Success Story Interview - Madeleine Richey

An Interview with Madeleine Richey (Oleander_E on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Bethany Weaver of Weaver Literary Agency.

07/14/2025

QT: Can you tell us a little bit about the book for which you've found representation? What inspired you to write it?

Madeleine Richey:
MY LADY OF ICE, ASH AND IRON is an adult fantasy novel about a young woman who gets banished from her fancy finishing school at court to the worst place imaginable – the Dragon Riders’ Course on the frozen tundra where flunkies, criminals and unwanted people are sent to serve the nation. Desperate to get back to court, and to her sister, she attempts to escape but winds up unwittingly embroiled in a plot to steal dragon eggs, undo the Riders’ Course and start a brutal war. The main character winds up falling in love – twice – making new friends that become her family and ultimately claims her place as a dragon rider.

As for what inspired me, I’ve always loved dragons. Since I was a kid listening to my dad read The Hobbit, I’ve been fascinated by dragons and adventures. But something I found lacking as a child in the epic fantasy stories I loved was strong women. I wanted real women at the center of the story who made mistakes, fought battles, and could be physically, mentally and emotionally strong while still being human. This book was really just about creating the world and characters I wanted to see. The main character has a foul mouth and bad attitude, and makes so many mistakes, but her determination gets her through.

QT: How long have you been writing?

Madeleine Richey:
I’ve been writing since I was eight years old, but I started writing to query/seek publication about five years ago in 2020.

QT: How long have you been working on this book?

Madeleine Richey:
I started writing this book in December of 2023. It took me about five or six months to finish and edit, and then I started querying in late May 2024.

QT: Was there ever a time you felt like giving up, and what helped you to stay on course?

Madeleine Richey:
Yes and no. I was absolutely determined to keep querying until I found my agent, but it was a long journey that was often very frustrating. So there were times that I wanted to give up and not go through the process of rejections, but I never seriously considered it because I was convinced that I would eventually succeed. I didn’t want to give up when I felt like I was so close and regret it years later wondering if I could have made it.

QT: Is this your first book?

Madeleine Richey:
Not at all! I have lost count of how many “books” I’ve written, but as far as novels that I considered query-ready, this was number five.

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

Madeleine Richey:
I do not. My parents started a love of reading from an early age and continued that through my childhood. They read out loud to me every night for years and spent countless hours in the library so I could find new stories I loved. It wasn’t formal training, but it was an incredible education in storytelling.

QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?

Madeleine Richey:
Schedule is probably an overstatement. I write in the evenings and on weekends, so I just make time for it as my schedule allows.

QT: How many times did you re-write/edit your book?

Madeleine Richey:
I only edited/re-wrote it once. I started querying in May 2024, and in June I got a full rejection with some great feedback that prompted me to re-write the story and share that with agents. It actually ended up in all rejections, and I considered the book pretty much “dead” by November 2024.

QT: Did you outline your book, or do you write from the hip?

Madeleine Richey:
I am a pantser. I’ve tried outlines, but no matter how well I think I’ve outlined, the story and characters take on a life of their own. Maybe one day I’ll figure out how to outline effectively.

QT: How long have you been querying for this book? Other books?

Madeleine Richey:
I started querying in September 2020, and have been writing and querying ever since, with MY LADY OF ICE, ASH AND IRON being my fifth queried novel. I queried this book roughly from late May 2024 to November 2024. I did send out a few queries November 2024 through March 2025, but nothing really came of those, and I knew it was time to write something else (which I was already doing).

I actually ended up getting the offer from my agent roughly two weeks before I started querying my latest book. We’d connected on Instagram after a couple rejections (including on this novel) that honestly were so hard because I knew she loved my work, and I thought she was the perfect representative for my stories. So I was planning to send my new novel to her first, and she’d already asked to see it, so I was really hopeful. Then she messaged me on Instagram to ask if this book was still available because she was still thinking about it a year later. I said yes immediately, and I’m so excited to work with her on this and future stories.

QT: About how many query letters did you send out for this book?

Madeleine Richey:
For this novel, 127! When I queried my first novel, I gave up after only 32 queries, which resulted in a full and a partial request and was a pretty good response rate for a newbie, even though I didn’t realize it at the time, so I had to learn to stick it out despite rejections. I think I got 15 or so full requests on this novel, and a few agents asked to see the revision as well. I actually got a request in May 2025 for a query I’d sent almost a year earlier, which ultimately turned into a rejection eight days before I got the offer.

QT: On what criteria did you select the agents you queried?

Madeleine Richey:
I searched for agents who represented adult fantasy. I found that the more specific the MSWL, the worse luck I generally had getting a request. It was often agents who had a more general MSWL who requested. My theory is that when agents ask for something very specific, they get a lot more queries for that exact thing, which makes it harder to stand out in their inbox.

QT: Did you tailor each query to the specific agent, and if so, how?

Madeleine Richey:
At first, yes. But after a couple books I realized that it was only worth doing if I had a genuine connection, such as they had previously requested to read my work, or one of my comp titles matched their MSWL.

QT: What advice would you give other writers seeking agents?

Madeleine Richey:
Keep going. Hope is an action – so long as you keep querying, you’re making progress. It’s when you stop that you’re admitting defeat.