HALI HYLAND

BIO

Hali Hyland (she/her) is a romance author born and raised in Texas with a taste for sexy, steamy sapphics and love interests with slutty little glasses. As every great author before her, Hali’s writing origins lie in fan-fiction—mostly of the Teen Wolf variety. 

Hali writes both Romantic Comedies AND Romantic Mysteries, because bisexuals ALWAYS have to have the best of both worlds. She has completed three queer romance manuscripts, and is working on finishing up her F/F Romantic Mystery novel, LOVE YOU TO DEATH. Her other finished works include a Bi4Bi football romance, a sapphic bodyguard romance, and a sapphic reimagination of You’ve Got Mail. 

After earning both a B.A. in Psychology and a Master’s in Library and Information Science from the University of North Texas, Hali is perpetually exhausted, but she persists. When she’s not writing away about this or that, she can be found playing with her four cats (Kaz, Rosie, Goose, and SkippyJon Jones), watching women’s hockey, or abusing her AMC A-List membership. 

While this is Hali’s first time as a mentor in an official mentorship program, she has 6 years of experience in beta reading as well as query critique and knowledge of the submission process. She is represented by Hana El Niwairi at CookeMcDermid Literary. 

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MSWL

General preference for upmarket stories (aka stories with literary writing and thoughtful critique that also have a genre hook and don't lose sight of pacing).

Age Groups: YA, NA, Adult

Genres:

  • Romance of all kinds!

  • Mysteries

  • Fantasy

  • Speculative

  • Historical

  • Literary Fiction

  • Women’s Fiction

  • Genre Blends (Romantic Mysteries are my jam, but I’m open to any type of genre blend excluding horror) 

Specifics:

In general, I am more likely to fall in love with a story for the characters/their personalities/their dynamics than I am to fall in love with a story for a totally unique, high-concept. Anything that reads as a character study is much more my beat than a book that leans further into the plot. 

I’m also a sucker for flowery prose and all the imagery and metaphor that you can fit inside of your novel. I don’t care what anyone says, the blue curtains MATTER! I am very fond of a balanced blend of literary and genre fiction, so send me all your upmarket books! 

Things I would LOVE to read about: 

  • Vampires. PLEASE! Blood drinking is so sexy. I’d love to see sapphic vampires in particular. 

  • Historical queers. Any love story set in a time where it wasn’t safe for queer people to love each other but that chose to do so anyway. 

  • Fat women! Specifically, bold fat women who feel no shame for their size and that exude sensuality and confidence. 

  • A good old fashioned workplace romance (especially an office romance). Falling in love over paper cups at the water cooler is so underrated. 

  • Sports romance! I’ll read it all, but I’m VERY obsessed with the Professional Women’s Hockey League, so I would die to see something with hockey lesbians. 

  • Retellings of the classics. If you’ve got a Gatsby reimagination or a new rendition of Pride & Prejudice, please send it my way. 

  • Anything neo-noir. I love the gritty, dark feel of an old detective story and a bombshell femme fatale, but with the added complications of modern tech, the surveillance state, and 21st century social norms. Think YOU’LL NEVER FORGET ME by Isha Raya.

As for genres…romance, romance, romance. Give me all your romance. Obviously, out of all of these genres, I am most familiar with the marketing practices of the romance genre. I have queried 3 romance novels and worked diligently with both my previous agent and my current agent on marketing/pitching my romance works. So, if your main goal is to ultimately perfect a romance manuscript/querying package for submission, we will likely be a good fit :) 

Mysteries are perfect for me because I am so gullible. I almost never guess the plot twists, and am almost constantly shocked by the third act villain reveal. I especially love locked-door mysteries and mysteries that take place mostly within a single setting. 

Because I don’t write Fantasy myself, I’m a bit less familiar with the typical structure, but I have a working knowledge of marketing fantasy novels and what a Fantasy query package should look like. Though, I will most likely only consider fantasy submissions with an additional romantic plotline! 

I adore Speculative books of all varieties, though I do grow weary of stories centering witches. But please send me your vampires, werewolves, demons, angels, sirens, and all otherworldly creatures. 

Historical is a big hit in my book, but I’m especially fond of 20th century historical books. Give me your 20’s speakeasies, your 40’s hardboiled private investigators, your 70’s smoke-hazy casinos. 

While I’m a bit pickier with my Litfic/Women’s Fic, I can be very easily persuaded by compelling characters! I like gay people being evil and I love supporting women’s wrongs, so if that sounds like your book, I would be keen to read! 

Young Adult is tricky since I’ve never written within this age range, but I think Young Adult Mystery and Young Adult Fantasy are two of the most compelling, well-written, and studied in craft genres. Some authors I love are Holly Jackson, CL Montblanc, Victoria Wlosok, Chloe Gong, Marissa Meyer, and Karen M. McManus.

Stories I’m less likely to consider: Anything centered around social media or ‘going viral’ or any narrative that leans very heavily on pop culture references like online fandom or Taylor Swift. Stories where gay people die or experience gratuitous violence specifically for being gay. Stories about fat characters that focus primarily on the vitriol they experience for being fat (give me fat girl love!).

Comp titles I’d be stoked to see:

  • THE HATING GAME

  • ATMOSPHERE

  • A LADY FOR A DUKE

  • BRIDGERTON

  • NINTH HOUSE

  • ANYTHING by Ali Hazelwood

  • HEATED RIVALRY 

  • THE LUNAR CHRONICLES

  • THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS (Nemerever) 

  • LOCAL HEAVENS

  • YOU’LL NEVER FORGET ME