seren kilig

BIO

Seren Kilig (any/siya) is a recovering academic and writer of Southeast Asian speculative fiction. Well-versed in the subjects of queer empowerment, de-colonizing diaspora, and storytelling, they can be found lurking in art museums when not writing. Seren’s prose has been nominated for Best of the Net, as well as Best Small Fictions, and their writing has been supported by Lambda Literary and Roots. Wounds. Words., among others. Occasionally, they also indulge in challenge runs of video games. They are represented by Shannon Lechon at Azantian Literary Agency.

As a lover of the grotesque and the Romantic, they like their speculative fiction perverse and irreverent. Seren is particularly interested in uplifting trans voices of color and those who fall outside of the gender binary.

MSWL

While I’ll be mainly dipping into YA/Adult SFF and Horror submissions, any speculative fiction with a propulsive plot and characters you hate to love (and love to hate) will grab my eye! My tastes lean more high-stakes when it comes to conflict, and I prefer a magic system/technology that comes with consequences.

As a mentor, my skill-set will be more suited to underwriters, those who struggle with pacing, and those who want to write sharper, more tightly-motivated, and consistent characters.

IN GENERAL, I’M LOOKING FOR —

  • Stories about people of color from people of color. I’m especially keen on stories about Southeast Asia and its diaspora!

  • Romance; whether it’s a dash of romance or a strong b-plot, I love romance in speculative fiction and horror.

  • Specifically queer romance. This includes any relationship that might “pass as straight” (bi M/F, trans M/F, aro/ace M/F, etc).

  • Sibling stories. Ride-or-die siblings. Siblings who want to kill each other. Foster siblings, adoptive siblings. Siblings who become siblings over the course of the story.

  • Genre blends! Show me literary horror, sci-fi mystery, historical fantasy, speculative thrillers, etc. The stranger the blend, the better.

MORE SPECIFIC WISHLIST ITEMS —

  • I’m the world’s biggest love triangle defender. Present me with a super compelling love triangle and I’d be ecstatic.

  • Second-chance romance.

  • Something evocative of the Western Classics canon, but make it speculative and starring BIPOC; i.e. Austin, Bronte(s), Shelley, Wilde, Hawthorne, Forster, etc.

  • Folklore and underrepresented faith systems.

  • Anything focusing on language, linguistics, speech, and translation.

  • If you comp a video game, any at all, I’d love to see it.

I’m not the best fit for — cheating narratives; westerns; hard sci-fi; historical fiction past the 1930s (with the exception of the 1980s). I’m also very picky with Dark Academia and narratives heavily involving music at the moment. My fellow mentors are likely better fits for those stories.

AND PLEASE BE AWARE, I DO HAVE HARD NOS —

  • ON-PAGE: suicide, sexual assault (SA), and child death/distress.

  • If suicide or SA is a major component of your work, even if it’s off-page, it’s not for me.

  • Indigenous stories written by non-Indigenous writers.

  • Romance(s) between adopted, foster, and/or step-siblings.