A.J. Van Belle
Author
About
A.J. Van Belle has published more than a dozen books under pen names, and their stories and essays have appeared in journals and anthologies from 2004 to the present. They’ve worked as an editor in nonfiction publishing and higher education, served as YA acquiring editor at a small publisher, and taught undergraduate writing courses at Boston University. Currently, in addition to writing full-time and nurturing new talent through two novel-writing mentorship programs, they are a literary agent intern at the Booker Albert Agency. With a Ph.D. in biology, they draw on their science background to inform the world building in their fiction. They are represented by Lauren Bieker of FinePrint Literary Management.
A Seed From Darkness Outlander in space
Eleanor grows up believing her village is the last remnant of humanity, then learns that’s a convenient lie. Life isn’t limited to working at a woodsmoke-filled inn and enduring bullying by the local lord’s son; there’s a world of galactic exploration out there. As Eleanor falls in love with the street kid who discovers the truth at her side, the two must face a deadly clash in their insular community—or escape into the stellar unknown.
A 93K genre-bending mashup of historical, spec fic, romance, and found-family saga
On submission
All Falls to Ruin
With the help of Cortinarius, an ancient forest spirit with dubious motives, grief-stricken dryad Sylvia takes on human form and enters a coastal Texas town to seek restitution for her sister, who was killed by a careless human.
THE LITTLE MERMAID x PAN’S LABYRINTH
Adult dark fantasy, 93K words
On submission
Short Fiction Highlights
"Harrow"
"A Billion Paper Stars"
"The Mist That Forms the Flesh"
