Caitie Flum is a Liza Dawson Associates agent who specializes in emotionally resonant, character-driven fiction across age categories — from middle grade and YA to adult — with a particular appetite for romance, cozy mysteries, and diverse contemporary voices, plus targeted nonfiction in theater, humor, and pop culture.
In brief
Flum's wishlist spans a wide age range but their most specific, heat-signal language clusters around romance (especially career-driven women and athletes), cozy mysteries, and diverse YA/MG — these are the safest bets for a first query.
Their stated love of ensemble-driven, morally complex women's fiction (invoking the Bravermans of Parenthood as a reference) signals a taste for messy, lovable found-or-blood families with multiple POVs — a specific niche within a crowded category.
Nonfiction is genuinely on the list but narrowly scoped: theater, humor, narrative history, current events, and pop culture. A recent public post reveals a deep passion for musical theater specifically, which is consistent with that interest.
Flum explicitly requests 'only the query first' by email — no pages, no synopsis in the initial submission. Ignoring this is a fast path to rejection.
Query status cannot be confirmed from available data; writers must verify the live submission form or agency page before sending.
Lately
Flum posted publicly about desperately wanting to see several Broadway and off-Broadway shows — Dead Outlaw, Floyd Collins, Maybe Happy Endings, Pirates!, and others still in previews — and noted they cannot even afford the lottery tickets for them. This is an unguarded window into a genuine, deep love of musical theater that maps directly onto their stated nonfiction interest in theater.
What Caitie is looking for
A top priority. Flum wants contemporary romance and romantic suspense across all heat levels, with a strong preference for career-driven women protagonists and athlete love interests — baseball, hockey, and soccer specifically called out. LGBTQ+ romance is actively and explicitly sought. The breadth of heat levels and the specificity of sports settings suggest Flum can sell into both mainstream and genre romance channels.
Mysteries and thrillers are a named priority, with cozies and amateur sleuth stories receiving special emphasis. Psychological thrillers are listed among favorite sub-genres. Writers with a lighter, puzzle-driven mystery should feel especially encouraged here.
Flum is drawn to women's fiction where characters resist the easy, comfortable choice — morally complicated, flawed women navigating real consequence. Multiple-POV sibling ensemble stories are a specific craving; the Parenthood/Braverman family dynamic is the named touchstone. Upmarket women's fiction and Gilmore Girls-esque warmth with wit are also cited as aspirational tones.
Any era is welcome, but Flum is most energized by perspectives that are typically pushed to the margins — the servant rather than the sovereign, the witness rather than the protagonist of history. Stories that flip the standard vantage point are the strongest pitch here.
Adult SFF is sought specifically when it carries strong YA crossover appeal — younger protagonists, accessible voice, or themes that resonate across age categories. Space opera is listed among favorite sub-genres. A YA-flavored Battlestar Galactica is the explicit wishlist target.
A clear area of enthusiasm. Flum actively seeks diverse YA — characters with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ identities, racial and socioeconomic diversity are all named, and this isn't a checkbox but a genuine priority evident in their personal reading list. Voice-driven, emotionally charged YA is the sweet spot.
YA SFF is sought alongside contemporary YA. The same diversity lens applies. A YA Sherlock-style middle grade mystery suggests an adjacent interest in high-concept genre premises with strong character at the center.
Both contemporary MG with diverse characters and MG science fiction/fantasy are on the list. A middle-grade Sherlock — meaning a high-concept mystery with a clever young protagonist — is the named wishlist target for MG.
Nonfiction is a narrower slice of Flum's list. Theater, humor, narrative history, current events, and pop culture are the five areas named. Their publicly visible enthusiasm for musical theater suggests theater-adjacent nonfiction could be a genuine passion project. Memoir and how-to are not mentioned; narrative and cultural analysis are the right frames here.
Not the right fit
On Caitie's list
Taste fingerprint
How to query Caitie
Send the query letter only — Flum explicitly asks to see no pages or synopsis in the initial submission. Attaching pages, even a few, signals you did not read the guidelines.
Address the email to querycaitie@lizadawson.com. This is the specific query address; do not use a general agency inbox.
Anchor your pitch in character specificity, not just genre. Flum's wishlist language emphasizes who the character is (career-driven, LGBTQ+, historically marginalized, disabled) as much as what happens to them.
If you are writing romance with an athlete protagonist, name the sport. Baseball, hockey, and soccer are specifically cited — leading with that detail signals you know Flum's list.
For women's fiction, foreground the moral complexity and the ensemble if relevant. The 'flawed but lovable family' and 'characters who don't take the easy path' framing is unusually specific — use it.
For nonfiction, lead with a clear argument for why this story is a theater, humor, history, current events, or pop culture book specifically — Flum's nonfiction interest is narrow, so demonstrate you know where your book fits.
Verify the current submission status on the agency's website before sending — the available data does not confirm whether Flum is currently open to queries.