Marnie's Newsletter
Logo
Archive
Subscribe
Website
Sign Up
Marnie's Newsletter
Logo
Oliver Buchannon
Marnie

London-based SFF fiction/poetry writer.

How I Got Four Offers from Literary Agents in One Month of Querying (yes this is clickbait)

Feb 16, 2026

•

3 min read

How I Got Four Offers from Literary Agents in One Month of Querying (yes this is clickbait)

Within a month of sending my first query for my YA fantasy novel, I’d received four offers of representation from literary agents.

Marnie
Marnie
My Top Reads of 2025

Dec 27, 2025

•

3 min read

My Top Reads of 2025

Looking over the books I enjoyed most this year, one common thing stands out: I love books that surprise me.

Marnie
Marnie

books

More Dragons, More Romance

Nov 16, 2025

•

3 min read

More Dragons, More Romance

If scientists could tell you how many dragons currently inhabit the wilds of Veriton, we would do so, however, getting a reliable population estimate has proved near impossible.

Marnie
Marnie

books

On Drafting Fast

Aug 8, 2025

•

2 min read

On Drafting Fast

I have one chapter + an epilogue left to write of the book I’ve been working on for the last... two and a half weeks.

Marnie
Marnie

books

Nine Queer books for June

Jun 25, 2025

•

4 min read

Nine Queer books for June

I tasked myself to read only queer books this month, and here’s the summary (including a couple I’ve yet to finish that I’m pretty sure will take me to the end of the month!) I wanted to read as widely as possible, so the books here span contemporary, fantasy, non-fiction, thriller and classic literature.

Marnie
Marnie
Spring Cleaning

Apr 8, 2025

•

1 min read

Spring Cleaning

I’m revising a book I first started writing almost 2 years ago.

Marnie
Marnie
Piranesi, chronic fatigue, and ghosts who are not really ghosts (again)

Jan 22, 2025

•

2 min read

Piranesi, chronic fatigue, and ghosts who are not really ghosts (again)

It’s been a while.

Marnie
Marnie
Submission 2.0 (or, I use the first person plural to talk about me and my fictional character)

Nov 18, 2024

•

3 min read

Submission 2.0 (or, I use the first person plural to talk about me and my fictional character)

My second book is out on submission to editors as of this week!

Marnie
Marnie
The Dispossessed: writers, futures and November 5th

Nov 14, 2024

•

3 min read

The Dispossessed: writers, futures and November 5th

(this post contains spoilers for Ursula K Le Guin’s The Dispossessed, and references to the American election)

Marnie
Marnie

shortstory

Translation Notes

Oct 31, 2024

•

2 min read

Translation Notes

Passage 118C1

Marnie
Marnie
Inspiration

Oct 7, 2024

•

2 min read

Inspiration

A few months ago, I was at a panel chaired by Derek Landy, author of my favourite children’s book series. He talked about how he comes up with ideas using a metaphor that has stuck with me.

Marnie
Marnie
Ghosts

Sep 30, 2024

•

2 min read

Ghosts

In the context of storytelling, a character’s ghost is something from their past that haunts them in the present; that affects how they live their life, makes them see the world in a certain way.

Marnie
Marnie
Being On Submission

Sep 23, 2024

•

2 min read

Being On Submission

Submission is the process where an agent sends their author’s manuscript out to editors at publishing houses.

Marnie
Marnie
On Writing More

Jul 26, 2024

•

2 min read

On Writing More

Every time I finish a first draft of a novel, I’m overjoyed—until I check the word count, and realise I’m below my word count goal... by some 20,000 words.

Marnie
Marnie

poetry

hamster extracts, 1

Jul 10, 2024

•

2 min read

hamster extracts, 1

One dark morning, due to a tragic hamster-related experiment gone wrong, the world ended.

Marnie
Marnie
Top 5 books of 2024 (so far)

Jul 7, 2024

•

4 min read

Top 5 books of 2024 (so far)

I’m 40 books into my reading challenge this year (aiming for 70!) and I’ve had a great run.

Marnie
Marnie
Writing

Jul 3, 2024

•

2 min read

Writing

I don’t talk to many people in my life about my writing, which is odd because it’s been part of who I am for as long as I can remember.

Marnie
Marnie
Coming soon

Jul 3, 2024

•

1 min read

Coming soon

This is A.M.’s Substack.

Marnie
Marnie
background

100% free. Unsubscribe anytime.

Subscribe now

Navigation

Home

Subscribe

Recommendations

Upgrade

Authors

Tags

Quick Links

Sign Up

Login

Search

© 2026 Marnie's Newsletter.
beehiivPowered by beehiiv