Get to Know an Agent in Attendance: Cortney Radocaj of Belcastro Agency

Cortney Radocaj is a literary agent with Belcastro Agency.

In both YA and Adult, she is seeking:

  • LGBTQIA+ (particularly F/F)
  • Neurodiversity
  • Contemporary
  • Horror
  • Fantasy
  • Sci-fi
  • Subtle mythology/fairytale retellings
  • Paranormal

She is NOT accepting:

– MG
– Children’s/Picture Books
– Crime/detective fiction
– Mysteries
– Political/military/spy thrillers
– Non-fiction
– Novellas, short story collections, poetry collections, or screenplays

Some tropes she loves:
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– enemies-to-lovers
– oops there’s only one bed
– mc slipped and rival caught them and now it’s INTIMATE
– grumpy character lights up around sunshine character
– sunshine character who is absolutely capable of kicking your ass
– found family
– quiet character is snarkiest

“Born and raised in Eastern Washington, I’m currently a literary agent at the Belcastro Agency. Reading and writing have been my passion for as long as I can remember. I graduated from NYU in 2017. My fur-babies keep me on my toes; between my sweet, destructive lab-mix Rhaegar and my fiesty calico Holly, I definitely have my hands full. When I’m not doing book-related things, I’m spending time with my husband, my animals, or attempting a new craft I’ll never spend enough time on to truly get good at. Supernatural and The Office are constantly running on my TV, and I adore watching creative shows (i.e. baking shows and Project Runway are my ish).

“I’m a member of the LGBTQIA+ community (#BisexualPride! <3) and of the neurodivergent community. I love to see healthy representation of queer and neurodivergent identities, especially in SFF, and I’m ecstatic to find and represent books that would have benefited me as a teen. I adore seeing works that celebrate and normalize these experiences, particularly in YA. Compelling characters are what grab me the most; I love books with strong, dynamic, complex characters that have complicated and nuanced relationships with others—especially romances! I love romantic threads that weave in seamlessly with the plot and characters’ motivations, particularly in science fiction & fantasy. In regard to POVs, the closer, the better; I want to live inside characters’ heads when I read, and love as little distance as possible. I enjoy when authors break stereotypes and tropes, and I love when plots and characters surprise her, leaving her breathless on the edge of her seat.

“Some of my favorite books: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas; City of Bones by Cassandra Clare; The Shining and IT by Stephen King; Tithe by Holly Black; Skinned by Robin Wasserman; This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab; The Light Between Worlds by Laura E. Weymouth

“I’m an ISFJ to the core with a penchant for punk, a weakness for puns, and the ferocity of dragons.”

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