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About J.M. Lee

Double-good with a dash of dirt.

J.M. spent his formative years searching for talking animals and believing he could control the weather. After pursuing nerdy interests in comparative film studies, screenwriting, and Shakespeare, he graduated with a much nerdier degree in linguistics.

In addition to writing novels, he enjoys teaching his dog new vocabulary words and updating his snooty coffee blog.

work with me

I am generally available for hire for various writing and editing projects. If you’re interested in hiring me, please get in touch by emailing inquiries@joeyverse.com and describe your project. I’ll get back to you if I think we’d be a good fit.

I am open to inquiries from both individuals and publishers. Please identify yourself clearly when you contact me.

Authenticity/Sensitivity reading

Also called focused editing. I am a queer and multi-racial (2nd gen Chinese American diaspora + white settler) writer with over a decade of experience in the publishing industry (writing, editing, and teaching). If you believe your project may benefit from my feedback, please reach out. I tend to accept projects where I can help authors refer to and represent queer characters and people in an authentic, well-rounded manner. In particular, I enjoy creative and experimental pronoun work (see The Nightland Express) and manuscript-length projects.

College classroom visits, talks, panels and webinars

I’m happy to visit your college or university classroom to talk about writing and publishing. In particular, I enjoy discussing world building and character development with creative writing classes, but I also enjoy more specialized topics such as structure and voice. I have taught both single and multi-session writing workshops on topics including character archetypes, fanfiction, world-building, and conlang development.

Storybreaking and manuscript review

To be totally honest, my favorite kind of consulting work is sitting down with an author and listening to them talk about their writing problems for two hours, then helping them work through whatever challenges they’re bumping up against. I also enjoy reviewing manuscripts when I have the time. If you’re working on a project and feeling stuck, drop me a line. I prefer, and specialize in, speculative fiction, but know how to apply myself in any genre as long as the project interests me.

J.M. Lee is represented by Erzsi Deak of Hen&Ink Literary Studio.

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Publications

The Nightland Express

2022, Erewhon Books

Speak the Words: Worldbuilding with Language
World Roulette

2020, Light Grey Art Lab

Songs of the Seven Gelfling Clans

2020, Penguin Young Readers Licenses

Aughra’s Wisdom of Thra

2019, Penguin Young Readers Licenses

Heroes of the Resistance: A Guide to the Characters of the Dark Crystal Age of Resistance

2019, Penguin Young Readers Licenses

The Boxcar Children: The Great Spy Showdown

2019, Albert Whitman & Company

Flames of the Dark Crystal (The Dark Crystal YA Series #4)

2019, Penguin Workshop

Tides of the Dark Crystal (The Dark Crystal YA Series #3)

2018, Penguin Workshop

The Boxcar Children: Midnight at the Haunted Hotel

2018, Albert Whitman & Company

The Boxcar Children Great Adventure Miniseries

2017, Albert Whitman & Company

Song of the Dark Crystal (The Dark Crystal YA Series #2)

2017, Grosset & Dunlap

Shadows of the Dark Crystal (The Dark Crystal YA Series #1)

2016, Grosset & Dunlap

Television & Media

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
Staff Writer; Creative Consultant

2019, Netflix

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
Podling Language Creation and Script Translation

2019, Netflix

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics
Podling Language Translation

2019, BonusXP & En Masse Entertainment