ABOUT
Keir Alekseii's career started as Jen Azantian's mentee in 2021 at Azantian Literary Agency. After a year of mentorship, she became an associate agent with Azantian and began taking on clients in July 2022.She is an educator and anti-GBV activist born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, a twin island country in the West Indies. Keir is a writer, gamer, lover of folklore, and former research scientist. As a neurodivergent, queer person of color, Keir is invested in discovering engaging work with similar representation, and passionate about creating space for voices not often recognized. They are especially interested in stories from BIPOC who are born and raised in the Global South.Keir still lives in T&T with their partner and five rambunctious felines who believe they are the best thing on Twitter, because they are.Scroll down to read her full MSWL, or view on the ALA website.
Keir's MSWL
Keir is seeking YA & Adult SFFH and YA contemporary novels. She is ONLY open to receiving queries from writers who identify as belonging to a marginalized or underrepresented community.Please include any content and trigger warnings in your query.Please DO NOT SEND:
- Novelizations of your tabletop campaign
- Books with gratuitous gore
- Splatter or slasher fiction
- Books that employ fridging
- Copaganda
- Military science fiction
- Adult contemporary
- Middle grade
- NovellasMSWL starts hereKeir’s favorite traits and tropes include:- Found family
- Protags that are too smart for their own good
- Stories about embracing your identity
- Friendship is magic
- Stories that center BIPOC and queer happiness
- Enemies to friends/unlikely friendships
- Nonbinary MCs tasting power and choosing chaos
- Grump & sunshine/stabby & cinnamon roll pairings
- Femme villains corrupting cinnamon rolls/himbos
- Non-white power couples/non-white love interests
- Sapphic everything
- Enemies to lovers & friends to lovers
- Slow burn & second chance romance
- HeistsKeir’s hobbies, background and identity deeply inform what they love. Some examples of how this influences their taste include work that:- Burns down the patriarchy and/or destroys colonizers
- Contains D&D or other TTRPG Easter eggs, or inside jokes for games like Hades, Devil May Cry, or Final Fantasy.
- Has the emotional resonance of games like Gris or Old Man’s Journey
- Has the political complexity and ethical realities of anime like Gundam or Full Metal AlchemistKeir is currently craving (in no particular order):- Kink- and poly-positive work
- Sapphic power couples. Think Korra & Asami (The Legend of Korra) or Michiru & Haruka (Sailor Moon)
- The sweet slow burn of Mitsuri & Obanai (Demon Slayer) but with a happy ending
- The powerful sibling love of Tanjiro & Nezuko, or Daki & Gyutaro (Demon Slayer)
- Anything that gives her the same rollercoaster of emotions as Demon Slayer
- Queenmaker as a sapphic political fantasy or science fiction
- A book that feels like Poker Face or Knives Out
- A YA protagonist of any gender identity or orientation who can be comped to Miles Morales (Into the Spiderverse, Across the Spiderverse)
- BIPOC vampires
- All the feelings of the moment Angelus became Angel again and then Buffy had to run him through with a sword (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
- Dark academia, but replace “academia” with e-sports or tabletop gaming
- Contemporary or contemporary SFFH that engages deeply and authentically with the gaming, anime, cosplay, streaming, or convention communities (within one or multiple fandoms)In YA Contemporary, Keir prefers books where the romance is secondary but identity and self-love are primary, like TJ POWAR HAS SOMETHING TO PROVE. Keir would also love work like ICEBREAKER, with queer love and found family, or HUNGRY GHOST where strength is not about being perfect and alone but flawed and surrounded by community. They are looking for diverse representations of queerness and love that runs deep even without a romantic element. Keir prefers coming of age stories that do not include romance.In fantasy, they love immersive worlds that are based outside of western cultures like THE JASMINE THRONE, IRON WIDOW, KAIKEYI, or RAYBEARER. In general, Keir would love to see books with BIPOC leads that use fae and folktales from non-western cultures. She’s particularly excited to see West Indian culture and mythology. Keir accepts all sub-genres of adult and young adult fantasy.In science fiction, Keir is primarily interested in seeing SF that forces us to explore the human condition, like the XUYA UNIVERSE or THE SPACE BETWEEN WORLDS. Though Keir’s SF tastes do lean toward Adult, they would welcome YA work that explores such ideas and makes her crave adventure. Keir accepts all subgenres of adult and young adult science fiction, except military science fiction. DO NOT send them military science fiction.In horror, she prefers work that makes her feel disturbed or unsettled rather than gore or jump scares. If your book reads like a Black Mirror episode, she probably wants to see it. Keir accepts all subgenres of adult and young adult horror except splatter and slasher. DO NOT send her splatter or slasher horror.Across all genres, Keir loves complex, smart, emotional characters and they would love to see more books with morally gray, unapologetic characters.Genre blending and/or bending books are welcome.Retellings or re-imaginings that match this wish list are welcome.
Keir's Reading Stats
The majority of books read by Keir are adventurous, dark, mysterious, and emotional. Some books are also reflective, challenging, funny/ lighthearted, or tense.
The majority of books read by Keir have been medium-paced (47%), followed by fast-paced (32%) and then slow-paced (21%).
** **
This information is from Keir's Storygraph reading stats for "All time" and is current as of May 3rd, 2022.
Keir on Social Media
Contact Keir
Please use this form to get in touch with Keir if you'd like to book her for workshops, conferences, events, presentations and so on.Keir only accepts queries via QueryManager. Do not use this form to send queries. Queries sent via this form will be deleted unread
© Keir Alekseii Roopnarine. All rights reserved.
Synopsis Example
Synopsis for Star Wars, adapted from wiki how. Example begins on next line.LUKE SKYWALKER is at the market looking to buy droids on behalf of his uncle. Luke's father was a fighter pilot, and Luke dreams of pursuing the same career. He buys two droids and while cleaning the smaller droid, he triggers a holographic message. The message is from a beautiful young woman, PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA, and is intended for someone called OBI-WAN KENOBI. Luke knows an old hermit who lives nearby called BEN KENOBI, and he wonders if the two are related.Waking the next morning, Luke discovers that one droid, R2-D2 is missing. Setting out in his landspeeder, Luke and C-3PO go to look for him but are set upon by the hostile Sand People. The old man, Ben, rescues them and takes them back to his home. They see R2-D2, and Ben reveals that he is indeed Obi-Wan Kenobi and that the message is a plea from Princess Leia to deliver the plans of the Death Star, a planet killing spaceship, to her father in the hope that he can determine a weakness in the structure. Obi-Wan also reveals to Luke that not only did he know his father, Anakin, but they were both Jedi, an order of galactic peacekeepers murdered by the Emperor. Obi-Wan tells Luke that he must now learn the ways of the Force, the Jedi powers, himself. Luke says no but agrees to at least give Obi Wan a ride to a nearby spaceport, so that he can complete the mission form Leia. However, stopping at his own home on the way there, he discovers that his aunt and uncle have been murdered by Imperial Stormtroopers (a type of imperial police) searching for the droids.This changes things for Luke, and he now wishes to become a Jedi. At the space port, the two men and the droids meet HAN SOLO, captain of the Millennium Falcon, and a wookiee named CHEWBACCA, who is Han's first mate. Han is a smuggler with a bounty on his head, but he agrees to make the trip to Alderaan, where Obi-Wan can complete his mission. Just as they are about to leave, a legion of stormtroopers arrive, and the ship only just manages to escape.The Millennium Falcon arrives in the Alderaan system and discovers that the planet has been destroyed. Obi-Wan spots what he thinks is a moon, but they realize too late that this is the Death Star and their ship is caught in a tractor beam that pulls it into the gigantic space station. The crew escapes and, disguised as stormtroopers, Luke and Han rescue Princess Leia. Obi-Wan however is caught in a confrontation with DARTH VADER, the Emperor's henchman, and is killed.With plans in hand, the rebel forces launch their attack, with Luke newly installed as a pilot. Luke is to pilot his craft down a small shaft and fire a torpedo into a weak section of the structure. As he does so, however, he is pursued by Darth Vader and other Imperial fighters. Vader's craft is knocked off course by Han and Chewbacca in another ship and spins off into deep space. Luke's shot is successful, and the Death Star is destroyed.Some weeks later, in a grand ceremony, Princess Leia awards Luke and Han with medals for their efforts while still leaving Luke free to try to find another way to pursue training as a Jedi now that Obi-Wan is dead.
Coming Soon!
THE SERPENT CALLED MERCY
By Roanne Lau
Imprint: DAW, SolarisPitch Wars alumna Roanne Lau's debut THE SERPENT CALLED MERCY, a Malaysian Chinese-inspired epic fantasy, about a debt-ridden slumdog who joins an illegal monster-fighting arena for some fast coin, but quickly learns the most dangerous beasts are outside the ring, pitched as The Witcher meets Squid Game, to Katie Hoffman at DAW, in a six-figure deal, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Keir Alekseii at Azantian Literary Agency (NA).
Rights also to Amanda Rutter at Solaris (UK), at auction, in a two-book deal.Fiction: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
April 9, 2024
THE KEEPER OF LONELY SPIRITS
By E. M. Anderson
Imprint: MiraAuthor of THE REMARKABLE RETIREMENT OF EDNA FISHER E. M. Anderson's THE KEEPER OF LONELY SPIRITS, pitched as for fans of TJ Klune and Sangu Mandanna, in which a grumpy old immortal ghost hunter must confront his tragic past to embrace his found family, to Dina Davis at Mira, in a good deal, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, by Keir Alekseii at Azantian Literary Agency (world).
Film: film [at] azantianlitagency.comFiction: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
November 7, 2023
HAMMAJANG LUCK
by Makana Yamamoto
Imprint: GollanczMakana Yamamoto's HAMMAJANG LUCK, an enemies-to-lovers "lesbian space heist" pitched as Ocean's 8 meets Gideon the Ninth, in which an ex-con must reunite with the partner who betrayed them for one last job to save their indebted family, to Claire Ormsby-Potter and Bethan Morgan at Gollancz, in a good deal, in a pre-empt, in a three-book deal, for publication in January 2025, by Keir Alekseii at Azantian Literary Agency (world).
Film: film [at] azantianlitagency.comInternational rights: UK Fiction
April 4, 2023
This deal was also reported on by the Bookseller. The article can be read at this link.
© Keir Alekseii Roopnarine. All rights reserved.