shayla appleby

BIO

Shayla Appleby is a Black biracial writer from Atlanta, Georgia, whose work explores identity, belonging, and the unsettling spaces where the familiar turns strange. She holds a Master of Arts in Writing and a graduate certificate in creative writing from Middle Georgia State University. After an eight-year career in law enforcement, she transitioned into higher education communications, where she writes for a major southern university. Shayla has studied craft through master classes with Steven James and Allison Brennan, and she brings a sharp psychological lens and atmospheric tension to her fiction. When she’s not writing stories featuring characters who look like her, Shayla enjoys practicing yoga, hosting a book club, meeting with her monthly writing group, and watching Authortube and Southern Charm with her cats. She is represented by Mark Gottlieb of Trident Media Group.  

MSWL

Genres: Adult horror, thrillers, and either of these with a romance genre blend. I tend to lean more towards psychological/paranormal than gore/body horror (though I am open to considering these manuscripts if it’s not overdone).

What I’d love to see: 

  • Myth, folklore (especially those set in Appalachia. MS must have been written with care, avoiding cultural appropriation and harmful misrepresentation)

  • Stories set in the South

  • Ghost stories (yes!)

  • Haunted houses (even more of a yes!)

  • Cryptids (gimme gimme! See note from ‘Myth, folklore’ bullet point–this applies here also)

  • Vampires

  • Protagonists from underrepresented or marginalized identities (BIPOC, queer, disabled, etc.)

  • Strong female leads (do not need a love interest to carry the story)

  • Female rage

  • Cinematic prose

  • Retellings with a fresh twist

  • Unreliable narrators

  • Cats :)

I require a content warning for scenes or storylines involving domestic and intimate partner violence. This will not disqualify you from being considered. I just want to go in prepared! Thank you in advance.

If you can comp to any of these, I’d love to see your work:

Authors-

  • Marcus Kliewer

  • Kat Dunn

  • Del Sandeen

  • Grady Hendrix

  • Rachel Harrison

  • Silvia Moreno-Garcia

  • Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

  • Andrea Bartz

  • Tananarive Due

Books/TV Shows/Movies-

  • BEST OFFER WINS by Marisa Kashino

  • BLACK SHEEP by Rachel Harrison

  • VICTORIAN PSYCHO by Virginia Feito

  • HUNGERSTONE by Kat Dunn

  • YELLOWFACE by R.F. Kuang

  • THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD by Tiffany D. Jackson

  • THE OUTSIDER by Stephen King

  • THE OTHER BLACK GIRL by Zakiya Dalila Harris

  • KILL CREEK by Scott Thomas

  • Black Mirror

  • Sinners

  • Get Out

  • Ready or Not

  • It: Chapter One

  • Welcome to Derry

  • Desperate Housewives 

  • Pretty Little Liars

  • Obsession 

Anti-MSWL:

  • Harm to or death of animals and children (on the page)

  • Police procedurals

  • Religious horror (think possessions, exorcisms, etc)

  • Zombie fiction

  • Stories with a lot of gore (some is fine)

  • I will not accept anything that was AI-generated