Query Letter
Hello Rad Agent or Dream Publisher,
I am seeking representation for HOW WE SURVIVE, a 119,000-word literary dystopian horror. My book is like PARABLE OF THE SOWER and GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS had a love child…but THE LAST OF US might be the baby’s daddy.
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We let our own demise into our homes, playing with our children, and cuddled it in our beds. Once beneath our skin, it merely had to mutate.
When their father dies under mysterious circumstances, Loon, a city defense strategist, receives a call from their mother. A cat-borne parasite is spreading across the country. People are transforming into predators. Cities are collapsing. Loon needs to leave now.
There’s one problem. Their partner, Mara, comes with them. Eighteen years together, and Loon was finally ready to leave. But with the world burning, taking them along feels like the only choice. So they set out across the country together, navigating infected ferals, dwindling resources, and the question that haunts every mile: Can they survive each other when everything else is falling apart?
How We Survive is a queer-centered, Black-centered literary dystopian horror about found family, unraveling love, and the courage it takes to make decisions that will break one’s own heart.
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How We Survive will appeal to readers of Celeste Ng’s Our Missing Hearts because it’s an intimate dystopian journey towards family and witnesses moving forward through loss. And Chlorine by Jade Song because of its raw moral complexity, which leans into pain over forgiveness. It sits next to queer-centered post-apocalyptic horrors like Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin where loved ones transform into something unfamiliar and predatory, while providing unflinching depth that lingers in the reader’s mind.
While How We Survive is my first novel, I’ve been a storyteller all my life. My work lives at the intersection of survival, identity, and belonging, and I’ve shared stories everywhere from TEDx Mt. Hood to Outdoor Retailer and SLANT, Portland’s live queer storytelling showcase. I’ve also led storytelling workshops for all kinds of communities and organizations, and my stories have found their way into national outlets like USA Today, Outside Magazine, and the documentary Our Trails Too. I bring an existing following of 18k through Instagram. My fiction grows directly from my lived experience as a Black queer creative and is grounded in themes of resilience, intimacy, and finding connection even when the world feels like it’s falling apart.
This book allows readers to connect with their own survival in the way that it bears witness to our darkest pain. Thanks for your time and consideration.
Mercy M’fon
About Mercy M’fon
Mercy M’fon (they/them, she/her) is a queer Nigerian American storyteller, educator, and changemaker whose work lives at the intersection of survival, identity, and belonging. With over fifteen years of experience in community-driven education, Mercy has dedicated their career to amplifying underrepresented voices and creating spaces for connection, whether in the outdoors, through leadership, or on the page.
As the Founder and Director of Strategic Initiatives at Wild Diversity, Mercy has reshaped the landscape of outdoor accessibility, ensuring BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities have opportunities to experience nature on their own terms. Their work has earned recognition nationwide, including the Individual Service Award from the Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals, a Recognition Award from U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer, and the Outdoor Retailer Inspiration Award. Mercy’s impact has been featured in three documentaries, including Our Trails Too, and in national outlets such as USA Today and Outside Magazine.
A storyteller in every sense, Mercy has shared stories on stages ranging from TEDx Mt. Hood and Outdoor Retailer to SLANT, Portland’s live queer storytelling showcase, and has led workshops for communities and organizations of all kinds. Their fiction grows directly out of that practice, rooted in lived experience as a Black queer creative and grounded in themes of resilience, intimacy, and finding connection even when the world feels like it’s falling apart.
Currently querying for literary agent publisher for How We Survive.
In a second, a woman in her own jammies, sleep pants and an oversized tee, careened into the man. Her jaw hung open perversely. Where his eyes were peaceful, her eyes looked too wide and crazed. She nearly bounced off his enormous belly but held on to him with arms, legs, and fingers splayed. It could have been an aggressively horny embrace, but for the lady pulling back with a small slab of flesh in her mouth from his upper chest. She ground it between her teeth for two chews and dove in for more.
From
How We Survive
Around the room, wood details outlined the room. Wood jutted out, holding a lifetime of framed memories and smiling faces. In other places, moments of joy were pinned into the wood, hand-painted by children’s fingers. Vertical strips of wooden trim marked time and growth. Dates and repeating names rose to the height that Eduardo and Theresa now stood today. There was no wood in Loon’s room, nowhere to hold memories or time.