Success Story Interview - Samantha M. Lee

An Interview with Samantha M. Lee (SpottedSnake on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Marisa Corvisiero of Corvisiero Literary Agency.

07/10/2026

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

Samantha M. Lee:
THE WORLD BENEATH is an adult sci-fi horror. A convict and a scientist descend into a toxic chasm to save their city. The mushrooms bite. The chill brings hallucinations. The deeper they go, the less human they stay...and the more the dark begins to whisper their names.

I was inspired by some of my favorite horror movies like The Descent as well as Dante's Inferno for the different layers of the chasm.

QT: How long have you been writing?

Samantha M. Lee:
I've been writing since I was a little kid. My dad would write stories we came up with in his office when I was 6 and I would make up short stories in my notebook on the floor. I wrote my first full length novel in 2012.

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

Samantha M. Lee:
The original idea came to me in August of 2024, but I drafted it in November/December of 2024.

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

Samantha M. Lee:
I mostly operate out of spite, so I've dropped projects here and there or stopped writing when life got super busy, but I knew I'd be back. My writing community has always been there when I need more motivation or hype. Without them, I wouldn't be where I am.

QT: Is this your first book?

Samantha M. Lee:
Nope! I have many that are long shelved and will likely stay that way. I've probably borrowed too much from them for other projects over the years anyway. I queried one other book before this one that I hope to bring back one day when the market is right!

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

Samantha M. Lee:
I have a film degree where I studied a lot of screenwriting. This taught me SO much about story...and how much I despise screenwriting. It also makes me a severe underwriter.

QT: Do you follow a writing routine or schedule?

Samantha M. Lee:
I love to go write at my neighborhood cafe on the weekends and often get a lot done in airports. I'm not a 'write every day' type, but I love to fast draft, so the rest is heavy editing.

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

Samantha M. Lee:
Initially I sent out draft 5 and then paused mid-querying to do a mentorship and revise one more time!

QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

Samantha M. Lee:
Oh, tons. I have a dedicated group of friends that I split up throughout the edits so everyone only reads it once. Occasionally the very first betas will come back for the last draft before it goes out, depending how much it has changed.

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

Samantha M. Lee:
I tend to plot the major beats in my head and then write from there! Often I get about 30k words in, realize how it should all shake out, and then restart with a better beat sheet. I outline after draft 2.

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

Samantha M. Lee:
I queried this book for 11 months! I sent my first query for my first book on July 10, 2023 so it took almost 3 years to the day.

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

Samantha M. Lee:
246! I was confident in my query package this time around and it never really changed. I ended up with 24 requests.

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

Samantha M. Lee:
I am considered chaos in my writing group. I send to anyone I would be comfortable signing with, that accepts my genre, and is open to queries. As long as my content warnings aren't on their DO NOT SEND, I consider it fair game.

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

Samantha M. Lee:
Not unless we have a history, I had a referral, or they solicited my query directly.

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

Samantha M. Lee:
Keep going and find community. This is a numbers game with agents. Query rejections don't matter! It's not personal. Find a writing group, get their insight, and lean on them for support.

Query Letter:

THE WORLD BENEATH is a dual-POV science fiction horror complete at 83,000 words. It will appeal to fans of the dystopian biotech and class conflict in Netflix’s Arcane, the claustrophobic unraveling and haunted decay of Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes, and the sapphic tension and brutal atmosphere of Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir.

Paxton is a convicted rioter who harvests toxic mushrooms in the prison-run depths of the Chasm, a gaping wound of mutations and rot beneath a dying city. She smokes the Haze that poisons the air and dreams of the sun she’s never seen, but what she truly wants is a life where no one owns her, where she can finally rest. When a naive, upper-city researcher offers her freedom in exchange for a descent into hell, Paxton takes the deal. If only to disappear on her own terms.
Lyra is that researcher: brilliant, obsessive, and determined to purge the toxic smog choking her city. Years of exposure have left her with chronic pain, and her desperation to cure it has twisted into hubris. After a near-fatal experiment, she’s denied support for an official expedition. But Lyra refuses to wait for permission and launches a mission of her own.

As a class riot erupts above, their stolen elevator collapses mid-descent and leaves them stranded in the depths. Lost in the twisting tunnels and hunted by mutants, Lyra clings to the belief that they can still find a way back and save the city. Their distrust and the dangers between them could be fatal. But the deeper they go, the more warped their surroundings and minds become.

When they uncover the truth of the toxic smog infecting their world, the only way out may destroy the city they both call home.

I participated in the Futurescapes workshop as a scholarship recipient and completed this manuscript during a residency at Château d'Orquevaux, where I was awarded both the Emerging Artist Grant and the Denis Diderot Grant. This novel was selected for the 2026 WriteHive Mentorship with Megan Bontrager. I have been invited to submit to Bloomsbury’s new imprint, Archer, once agented. I work in creative tech for the film industry, building tools that organize visual data for storytelling. I'm a queer woman based in Brooklyn.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Samantha Lee