the box” if you have the creds to support it.
A really solid love story (not “romance”) with characters you can’t forget
Malcolm Gladwell-esque “explorations”
Journalism/Narrative non-fiction ala Elizabeth Gilbert, Laura Hillenbrand Jon Krakauer
David Mitchell world building
Junot Diaz…everything!..multiculture/humor/character/language
Fashion/design
Memoir, preferably that is not just abuse driven
Humor in almost any form
Commercial women’s fiction…book club ready or otherwise
Literary fiction
These are a few of my favorite things….
Manuscript Wishlist 