Mark O’Brien

(sea monster bio)

You've probably seen my writhing in The Atlantic

Thanks! Yeah, that’s probable. It can be frustrating all around (and believe me, I know the pain of querying—I queried six manuscripts in four years when I was a teenager!)

Mentoring Initiative - SFWA - The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association The SFWA Mentorship Program is an all-volunteer service provided free of charge. We aim to connect writers who have questions, whether they are emerging writers or have expansive career experience, wi...

There are two days left to apply to SFWA's career mentorship program. I'm here to encourage you to apply! Mentees are chosen by lottery, then matched by hand. Mentors can specify area of expertise, from short stories to writing with a day job to first novel questions. www.sfwa.org/mentorship-p...

•If I read on a weekend and it’s a pass, I label it accordingly, then I’ll send a pass during my office hours
•Please don’t leap from “looks like Mark passed on a bunch of queries today” to “Mark doesn’t read his queries” because like…that is quite the accusation!

I got accused of not reading my queries, just batch rejecting them, because I passed on several today.

•I read every query myself, no interns or assistants involved, often on nights and weekends
•Personally, I’d rather not receive a pass on nights or weekends, so I extend that to my queries, too.

I think I read half a dozen first pages today that began with a character running for their life. Do with this what you will.

WOW I AM BLOWN AWAY BY HOW AMAZING AND TALENTED I AM

some of you are looksmaxxing when you need to be booksmaxxing

I scream. You scream. We all scream.

It’s fun having conversations with my boyfriend in our apartment over lunch because I am definitely listening to what he’s saying while the neighbor’s baby is crying and am not at all focusing on the crying baby, who is crying and (I’m told) a baby

I love the smell of full requests in the morning

How video games help trans people find gender euphoria - LGBTQ Nation Video games are giving trans people a safe space to explore gender identity.

“When people are questioning their gender, digital ways to explore different appearances can be extremely important. Games often provide highly customizable avatars, which can help people in exploring how they might want to look.”

article by @faefyx.bsky.social

www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/12/how-...

The Traitors but they’re all Muppets

Selfie of me on a couch with my perfect tabby cat Monroe sitting on the back of it, her paw on my shoulder as she looks at me

hangin the gosh-diddly darn heck out

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Dandelions are yellow,
Daisies are too.
Madonna loathes hydrangeas,
I think Venus fly traps are from space,
Little Shop of Horrors may have contributed to that, though.
Tulips are lovely,
Every bulldog I‘ve met is named Petunia,
This has been my daily floral review.

Harlequin to Discontinue Historical Romance Line In the romance publisher’s latest move to adapt its series business to the digital age, Harlequin Historical will cease publication in fall 2027 after nearly 40 years.

What a weird and sad move. Thinking of the authors and the publishing professionals affected by this, and hoping new and aspiring authors of historical fiction will use this as motivating spite on their road to success. www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Dear @PepperidgeFarms
pls make the cookie dividers edible they're killing my momentum

Thank you! I’m fairly trope-agnostic overall, though obviously billionaire romance is not for me. Other than that, I’ll really pick up anything if the pages are well-written and the premise feels high concept.

Do I know any journalists or news outlets who might be willing to write an article about the months I’ve spent begging GoFundMe to release the funds I’ve raised? I wish this were more common knowledge so no one else finds themselves in this position. (Please boost!)

Thank you!! It very well could be human silliness. As an agent specifically only repping queer adult romance, I’m queried with allocishet adult romance almost every day. The action/adventure thing feels more strange than that, to me! But who knows.

When you’re right, you’re right!

At this point I need to tow a sign that says DON’T QUERY ME WITH GENAI SLOP

I keep getting queries talking about my love of action/adventure fiction, which is not a thing I have literally ever expressed interest in, and I’m so confused

THE movie

An oven mitt with an onion on top below the words “2. Keep important medications with you”

totally enthralled by this oven mitt with an onion sitting on it at LAX with the words “2. Keep important medications with you” over it. I took dozens of photos

It’s always Hey Jealousy, never How Are You Jealousy 😔

Core memory: In elementary school, we were writing on the chalkboard, and I was tasked with writing my favorite song. I asked the teacher how to spell “accidentally” for Accidentally in Love by Counting Crows, and my classmates had the audacity to laugh at me! Sorry for having iconic taste, kids

Might fuck around and start referring to myself in the third person

Woke up this morning to my cat walking across my face

Molly Lambert @mollylambert I respect the moon's unwillingness to be photographed on a phone 12:31 PM • 12/12/19 • Twitter Web App 59.5K Retweets 294K Likes

Lance St. Laurent @LanceStLaurent When you see this blatant anti-moon propaganda, consider the source The Sun @TheSun • Jan 18, 2019 'Super blood wolf moon' may trigger end of the world this weekend thesun.co.uk/news/8223896/s. 8:32 PM • Jan 20, 2019 • Twitter for iPhone 49.9K Retweets 493 Quote Tweets 238.7K Likes

Paul Ford v @ftrain When the moon hits your knees And you mispronounce trees Sycamore 5:14 AM • 2/27/18 • Twitter for Android 13.6K Retweets 37.3K Likes

dustin Couch @Dustinkcouch nasa employee: oh hey u guys are back early astronaut: moon's haunted nasa employee: what? astronaut: *loading a pistol and getting back on the rocket-ship* moon's haunted 10:18 PM - 29 Oct 2018

please enjoy these classic Moon Tweets™