Jem wants psychological thrillers and social horror that do more than shock — they should expose something true and uncomfortable about the human condition. She's drawn to stories that play with truth, perception, and morally complex characters, and that map the full spectrum of evil. Tension should be relentless; the stakes should feel real. Films like Get Out and Sinners are named touchstones, which signals she wants work with cultural bite and cinematic grip.

She wants heart, humor, and heat across the full romance spectrum. For rom-com and contemporary, she's after emotional honesty paired with genuine charm — and a premise she hasn't encountered before. For paranormal romance and romantasy, she wants lush, fast-paced, and extremely cinematic work. For action-adventure romance, the key ingredients are danger meeting desire, scorching chemistry, and a cinematic quality throughout. Fresh angles are essential across all three lanes.

Jem is particularly drawn to stories that sit at the intersection of laughter, tears, and moral debate — the kind of book a book club would fight over. Themes she flags with genuine enthusiasm include family, aging, identity, love, and especially regret. The emotional register should be layered: funny and devastating in the same breath. She references the film My Old Ass as a tonal touchstone, signaling she wants something contemporary and emotionally raw.

She is open to mysteries that balance wit with warmth and feature strong narrative voice, clever plotting, and found-family dynamics. The humor should never undercut the heart. Her named touchstones point clearly toward voice-driven, character-forward cozies with a light comic touch.

Jem is interested in histories that have been hidden, suppressed, or distorted — revisionist work that interrogates race, gender, identity, and institutional power. The lens should make the past feel urgent and directly connected to the present, generating discomfort as much as revelation.

She's seeking smart, accessible nonfiction that crosses disciplinary lines — science, technology, culture — and asks genuinely provocative questions with real-world moral stakes. The work should be conversation-sparking and refuse easy answers.

Cookbooks are listed as an active category on her current agency page, though specific parameters were not detailed in available materials. Writers in this space should query with a strong concept and platform.

She wants YA romance that sparkles with humor and explores identity and belonging — but with a twist. She is specifically looking for work that incorporates speculative or light fantastical elements that heighten the emotional stakes and urgency, not purely contemporary romance.

Fast-paced, voicey, and cinematic YA thrillers or horror that examine power, fear, and social tension through a teen perspective. The cinematic quality and propulsive pacing she values in adult thrillers applies equally here.

Jem is open to graphic novel submissions exclusively from author-illustrators — she does not represent graphic novel scripts without art. She is especially interested in adult GNs. Preferred subject matter includes contemporary or speculative stories, psychological horror or thrillers, and character-driven fiction where the art itself — color, linework, movement — carries emotional and thematic weight. Art must be striking and dynamic.

She actively represents illustrators who want to work across any age category, making Starling Literary + Media a genuine destination for visual artists seeking representation independent of a writing project.